giorgio by moroder

“When I was fifteen, sixteen, when I really started to play guitar, I definitely wanted to become a musician. It was almost impossible because the dream was so big that I didn’t see any chance. Because I was living in a little town, was studying. And when I finally broke away from school and became a musician, I thought, “well, now I may have a little bit of a chance. Because all I wanted to do is music and not only play music, but compose music.”

At that time in Germany, in ’69-’70, they had already discotheques. So I would take my car, would go to a discotheque, sing maybe 30 minutes. Think I had about 7-8 songs. I would partially sleep in the car because I didn’t want to drive home and that helped me for about almost two years to survive in the beginning.

I wanted to do an album with the sounds of the ’50s, the sounds of the ’60s, of the ’70s and then have a sound of the future. And I said, “wait a second. I know the synthesizer. Why don’t I use the synthesizer, which is the sound of the future.” And I didn’t have any idea what to do, but I knew I needed a click so we put the click on the 24 track, which then was synched to the Moog Modular. I knew that it could be a sound of the future, but I didn’t realise how much the impact would be.

My name is Giovanni Giorgio, but everybody calls me Giorgio. [0:00 to 0:50]

Once you free your mind about a concept of harmony and of music being correct, you can do whatever you want. So nobody told me what to do and there was no preconception of what to do. [4:58 to 5:14]”

(Giovanni Giorgio Moroder)

“Giorgio by Moroder” is my favourite track off Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories. I am inspired by the sounds and Giorgio Moroder’s story. Giorgio’s story is almost word for word, my story now. I was eighteen when I really started to take lessons and play the guitar seriously. I started playing the guitar because of Michelle Branch and knew I wanted to become a musician when I was seventeen and saw Vanessa Carlton at the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle. I still find my dreams of becoming a musician almost impossible. I am still working and searching for my voice. I don’t even know if I’m good at what I love and do. Then there’s a part of me that fears and feels the starving artist. I am living in what I consider a small town, Salt Lake City. I once went to the outside of a discotheque in Germany with my friend, Sabine. We were going to go and dance and be 18, but they were closed. My discotheque story has nothing to really do with my story of music, but Giorgio’s mention of a discotheque reminds me of my friends and Germany. I need to free my mind of music being correct. When I write songs, I think the lyrics are wrong, the chords are too simple and the melody never sounds right. There is a lot I need to let go of in music.

What I truly love about “Giorgio by Moroder” is how a conversation lives in the space of nine minutes and four seconds. The conversation is alive like a film soundtrack, the ambient sound of people talking and moving about in the background, Giorgio’s beautiful voice, a click track and the music itself. Giorgio tells his story and the music echo all the emotions and words. The sounds transition and alternate from a classic Daft Punk, Tron Legacy feel to the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and in the now future. “Giorgio by Moroder” is avant-garde and new wave, a completely free and creative form of art music. With Giorgio’s mention of a click track, the music transitions to the actual sound of a click track. The track also ends with a drum-like click track, emphasizing the click track’s intentional existence. When was the last time a musician wanted a click track on the actual track itself? The subtleties throughout have an epic quality and carry the listener through a field of an electro, heart dancing, happy rhythm. All the rules of making music are forgotten. But still, there is so much soul, clever crafting in the composition and love in the sounds. Daft Punk’s admiration for Giorgio is clearly felt and their homage to Giorgio is one that lets me know I am not alone in the becoming and beings of a musician.