In Gaspard Augé’s latest series of music videos announces his first solo album, ‘Escapades,’ a lone horse rider races through desert terrain amid the beating hot sun, donning a falconer’s clothes and gracefully playing the violin. It’s a sneak peak into the dream-like and cinematic world that Gaspard and Filip Nilsson created together in Turkey. It’s a timeless project that explodes with playful energy and ignores the boundaries of ‘good taste and bad taste,’ and leaves the audience wanting more.
_Flaunt_ had the dear opportunity to speak with Gaspard Auge and Filip Nilsson about knights riding monowheels, cymbal factories, and teaching a horseback rider to play the violin and watch an exclusive BTS film above.
Photographed by Jasper J. Spanning.
**How did the project start?**
**Filip Nilsson**: It started with six months of discussions and conversations between me and Gaspard. I think to make something like this, you need time and Gaspard had a good taste of giving us in the production time to actually make something what we when we finally did.
I think the fun started already on the text message conversations between me and Gaspard. It’s been a very inspiring sort of ongoing conversation for a very, very long time before we came to Turkey. So actually my phone was almost full the other day, and there was like one, one thread that I didn't want to delete so I just bought some more gigabytes, it's like it's packed with the references, and things we talked about before we went to Turkey.
So I think we were in a very good mood before we went there and it was also in the middle of the worst pandemic situation. So I think nobody really believed that it was supposed to happen, actually.
**Tell me about the first message that you received about this project.**
**Gaspard Augé**: It's probably when I started sharing weird pictures from weird Instagram accounts.
**Flilip**: I mean, you sent the music first of all, and receiving music like this, trying to visualize it, it's very rare for a music video director to get something like this on your table. It’s sort of a blessing because it's music is extremely cinematic. So immediately, I started thinking about things, but then Gaspard had a clear idea of one of the videos we did with a violin horse rider. It all started with that one actually. It was like the starting point and how to pull that one off. Then we built this world around that idea. So that was the starting point of the project.
**And Gaspard, what was the starting point for you?**
**Gaspard:** The music was very powerful in terms of imagination, even when I was working on the tracks, and even in the studio, I always pictured that horse rider in some kind of Mongolian environment playing the violin. And something that comes to you and, and thanks to Filip and the whole team we managed to make it happen. But yes, it was like a dream come true.
The project for the music was already done, like more than one year ago. It was great to have this pandemic time to manage to prepare the scene and to think about all the ideas and everything. What made everything seem so fluid was that I shared the same sense of humor with Filip. We never argued, it was just so natural and so fun to work together. It's definitely important for this project to have this kind of light mood and to make something that is just about pure pleasure.
**Filip**: Something with your music as well, as we talked about early on, was to make something that feels kind of timeless. I think the horse was obviously extremely challenging to produce and to find a way to do that, that horse scene. I was always a little bit nervous about that one because I knew that it was technically extremely challenging and also quite dangerous with a horse rider riding that fast, not holding the horse and trying to play, you can't get it all.
Not the best musician perhaps but a very, very good rider. I think this idea of making something that could have been done 20 years ago, when you look at it, it's at least for me, it could be something that is old, in the way it looks and sounds also, which I appreciate a lot. I also like looking back at this in 10 years time. I think we'd still feel like it's nothing really that feels trendy, which I appreciate.
**Gaspard**: Just to do something that is completely out of time, because I guess the music has a bit of this timeless quality, is not for me to say that, just that it's definitely out of today's trends. Obviously, I made music very seriously because the plan is not to like funny music, but even the process of the recording, which was really joyful and entertaining, there is nothing I hate more than people that take themselves too seriously. Just because like in the end it’s just music and images not like saving lives or for services. It's good to work in the entertainment world and to make it as good as possible, but without like, trying to be like the coolest.
**Do you mind explaining the concept behind escapades in which it's like short vignettes instead of longer videos?**
**Filip**: I think that started with the fact that the horse scene was extremely complicated and that was part of the dream. So we needed to focus on that one. Again, we built it around that, that scene, and also that I felt like that's not gonna last for a whole video, we started talking about what if we could be more, open and just pick pieces of the music and just, scenes that all ties together somehow but so we started working around this idea.
Based on the horse scene basically and to create this universe because once we knew that, we can pull off the scene in Turkey we started to investigate what else can we do in Turkey. Turkey became very important in this whole universe actually, and also a place that we've fell in love with a lot.
