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 Post subject: Interview secrète
PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 10:34 am 
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Joined: Fri Jun 12, 2009 8:12 pm
Posts: 837
For those who know French:

https://www.letemps.ch/lifestyle/2016/0 ... ves-enfant


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 Post subject: Re: Interview secrète
PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 12:15 pm 
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Thanks for posting, Le Freak.

I'll have a crack at translating it later today, unless someone beats me to it (or achieves one of those literal/comical online translations, which make it sound like Yoda wrote it! ;) ).


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 Post subject: Re: Interview secrète
PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 3:25 pm 
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I'm sure there are others here who have a better grasp of French and who might improve on this effort, but it'll start the ball rolling! ;)

Bryan Ferry, what have you done from your childhood dreams?

In each issue Isabelle Cerboneschi asks a person to talk about about the child they were and their dreams. One way to better understand the adult he or she has become. Dive into the world of the imagination.

Bryan Ferry has strutted his urban dandy attitude on stages since 1972. True elegance is always accompanied by a slight violation of the rules, otherwise it would be boring. When asked what his necessary bad taste is, he replied that they are not bad. "I'm not as concerned about my appearance as you might imagine. I like to wear ties, traditional clothes. I think my style is influenced by the first images of my childhood: the movies that I watched - Fred Astaire had fantastic elegance - my musical heroes, many blues or jazz artists who always dressed in pretty cool way." Charlie Parker and especially Otis Redding, for whom he had such an admiration that he named his first son Otis.

The former leader of the group Roxy Music was born on 26 September 1945 in Washington, a mining town in northeast England. His father was a farmer and raised ponies. On Saturdays the teenager worked at a tailor’s. There he learned the material, the shape, the timeless elegance of a male fashion "made in England". Something remains of that. Bryan Ferry wanted to become an artist, "someone whose job was to create." Art was his first choice. He chose the University of Newcastle, "because Richard Hamilton taught there”, the founder of pop art. America was the "role model" in Newcastle. There they wore customised t-shirts, jeans and sneakers. Bryan Ferry drives an American car, a Studebaker, which he spends more time pushing than driving, but at that age you don’t care. Like a lot of students before him and after him, he forms his first soul music group: The Gas Board. Two musicians from the band - Graham Simpson and John Porter on bass - were later part of Roxy Music.

Birth of a style

After obtaining his art degree in 1968, Bryan Ferry arrives in London and starts to lay the foundations of Roxy Music. The first album is released in 1972. The same year Ziggy Stardust, the alter ego of David Bowie, two years his junior, appears and imposes his flamboyant glam rock look. To stand out, Bryan Ferry adopts a very different look: the suit and tie. The same one he was able to study during all the fashions of his youth. His "camp" attraction, a bit fifties, gently nostalgic, explodes across the country. His gentleness, his slightly hoarse voice, his strange sounding music are seductive. It is said that all the female creatures, having posed on the cover of Roxy Music albums, passed between his sheets. In 1985, while Grace Jones sings "Slave to the Rhythm", Bryan Ferry declares himself a "Slave to Love".

In 1974 on the cover of the album Another Place, Another Time, Bryan Ferry wears a white tuxedo, a black bow tie and a vermilion belt and becomes legendary. If one had to find a link to this outfit, it could be the Platters in 1955. But if this sleeve is put back in context, that same year Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren opened their shop called Sex at 430 Kings Road. In the streets of London at that time it is punk or new romantic. Bryan Ferry chooses to be a dandy. He still is.
"I often look to the past to find inspiration there," he says. This is what he did when the house of Moser asked him to co-create a watch. "When Edouard Meylan (CEO of H. Moser & Co.) and I thought about the kind of watch that we wanted, we tried to create one for today, but which would have a sense of rapport with the brand's history." "We looked at various historical Moser pieces, and he was able to choose the font, numbers, colours, shapes, needles”, noted Edouard Meylan. “All these details are entirely his decision. We tried to leave the choice of combinations as free as possible. It's interesting to work with someone who casts a fresh perspective on our industry. It is there that collaboration becomes interesting." The watch has a false air of the 30s: it could be that of Gatsby, the Scott Fitzgerald character. Timeless, but with a modern twist: the number 12 is red. Call it the touch of the dandy.

