boytoy77

Interview by Olivier Pernot
(extract)
You met Madonna in 1998. How did she discover your music?
Here's the true story: I had a deal with Naïve [French indie music label], when the French Touch was buoyant, even though I was a little older given the fact that I was 38 at the time. Disco Science came out in 1998. I had a deal with Sony for the rest of the world but I wasn't fond of their US team. I thought they were corny. Director Stéphane Sednaoui shot the Disco Science video and he had also done a Madonna video. So I asked him if he could pass on my maxi to Guy Oseary, the label manager at Maverick, the one Madonna had created at Warner. In the beginning, I was looking for a label in the US for my forthcoming album [Production] and Maverick had launched The Prodigy, among others. Guy Oseary gives the maxi to Madonna, she loves the track and the video. Then, Oseary comes to Paris and wants to meet me. He was staying at the Hôtel Costes with Red Hot Chili Peppers. I go there and he asks for more. So I handed him some other tracks. Then, later, he calls Naïve's boss to ask if I'd be interested in trying to work on things with Madonna. And I said "Of course, why not!"
How did the first meeting go?
I go to London for a work session in a recording studio and we hit it off immediately. Our artistic sensibilities are very close. Since then, surprisingly, we never hang out outside of work. But as soon as we're working together, we have an extraordinary relationship musically speaking.
How do you work with her?
With Madonna, it's a fifty-fifty collaboration. I like the idea of sharing and, when I was a teenager, I wanted to be in a band. Sometimes, I'll send her demos. Some with my own vocals. One of Madonna's strengths is that she has a flair for good tracks, for spotting the songwriting in a demo. A track that wouldn't get any label guy's attention, she gets the feeling, she takes it and makes something out of it. For her last album, she was very much influenced by Portugal and you can hear it on the record. She knows that I cross over a lot of things, we can go anywhere, in all directions.
After Music, Madonna called you again for two other albums: American Life and Confessions on a Dance Floor.
Her career had been rekindled by Ray of Light, the album she made with William Orbit. Music confirmed the success: it sold 11 million copies and went number 1 in the US. Then, cherry on top, Music, the song, made her ultra-hip again. So, of course, she was keen on us working together again.
(...)
Why has Madonna called you back in 2018 for Madame X?
I stopped working for her in 2006. I did only a few tracks on Confessions on a Dance Floor and I introduced Stuart Price to her. I left because I had personal issues I had to deal with. It had nothing to do with her. I had to focus on myself. But our work wasn't over. Our songwriting relationship wasn't over. We kept in touch. We'd e-mail each other often and, whenever she came to Paris, she invited me to her shows. Our relationship feels like she's family.
It sounds like you admire Madonna.
Yes, I admire her a lot because she has done everything for 40 years, in a lot of different styles. And above all, she is eager, she experiments. That's the most important thing about her. She took part in the New York scene in the 70s. So yes, she is an inspiration even though she isn't perfect. Moreover, she is post-success: she is beyond success and money. She has had all of this for a long time in her life, so her focus is on creation. The two of us get together straightforwardly to create songs. It's that simple.
You agreed to this interview because you wanted to speak of your new album. The former one, Production, is from 2000. Now we're in 2020.
I haven't made an album in 20 years, it's staggering. I was busy with Madonna between 2000 and 2006. It's quite something. In counting, with the last one, there are tracks of mine on 4 Madonna albums. 28 songs. After 2006, I went through depression. And then I started working again.
(...)
(The Retrofuture, Mirwais' next album, will feature Richard Ashcroft from The Verve and Kylie Minogue. It is slated for the fall of 2020, with another album ready for 2021. Mirwais plans a trilogy.)
(...)
Why do you give so few interviews?
Nowadays, you have a choice considering the media you'll talk to. Last year, with Madonna's album, I said no to the biggest TV news shows, because I didn't feel like talking. I did a single interview for a Madonna fan webzine. And then for you, Bon temps, because it's a real discussion, not promotion.
(...)
What excites you in music today?
(Mirwais quotes Bob Dylan and Joy Division's Closer as current influences.)
I'm looking for chaos in order to blend in and I think we're getting there. Something good always emerges from chaos!

I’m not wasting my time with an immature troglodyte. 
bye bye baby ?? 

Well I wouldn’t brag about that profile pic of yours. 
and coming into a forum, you should have no assumptions nor preconceived notions. 

What kind of question is that? I think the phrase you're looking for is "Are you serious?" or maybe "Are you for real?" 
To answer your question, in short, Yes, I am on "purpose".  
Thanks for asking!

All she said was she was going for a long car ride with the windows open.  Why should she shut her trap??

All she said was she was going for a long car ride with the windows open.  Why should she shut her trap??

If you think about it, it makes perfect sense.  Her 2020 leg of the tour were in some of the cities with the most highest rates of infection of the Corona virus.  She has been in quarantine for more than just the recommended 14 days with her family.  The fact that she is very healthy, and that carries through to her children and staff who are positively affected by her healthy lifestyle.  If she and others have antibodies, that hopefully means that the virus won't be as deadly, even with her current age of almost 62!!  She is like no other 

I don't know but he or she made the best "GGW" version!
And this montage is still iconic:
 

No problem. It's not like we're gonna be singing it together anyway, so each to their own. We can talk lyrics again anytime if I care about the song  

I guess you'll keep singing the wrong lyrics then....

Yes, you did explain why some people would read the incorrect lyric on the website.  Thanks for that.  But, do not try and make me believe that the lyrics are actually "Baby Jesus on the stairs", because it simply is not the correct lyric.  I never said anything about a Twitter chat nor a link, that was another poster. 

I really don't understand why some people think the lyrics to "I Don't Give A" are 'baby Jesus on the stairs'.  
If you listen to the previous line of  "I forgot to say my prayers", you can deduce that the correct lyric is actually 'Baby Jesus understands'  WOW~ smh.

Totally agree! It's a massive shame the updated S&S numbers were not released as bonus tracks! 

I was there too. It was a small little surprise. And we got “Music” out of it, which sounded really good live, despite it being impromptu.
Fans act like it was broadcasted live at an award ceremony. 

Re-Invention Tour >>>>>>>>>> 

Yeah, no wonder you weren't there 

I absolutely agree with your points. I didn't like that they changed the audio on the "Bye Bye Baby" performance.  It was just like the album vocal (telephone voice) before they changed it for the official release.  A lot of sounds in Vogue are muted, too.  Actually, I do have it somewhere in my archives.  The DWT one, too. 

In interesting approach would be to layer both audios together and render them down to a new stereo mix. 
 

HBO broadcast of DWT is like this too.

To be fair anything after MDNA was an upgrade, am glad the MDNA Miami Soundboard leaked. That's my official one

BLURAY. 

We all know this bitch will take 8 months to edit the damn thing and it will have a ridiculous release date on October 10th, 2021 or something like that. 

He can be seen onstage when Madonna did all of her American Life promo shows, playing the keyboards.