**So what was the most satisfying part of the project? For you both, Gaspard this being your first solo album and then this gargantuan visual project for Filip was the most satisfying part?**
**Gaspard**: What was very satisfying was that we were a smaller crew and so it was always very easy to change, everything at the last minute, you can like change costume, change ideas changed the music, because we be Pentacle like the one where all the guys are meeting in some kind of pagan ceremony it was intended for another track. We just realized, okay, this track doesn't work with this idea and we switched tracks at the last minute. And it's so precious to work with people that are not stuck on their ideas and, like forcing things. So yeah, the whole process was so much fun and, and very inspiring in that way. Just work with people that we need to do the best thing possible, but without any stress.
**Filip**: Yeah, I also think we think that the time of where we were in December when we were in Turkey was really on the limit of everything. Once everyone was together, it was tough like we were in our own universe for a while and literally we were because we didn't know where we were because the phones didn't work for some time.
We were in the middle of Turkey and we moved around like this tour bus we had. Suddenly the Google Maps didn’t work so I never knew where I was, which was very nice, because you always know where you are.
This is in a time where they had very hard times and lock downs and barely were able to work so I think it was something with the whole Turkish crew also that was uplifting for us. We brought people from the UK and from Denmark and France, but still, they were very inspiring to work with.
**Gaspard**: Because we waited like a few months before being able to shoot something and it was very invigorating and satisfying for people to be able to work again and and it really felt like they're just loving doing their job.
**Filip**: This cymbal factory which we were shooting at which was an incredible place. Meeting these people and seeing the craftsmanship was also so unique and a very special place. It's everywhere we went during the shoot was just very inspiring.
**Gaspard**: It was completely as it is every day, it's so rough, it's a very traditional and fascinating thing to see. It's just like very good craftsmen, hammering all day long and just to witness the process and to be able to meet and feel it. It's something that very few people know about. It's visually striking that we really enjoyed.
**Filip**: They're really good cymbals, right? You know more than me about it. I mean, they're known as some of the finest handcrafted cymbals. So it's also very hard work for these guys. It's very warm, extremely warm when you close with the camera.
**Was there a specific moment during shooting that you really enjoyed?**
**Gaspard**: So many, like funny moments. I remember one specifically because it's so Filip. It was when he was shooting like the bass player. So the guy was wearing glasses, but very random, like reading glasses. At first, he took them off. And Filip was like, keep the glasses, keep the glasses. It was just this very small detail, you know, almost anachronistic as well that made like all the charm of these characters, bass captain, but then on top of that, he has like reading glasses.
One of the best and heartwarming times was at the end when everything was shot, we're like, going back to being in the minivan and getting drunk. Just because it was such a weird setting, everything was pitch black and absolutely no lights outside and we're all getting drunk and, and, and just being happy about what we had.
**Filip**: I mean, for me, I think it was because I felt a lot of pressure for the horse scene because we had to make that work. I would say it was like 40% luck, in fact to make it work because there were so many factors that could have failed. But once we had that done, I got into a very good mood and work experience.
I felt like that actually affected the other shoots because that was the first thing we did. This is always like that when you shoot, it's like when you have done the most technically or most difficult ones you feel a little bit of a relief. It opens up and actually can create more, at least for me, it's like the intuition can become even better because that's something like gut feeling you can come up with even better things on the minute. One of the things I'm really happy that we did with was when Gaspard catches the violin which wasn’t really the plan. It actually makes the whole difference for the video in the end.
Good shoot, you lost a little bit of the pressure and then it was so many good moments. This guy you talked about that the bass player was such an incredible person and he's actually a real musician from Istanbul and he practiced Gaspard's music and we did rehearsals with him before we shot them was also very very funny.
We have this British producer Alex who is a super chill guy -- it's the whole crew, the whole people around it. Also nobody was stressing us and just let us go you know.
We shot on film which is kind of a stupid thing to do in a country where there’s no technique. We shot on 16 millimeter film which in Turkey they don't have a lab and they don't have the film so everything needs to be flown in from from Denmark which was actually was one of the things that Gaspard and I decided on to set up a few rules and set some limits for what we can do.
I could never see what was really shot, I could see it on a really bad monitor but never there was no playback. It was never possible to see anything twice basically. So of course it makes you sharper, and a little bit even more focused when you work.
**So the horse shot was on film as well?**
**Filip**: Actually no, that was not. It was planned to be shot on film on a different tracking vehicle. It's a technical mumbo jumbo but then in the end, this Turkish guy.
That was another memory, I was really stressed about this Turkish drone guy. I wanted to fly in a guy from France that I know is super, super good. But it wasn’t possible. So okay, we need to go with this Turkey guy. He comes in, he doesn’t speak a word of English and he holds the drone in his hand and he’s launching it like some sort of falcon or something.
