Traduzione in inglese delle domande a cura di Cristiana.
Leggi la traduzione in Italiano.

Surprise! :-)
I bet that no one of you expected this!
I want to thank Joseph Bryars that made it all possible and of course Steve Jansen for the availability and professionalism demonstrated in this interview.
Thanks Alex, thanks Cristiana!

Gianluigi

Alex: Let’s start from Slope, your last album, the first solo work in your career. How long have you been desiring to release a solo work? Can you say something about the birth of this project and its development?

Steve Jansen: Having developed a comfortable working partnership with Barbieri over the years I'd never really felt the need to explore solo work. We'd started a label along with Karn and were working on various collaborations so there were quite a few areas to be keeping me busy. It wasn't until I worked with Barbieri & Karn under the JBK title that I started to see my tastes in music and composition going in a different direction. At the same time I was taking on much of the workload since I was also computer programming, engineering most of the recordings, and mixing too. Not that I minded as I'm quite meticulous with detail, but I was beginning to wonder if I was in danger of wanting to dominate proceedings too greatly and whether it would be more interesting for me to be exploring my own interests in composition and sound design. At about this time Sylvian and I began working together again after quite a few years of putting some distance between ourselves, and I immediately felt that familiar compatibility in music that we'd always shared since we were kids. It was a good time for both of us to work closely and develop a label. We had the intention at the outset of collaborating on compositions for a joint project (which was to eventually become Nine Horses), but at the same time I wanted to commence work on solo material for release on the new label. As it turned out, some of those solo compositions merged with the Nine Horses project and were released under that name, and after touring and recording further works with David I wanted to get back to a solo project. I worked mostly alone on the recording of 'Slope', exchanging files over the internet. I like the flexibility and relaxed timescale of this method of working. It can of course become very solitary work but I'm not a particularly social person, particularly concerning the work space. I think this comes from my past experience of going straight into work with my closest friends out of school, and spending years in this 'bubble' of comfortable relationships. I've never been the kind of person to place myself amongst strangers in the name of work. Of course I have done that but it's the cause of some angst to me. Part of the reason I became a musician was to escape normal social and work circumstances.

Gianluigi: I have always been fascinated by the relationship between personality and creativity. How much your being "not a particularly social person"  has influenced your artistic choices? I suppose that your need to work in a friendly environment gives you a strong sense of safety.

Steve Jansen: Perhaps the sense of safety between good working friends helps to allow more risk taking within the musical content. That was certainly the case when working with Japan members - we relied upon each other to be supportive about diversity and change - never to rely on predictable musical structures, which takes considerable more work and patience.

Alex: In your early works you sang your own pieces. On Slope  you chose to employ good singers for vocal parts. Is it a temporary or definitive choice?

Steve Jansen: It's a definitive choice. I don't enjoy taking on vocals and am by no means a good vocalist. I am very aware of my limitations. With 'Slope' I wanted to make a record that I could feel was not artistically compromised.

Cristiana: Listening to your “Sow the Salt” I can hear some little sounds that reminds me of “Maria” by your brother David. Am I wrong?

Steve Jansen: It contains nothing from Maria - the track actually evolved out of an old, manipulated vinyl record sample. If there are any sonic similarities they are purely coincidental.

Gianluigi: The live DVD (Japanese date) is coming out. Can you tell us something about the birth of this project and why you decided not to have all the artists involved on stage with you?

Steve Jansen: It would have been impossible to invite all the artists who appear on the recording to be with me on stage in Tokyo - it wouldn't have been financially viable, but besides this I prefered to create a visual backdrop - this was a very important and integral part of the show. I personally prefer visual events much more than music events and therefore I wanted to incorporate a visual experience that would hold the audiences attention. Since I was working in collusion with Shoko Ise it was a great opportunity to expand upon this idea with the inclusion of all my vocalists in the films. It would add diversity to the film content as well as focus more attention upon the vocalists contributions. It was also in my mind that, as a one-off concert, it would create a new visual component to accompany the project as a DVD release.

Alex: Tell us about Worlds in a Small Room. What led to its birth? And what about the related video?

