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There is intelligent music and there is clever music and the difference between the two is that the latter might just be a series of in-jokes that no one except the musicians and a few close friends get. Michael Cretu however, makes intelligent music. Music that you've definitely heard and used at some point in your life - for inspiration, to accentuate a mood or simply to feel something when nothing seems to make sense. That's the magic of Enigma and this is the conversation we had when we caught up with the man behind the music while he was at home in Spain.
The Record: Tell us about the new album, how did you decide to embark on this new phase in the Enigma project?
Michael Cretu: It is difficult to explain because with the old albums, after being finished a cycle was closed. Phase one of Enigma was done. After the greatest hits album, I said 'If I'm doing a new Enigma album it has to have really big changes from the past'. It was boring for me (to do the same thing again). I had the impression that I said everything that has to be said. And then I decided to make an album which is more pop song oriented but treated everything in Enigma style.
TR: The new album is a departure from the signature Enigma sound no chants, very few of the sounds that have come to be associated with the musical identity of Enigma, are you concerned that the fans will be disappointed?
MC: First of all I would like to say that even the earlier albums are different - from album one with the Gregorian chants to album two. By the way I was surprised about the extremely positive reaction concerning the new album - not only from Enigma fans but even people who are not fans. I agree with you, I thought, oh some of them would complain, but nobody complained. People have said that the more you hear it the better it becomes. That makes me very happy.
TR: This album is also your longest work. Is that because you felt you had more to say or is it just a function of your new sound.
MC: It's very simple. Every album I do reflects my mood, how I feel, how I think in a certain period of my life. That's why I always keep a distance of at least three years between the albums. I need the change of myself to get new ideas and new feelings. I have to like the music first, before the people like it. If I don't like the album you will never hear it. So first I have to be happy, it seems when I'm happy with the music there are these vibrations, emotions, I don't know what I'm transporting with the music and it's not so important what kind of music I'm doing but it's important that I am still transporting these vibrations.
TR: Do you have a process for making music or do you take it day by day and wait for inspiration to strike you while you're in the studio?
MC: First of all I always work through the night. In the morning I have no ideas at all. (Laughs) In the morning I try to find my brain and I don't know where it is. Basically I work through the night from 7 o'clock to about 8 o'clock the next morning. I love the night. I can concentrate, nobody bothers you, no phone calls nothing. The longest time it takes till I get into the atmosphere of what I want to do. It's like a kind of meditation. I'm running around trying to concentrate and get into the feeling. It's a kind of yoga, I never learned yoga but it's basically focusing your energy and power on your certain target - one day it's this song, it's something I want to do. But when I get into the atmosphere of what I want to do then choosing the sound and recording it is pretty fast. The other process is pretty long.
You can read the rest of our exclusive interview with Michael Cretu in the November 2003 issue of The Record Music Magazine available at your local newsagent.
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