He flies closer and lower than anyone and faster than anyone else, he was stone faced with not a smile on his face and he was so good. If he was living in England or in France, he would be a superstar. This guy is filming events, like weddings in Turkey so it’s the first time he was able to show his skills in the perfect environment.
The horse ride was also incredible. I mean, he was a young, alpha male. Sweet and very confident in a way that I was stressed about because these guys that say that they can do anything, they always fail, right? But he was super.
**Gaspard**: It was really fun because the horse rider was very fierce and a turkish guy who was amazing at riding and stunts and everything. Then when we had to show him how to play the violin, we had to show him how to do it in a way that was credible. He was looking at this like, “Okay, what the hell are you trying to do?” He was in complete disbelief about the results. In the end, he loved it.
**So let's talk about your inspirations going into creating this film.**
**Filip**: Gaspard had this Mongolian rider in the first pictures that he sent me that I remember very clearly. We investigated doing this in Mongolia, you had very clear references and ideas and we started bouncing these back and forward for the style of this guy. The falcon riders, what’s it called?
**Gaspard**: There's a great documentary on this kind of falcon hunting contestant in Mongolia. I don’t remember the name but it's about like a little girl that is taught by her father how to hunt like that.
I guess everything came from the music as well. Because on the horse riding video you have this kind of galloping pace and the melodies are a bit Eastern European in some ways. You had this Ethiopian choir, and it was just very clear to me how it had to look like.
Once we had this one shot we had the desire to create some kind of coherent universe. And actually the guy with the armor on the monowheel was supposed to be a samurai but then we couldn’t find the proper armor and everything. Then everything made sense when we found the armor because Filip found an almost fake castle, it looks like some glitch, it's so weird.
It’s definitely part of the improvisation and the last minute changes of location and ideas of costumes.
**Filip**: You traveled with that armor from France, coming to turkey with the sniper outfits and the bats, at least 25 Kilos or something. (laughs)
**Gaspard**: (laughs) Yeah, it is still in my living room.
**Filip**: Having a long time to prepare, it was really good. There would be these ongoing conversations about how to improve and question the ideas which is rare. You kind of decide on something and go for it.
Not that we disagreed as you said before, but it was just like, is this the best or the right thing and it was also fun actually, because it always improved along the way it couldn't be the other way around. That could never happen but in this case, it was just getting better.
**What is the image that you think someone would have when they see it for the first time? What do you want them to leave the project with?**
**Filip**: I remember when I got exactly the reaction that I was looking for in the beginning, that people wanted more after the first ones came out. That people said ‘Yeah, I want to see more from the drum factory, I want to see what was happening,’ and this feeling of wanting more was something that I was struggling for. To tease people to get into this music and this world. As far as music, it’s obviously not for everyone because it’s instrumental music mostly and it’s not so energetic or a hit radio music. Which I think is super important that people start listening to other music and the same two and a half minutes that is all over the place.
So it was a way to get people into it and I got the reactions from a lot of people and still do because they want to hear more and they want to stick around. They can’t see more because we didn’t shoot more but they can listen to the music and enjoy its full glory which I think is the goal of the videos to get people into the music.
**Gaspard**: The fragmentation element was also interesting for us to do, like five short videos instead of one longer video that nobody would watch the entirety. It was the best way to present the record to people. What’s interesting is that depending on your own background or musical background, it will make you think of something while being a very open record. It’s the same with the videos, we didn’t want to force any strict storyline or to tell people okay, you have to understand this or that. It’s definitely more like some support for imagination.
**Filip**: Coming back to that, because I think the music is the more important thing here. Without the music, there is nothing and it all started with this album that you sent to me. I loved the music and I wanted to let as many people as possible to listen to this music which was hard because these days people have no patience and it’s a hysteric tempo in terms of new music coming all the time.
If this can live for a long time, I’m maybe repeating myself a little but I wanted to make something that feels timeless and something that someone can come back to. I think your album is very much like that, you can come back to this album in five years and time will not affect it whereas a lot of music that comes out these days is completely dead after a couple of months.
Gaspard: Especially today when everybody feels some pressure about publishing and releasing things, it’s good to do things and let them rest. In some ways the pandemic helped this kind of process because it’s obviously never finished.
When you have something that is close so it’s final form, I like to let everything align and to find the perfect record cover. I changed the record cover twice because I said it wasn’t good enough. Especially now with social media everybody is obsessed with new content. I find that when I am on social media, I am confined to disposable content. It’s good to take time to do things as good as possible and also not to ask people what they expect from you because there’s this crazy trend of social medias where we are like artists asking their audience what they song they should they release and I think no great art is going to come out of asking people’s expectations.
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**BTS Film Crew**
Editing: Ben Canny
Filming: Frederik Haslund
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