Paul Prier in Conversation with FAULT Magazine
Paul Prier

Paul Prier is an impressively nuanced artist: a Conservatoire-trained multi-instrumentalist whose competing passions for classical and jazz sit subtly in the background while he releases his own unique style of electronic music. His storied list of collabs would make many followers of the Parisian scene swoon but, fittingly for an artist so characterised by perceived contradictions, Paul plays it down. A composer and songwriter to the bone, he doesn’t want to be seen as anyone else’s keyboardist. It’s a similar story with his preferred medium of electronic music: where you might expect a synth-devotee, Paul Prier is uncompromising in his desire to see as much of his music produced and performed with organic sound and physical instruments. These are the sorts of unexpected perspectives which make Paul Prier stand out as a novel and vital idiosyncrasy in today’s crowded electronic music scene.
We caught up with Paul following a busy couple of months during which he supported Justice in December and released his latest EP, ‘Panic Peaks’, in January. In our interview, we discuss the development of his musical style, his recent commitment to more instinctive and intuitive songwriting and, of course, his FAULTs.
FAULT: Your history of working with superstar French musicians is impressive: you’ve either worked with or supported the likes of Christine & The Queens, Charlotte Gainsbourg, SebastiAn, and Justice over the years. With that sort of address book and track record, was it inevitable that you’d eventually launch a solo career? What made you finally want to take the leap from working behind the scenes to taking centre stage?
Paul Prier: I often get this question as it’s natural to think that my solo career is somehow related to my activity as a side musicians for all those artists. It’s fair to think that, but in reality, for me, those are two completely different activities and they’re totally unrelated. I started composing music way before my job as a side musician. In fact, playing for some of the artists you mention was kind of an accident – a happy one, but it definitely wasn’t planned.
In the end, I’m very glad I could experience all those moments and, of course, I learned a lot on stage, but I couldn’t say that this is what made me want to be a front man. I always wanted to compose and release my own music.
When you first decided to release your own music, you were originally part of a duo [Toys]. What made you change your mind and go solo instead?
Well, that’s actually related to the first question because I was part of Toys before I started to get work as a session musician for other artists.
It was great to be part of a duo – it was a totally different energy and dynamic to being solo. I guess sometimes it’s easier for two people to make decisions and go forward in the creative process. On the other hand, you’re also dependent on the other person’s life plans: their desires, visions, etc… so sometimes it can also slow down the process and make it almost impossible to move forward. I think that’s what ended the band, but this happened in a very smooth way with no hard feelings at all. After that, I guess the logical next step was to go solo.
Tell us a bit about your background – how did you get into music?
I started playing music at the age of five. I studied classical guitar at the Conservatoire; I always liked it, but I had no real intentions of doing it professionally. Everything changed when I discovered the piano at the edge of 15. My teacher played me a nocturne by Chopin, and it completely blew my mind. From that moment, I felt like my only reason to live was to play the piano and become a classical musician. It took me two years to realise the amount of work it would take for me to get to the level of classical musicians I admired. From that, I quickly came to the conclusion that the world of classical music probably wasn’t for me.
Next, I turned to jazz, which I studied at a school [ed.: the prestigious American School of Modern Music in Paris] for five years. I became passionate about the genre and studied it in depth. It was only after leaving this school that I started producing music in the studio, and that the world of synthesizers and electronic music began to fascinate me. And here I am today, creating music which, perhaps, blends all these influences and styles.
You’re a multi-instrumentalist, and you recorded all the instrumentals for your recent releases yourself. That’s not unheard of for a (primarily) electronic musician but it’s not all that common, either. What do ‘real’ instrumentals give you that their synthesized equivalents don’t?
The appeal of a real instrument lies both in its organic aspect, but also in the human imperfections in the groove, which bring a living quality to the music that a machine can never replicate. On the other hand, the very specific grooves of drum machines cannot be reproduced by humans. The same goes for a synthesized sound. I think, deep down, like many other artists, what I’m looking for is the right balance between these two approaches in composition, to create a harmonious blend. It’s all about finding the right balance.
After bringing a drummer to your Accor Arena gig (supporting Justice in December) and stating that you’d like two or three musicians with you at the Maroquinerie (in June), you’ve given every indication so far that live instrumentals are going to be a major part of your performances. How important to you is that live component of a gig?
I feel like the music I make could be played entirely live, but that would require having a certain number of musicians on stage. So, I’m going to try to have as many parts from the record as possible played by musicians and program the rest.
Unfortunately, with just the two of us, we’re still dependent on quite a few backing tracks, and I’d like to break free from that as much as possible. That’s why I’d like to set up a live performance with as many musicians as possible. Not to mention that music without backing tracks also allows for more freedom in the song structures. Backing tracks mean you have to play with a click in your ears, and that leaves little room for improvisation.
Name some of your key inspirations, musical and/or otherwise?
The list is very long, but to name just a few, I’d say Bach, Ravel, Monk, Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, Miles Davis, Philippe Sarde, François de Roubaix, Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Serge Gainsbourg, Steely Dan, Sakamoto, Daft Punk, Air, Justice, MGMT…. Kurosawa, Truffaut, Visconti, Fellini, Scorsese, Kubrick, Sidney Lumet, Bertrand Blier, Cronenberg, Carpenter, David Lynch, Takeshi Kitano, Paul Thomas Anderson, Superstudio, Hipgnosis, Hammershøi…
It’s early days for you as a solo artist, but how would you describe your sound? Going forward, do you see yourself developing a signature style or being more fluid in terms of the type of music you release?
That’s a good question. I think I quite like the idea that I’ll be as surprised by the style of my future tracks as everyone else. In fact, my approach to composition is extremely intuitive—at least, it has become that way now. In the past, during the creative process, I think I tried too hard to fit into a specific genre or style. Now, after forcing myself to work with this technique, I try as much as possible to have a completely intuitive relationship with the music I compose.
The style, of course, emerges naturally as the layers overlap and begin to form a piece of music, but the influences are almost unconscious. So, the good news is that I allow myself the freedom to explore any style. Then again, maybe my subconscious will remain stuck on a particular genre, but that’s something I’d rather not try to predict.
What’s one thing you’ve learned from the process of making and releasing the ‘Panic Peaks’ EP? If you could go back and change something, what (if anything) would it be?
If I were given the opportunity to go back and remake the EP, I think it would be completely different. And I believe that, for every episode of my life, if I were to relive them, they would all turn out differently as well. Because once again, I rely so heavily on instinct to create that it’s difficult to draw the same inspiration twice.

Other than your gig at the Maroquinerie in Paris in June, what can we expect from you in the near future? Anything you’re particularly looking forward to?
Yes: the release of my album in 2025. This EP is just a prelude to a much longer opus, so I’m very excited to arrive with all these new tracks.
What is your FAULT?
Not being able to stop myself from thinking that everything was better before, while in reality, it might be now that the most exciting things are happening. But that’s something we’ll only be able to say 20 years from now.