Steve Jansen: It was a project commissioned by JVC in Japan. They were producing a series of so-called 'ambient videos' which included various themes such as architecture and space travel. We were presented with extensive NASA footage which was to be edited down to make a VHS release and were asked to compose the music. Due to our interest in film work we took on the project which was written and recorded in about 10 days. It  was the first post-Japan collaboration between Richard Barbieri and myself.

Alex: The other works you did with Richard were addressed to… sounding the space. How did you share the work process?

Steve Jansen: We gave each other plenty of space to work on ideas. It was a very relaxed partnership. We would attempt to bring an equal number of compositions to the each project whereby we would then open them up to one another's input. It was essentially an extension of our working relationship in the group Japan.

Alex: Was the Dolphin Brothers project a last try to return into the pop circuit?

Steve Jansen: It seems to have been although that wasn't the mindset at the time. Richard and I wanted to try our hand at song composition. There were actually very limited avenues for producing instrumental music in the 80's, therefore having just stepped out of a 'pop band' it seemed the obvious thing to attempt.

Gianluigi: How is today the relationship with your old friends and traveling companions of the "Japan" adventure? Strong life experiences like that one, especially lived at a young age, should leave an indelible link.

Steve Jansen: We shared some major life changing events together during a period of life that is heavily influenced by people and surroundings so it's impossible for us to leave those relationships in the past as they have affected what we've become. The fact that we've all now matured and gone our separate ways means that we ultimately want different things out of life and relationships (although David and I being brothers means that there is a family tie that keeps us closely connected). I am the only person out of the four of us that's in regular contact with each of the other guys. Sometimes my 'inbox' receives emails from all three at once and I can verify that we are all very different people leading very different lives.

Alex: You worked with several musicians. Can you tell us about your Italian experience? I am referring to the Marco Polo project, to Andrea Chimenti and particularly to Alice.

Steve Jansen: I've worked with Alice many times. She is quite assertive in dealing with Italian musicians in her band. I've sat through many arguments in rehearsals (without understanding much of what was being said) however she has never behaved in this way towards me. So, I know what she is capable of, and many Italians who have worked with her have mentioned their experiences in a way that seemed difficult for them, however I've always enjoyed the collaborations, which have mainly been live work. I've only worked with Chimenti one time. A charming and warm gentleman who seemed very comfortable with his work and was a great pleasure to spend time with. Regarding Marco Polo, there was only one collaboration many years ago which was made by an exchange of tapes, not actually in person. I've also worked with Claudio Chianura a few times. He is a warm, intelligent man and again, very open and progressive with ideas on recording and performing.

Alex: Your friendship with Yukihiro Takahashi started a lot of years ago. Can you tell us something about this long collaboration?

Steve Jansen: We do go back a long way. To 1980 in fact. I think we are good friends as much as collaborators. We've made a few recordings and numerous live performances together in Japan over those years and there are simply too many episodes and stories to recount. Apart from the enjoyment of these projects, it has been a wonderful opportunity for me to really grow up understanding Japan and it's people. As with any nation, there's good and bad sides but I find being in Japan is always an interesting experience even though I've been there more times than I can count. When I'm there I still feel a sense that anything is possible. And it's such a fascinating culture, so different from our own and yet, for some odd reason, I feel very much at home there. The respect and discipline that is prevalent within Japanese society I find to be extremely agreeable and civilised and the level of efficiency is astounding. Of course, as many people will be aware there is a downside in that there is not a great deal of creative originality and individualism however that in changing.

Alex: Which of your projects do you look back on most fondly? (3 at least, please!)

Steve Jansen: This I'm answering in terms of the time spent making the recording - I don't mean the recording itself: Rain Tree Crow, Stay Close. These two stand out as great memories of being amongst friends and really enjoying the experience. For the majority of the Rain Tree Crow sessions we spent two months in isolation in studios in the South of France and Northern Italy. Stay Close was recorded at the foot of Mount Fuji. I don't have a third choice with particularly fond memories although parts of Brilliant Tress recording in Berlin at 'Hansa By The Wall' studios was something special.

Alex: Have you got any musical plans for the future? Are you working on something new?

Steve Jansen: Right now I'm working on new material.... Nine Horses 2 perhaps, or could be the next solo project. At this stage it all starts from the same place.