If Edouard Meylan chose Bryan Ferry, it is for his style, for sure, but also his involvement in the project. "We met through a mutual friend. I wanted a personality who understands the brand and what we do. Today there are many partnerships that mainly revolve around money. But with Bryan Ferry, we have the same values, the same understanding of the skills and crafts."

Reserved gentleman

The singer was present at the International Salon of Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), held in Geneva last January. This is where the encounter took place. He sat on the edge of the sofa, ready to get up and disappear if the questions were cut short or even turn to David Bowie, who had passed away ten days earlier. He replies with the tone of a reserved gentleman, as if he had decided to put his words on a line, say the lines of a musical score, and from which one must not deviate. As it happens the thread of the conversation is cut. Everything begins to float, much like his music. And sometimes he laughs.
This timepiece project is close to his heart, as the thread of the conversation often returns to it. "We were on the same wavelength about the things we love with the team. I didn’t want it to be a big watch. I like to wear small designs. I was pleasantly surprised that Moser likes them too." Time is essential for a musician, but it does not really need complications. "It is discreet. I did not want it to become a vulgar symbol of social status. When you wear a watch, you tend to look at it just about every hour to check. So I'd rather look at something that I like."

What was your greatest childhood dream?

I wanted to be an artist and it turned out that I became a musician. But initially I wanted to become an artist. That was my dream. I studied art for a few years at university. I wanted to go to Newcastle because Richard Hamilton was teaching there.
I was very taken with art and American music. I studied art because I wanted a creative career. That was what mattered to me, always. And I moved on quite naturally to music.

You grew up in the countryside, your father was a farmer. Did you choose this career to leave that world?

I would like to think so. Every moment of the first chapter of my life is all part of me. But I have developed another facet of my personality, which is to communicate emotion. And that is what musicians do. It is a gift to be able to do what you love.

What was your favorite toy?

A mini-tractor. What’s more, I still have it. It has been in my house for a long time. It is magnificent. You have to wind it up, but afterwards it goes like clockwork.

What game did you play at playtime?

Tennis. It is still the case. It is a very beautiful game, which has a fine tradition. A tennis match can be very graceful. Federer is a very elegant player. The elegance is part of my fascination with the game, I guess.

Did you climb trees?

Yes of course! I loved to gather birds’ eggs. It was one of my hobbies when I was a child. I climbed very high in the tall trees. I had a nice collection of eggs. This is also my first collection. Afterwards I collected other things.

What did you feel at the top?

The sense of adventure.

What colour was your first bike?

Gosh! I don’t remember anymore. All the photos I have of that time are black and white (laughs).

Which superhero did you dream of becoming?

I wanted to become a mountaineer. I loved the adventure. I thought climbing was exciting. I also loved cycling. I admired a French cyclist named Jacques Anquetil. I thought it was glamorous. I’m still excited by the Tour de France.

What superpower did you want to have?

I never really thought about that.

Did you dream in colour or black and white?

Occasionally in colour, but it’s rather a question of flashes. It is not the whole of the dream that is in colour. So the answer is rather black and white and occasionally bright colours appear.

What was your favourite book?

I read all the Enid Blyton stories, The Secret Seven, The Famous Five ...

Have you re-read them since?

No!

Were you afraid of the dark?

Yes, I was afraid of the dark. I had a very fertile imagination. I saw lots of scary things in the dark.

Do you remember the first name of your first love?

Oh! There have been so many! I can’t remember it.

And the child who you were?

Yes. Absolutely. He is still there, with me, all the time.

My last question: I've always wanted to know if you were a slave to love?

It’s something that I’ve tried to master over time (laughs).


Last edited by Smudge on Sun Apr 10, 2016 12:11 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Interview secrète
PostPosted: Fri Apr 08, 2016 6:53 pm 
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Joined: Fri Jun 12, 2009 8:12 pm
Posts: 837
Your translation is fine with me, but this must have been easy work for Bryan. He sat on the edge of the sofa, -hmm... -And from January?


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 Post subject: Re: Interview secrète
PostPosted: Sat Apr 09, 2016 12:50 am 
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Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2015 1:20 am
Posts: 425
Location: USA
Oooohhhh

Thank You For this Le Freak.... :D

And For Your Translation Smudge :D
It is Fascinating


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