Cover of “Du Cortex À L’Iris”. Design by The Eye Cube, artwork by Sabine Mallet.

Art is a cosmopolitan language that openly avoids pragmatic purposes. Etienne Jaumet, for its music production, conducts this policy in a fair way with lucid writing and a polished background. As we can see in his rework of historical pieces by experimental black music (from Miles Davis or Ornette Coleman repertoire) in the “8 regards obliques” (Versatile Records, 2018), and also in the tribute to La Monte Young in collaboration with Sonic Boom (Spacemen 3) and the master of Indian Dhrupad singing and tanpura Celine Wadier (published by Fire Records in 2018), his multifaceted poetics reflect his creativity in a well-rooted and unlimited sense. Following his work “Funk Kraut” (Born Bad records, 2025) with his most important trio, Zombie Zombie, his approach, with his solo album “Du Cortex À L’Iris” (Versatile Records, 2026), evolves to a more obsessive rhythmical component, more similar to electronic music.

Link to “Infinite Music” from “A Tribute to La Monte Young”.

Let’s begin with the Zombie Zombie project; here your imaginary, which you tap into from, reveals in the greatest part a cinematic aesthetic (from a historical standpoint), where the John Carpenter style has a meaningful influence. Many nuances on your playing efforts recall geometric shapes among dynamical developments, whose translation in graphical silhouettes could be comparable with drawings by Moebius; indeed, the correlated comic artist and colleague Philippe Drillet, especially in the foundation of graphical anthology Métal Hurlant, is the author of the “Livity” album cover (released by Versatile Records in 2017). So, what should be the effective link between these two artistic realities?

“My way of making music is not conscious. Of course my unconscious is full of references. Moebius, Druillet, and Carpenter impressed me a lot during my childhood. When we started to make music together with Zombie Zombie, we started to improvise before composing. So we kept that way of making music. Certainly those three artists have the same approach to art: Drawing, making music spontaneously, without overthinking it. My technique of playing keyboard is limited, and my thing is to build sound and atmosphere. To do it I have to play and search for sound at the same time. So all the music I make has no control. That’s certainly why my influences can’t be hidden.”

What was the influence, not even from cinematics, but from its counterpart in the library music genre especially? By contrast, the music aimed at movie soundtracks, library music has an even easier listening and creative character, in sight of its purpose in accompanying documentary tales, and its historical slant lends itself in a recognizable fashion. Regarding the French context, its sound appears even more boundary-less in its artistic expression, so the contribution by the associated composer Roger Roger is meaningful from this viewpoint, and, broadly speaking, it should be compatible with your poetics (I mean your solo project in particular). So, what is the real influence of him in this case?

“Roger Roger, Alain Goraguer, Francois De Roubaix, Bernard Estardy… are incredible composers. Working fast, not afraid to try unusual combinations. When you’re working for library music label, you need to be fast, imaginative, and productive. One idea per song. Not too much arrangement. You need to be as efficient as possible. This is what I like to do. Just use good ideas and build songs with few effective elements.”

So, on the side of your solo career, minimal and compulsive rhythmic parts prevail in your writing, and your album named “La Visite” (Versatile Records, 2014) is a delightful example. In particular, the related eponymous track tells a deviant and visceral journey on its own introspection. Otherwise, techno-ish elements that deepen in soundtrack and library landscapes recur in the last album “Du Cortex À L’Iris” (Versatile Records, 2026). So, how did this policy happen, and what is the related demarcation with Zombie Zombie?

“For me, the rhythmic part should be used to get the body moving and keep it occupied while the mind is busy traveling with the synth sound and the melodies. With ZZ I let the drummer’s imagination build their rhythmic ideas. For me, making music is like an exploration of myself. I discover things I never imagined would exist in me. Sharing it with over musicians expands the surprises.”

Regarding your collaborations with other artists, before Du Cortex A L’Iris you worked with the Italian musician Fabrizio Rat, on the records simply called “Etienne Jaumet & Fabrizio Rat” (Bureau B, 2022), which is an entanglement of spared genres, between orthodox electronic dance and kraut obscurities and even cinematics. So, how was this artistic tandem born, in addition to Fabrizio Ferrero (AKA Fabrizio Rat), and what has impressed you about him?

“We met together when his band “Cabaret Contemporain” invited me to revisit John Cage’s repertoire 15 years ago. I was impressed by his way of playing keys. He composed in a way I have never seen. The repetition and the velocity are his engine. He is a virtuoso. He found his own way to compose music and make his piano sound. He has his own technique. Totally unique… It’s so rare. We even made a second album together two years ago, but Bureau B couldn’t release it. So the album is sleeping…”