Alex Gopher
In the beginning in 1985 there was Orange, a pop band with
Alex, Jean Benoît Dunkel, Nicolas Godin and Xavier Jamaux. But the different
characters in the band went in separate directions only a few years later.
Nicolas and Jean Benoît broke away and became Air while Xavier started off the
Bang Bang and A Bigger Splash projects; Alex just added the name Gopher and
went on to create Solid label with Etienne de Crecy (Motorbass, Superdiscount), the adventure starting off with the release
of the first record “Gopher EP” ten years ago. Alex Gopher became one of the
pioneers of a new promising movement.
The “French Touch” is everywhere and the Superdiscount project released
in 1997, on which Alex produced two tracks, was a big contribution.
Alex confirmed his talent and shined with 5 new
12” releases including the famous Gordini Mix remixes which featured the track
“Brakes on” produced with Air. He then produced and remixed for various artists
such as Mozesli, Bob Sinclar, Nightmares on Wax, Téri Moïse, Jean-Louis Aubert,
Bootsy Collins, Jamiroquaï, Vanessa Paradis or Sly and Robbie.
In 1998 he quit Translab, one of Paris’ top mastering studios, where he
had worked for over 10 years, to dedicate all his time to his music, and
released a year later his first solo album: “You, my baby an I”, which features
the single “The Child” with the famous letter-shaped animated video with
references to New York, made by the agency H5. The record was released in 25
countries.
Early 2000, Alex wrote the score for the Yves
Saint-Laurent Spring-Summer 2000 Men’s fashion show with Hedi Slimane.
Catherine Deneuve even made a guest appearance on one track. He also collaborated with Demon, French
Touch’s new sensation, to release a few 12” in 2001 under the name Wuz,
introducing the album in March 2002.
Alex went on tour, promoting with Dj gigs, and
thus had less time to produce but was still writing some music. He then decided to give his career the right
leap forward, and went back in studio with Etienne de Crecy, for the follow up
to the Superdiscount project (#2). He
co-wrote the single Fast Track and the vocal version sung by French singer
Camille. They got together with Julien Delfaud to perform on a long worldwide
tour which included Europe, Australia
and Brazil…Superdiscount
is now a band and produces remixes for the likes of Kraftwerk, Who Made Who,
Benny Benassi…
During his free time, Alex also works on two
side projects: a series of 12” releases (on BTK, Pias and Kistuné records)
inspired from his latest experience playing in clubs and electronica festivals
with Superdiscount.
His new
project, simply called ‘Alex Gopher’ is a revival of his early music with Orange with more pop song
writing. He now focuses most of his time and attention on this record, which he
is promoting with two musicians on stage. He collaborates on this record with
Jean-Benoît Dunckel and Nicolas Godin (Air) as well as singer Helena Noguerra
and guitarist Olivier Libaux (Nouvelle Vague project). Alex performs more
revealingly personal as he leaves aside his traditional vocoder, while Etienne
de Crecy produces the record.
