Smash The System

Jackson (centre) with Luciano and Dyane in Berlin. Photo by the author.

Is there anything worse than having cool parents when you’re growing up? Which ever way you try to rebel against everything they stand for, you can never win because they did it first, did it better, and did it in the 60s and 70s when it was even more shocking. Your only option is to conform and become a teacher or something. So what are you supposed to do when your mum’s a former model and successful singer in France and your pa once made documentaries with Warhol cohort Paul Morrissey and cats like that and you’re raised in a nice “bohemian-bourgeois” household in Paris? If you’re Jackson Fourgeaud, the 26-year-old behind Smash, one of the nuttiest electronic albums in years, you throw yourself into techno and rave at the first opportunity because at least that’s a culture your folks can never fully comprehend. Right? “Well kind of,” says Jackson, “but the ironic thing is that I was using my mum’s equipment to make techno. Because she’s a musician she had an Atari and an 808 at home.” Jackson’s ma, Paula Moore, had a hit in the 80s in France called “Valparaiso” which was produced by Daniel Vanguard, the guy who did “D.I.S.C.O.” and co-produced a baby boy named Thomas Bangalter. Now she’s about to release a smoky blues album overseen by the chap who did the Nouvelle Vague project. She also sings on her son’s record. VICE: What about your dad? Jackson: I think my dad is happy about what I do. Like, he listens to my stuff and goes, oh yeah, it reminds me of The Residents. At some point he was doing some documentaries on contemporary dance so he hung out a little bit with Terry Riley and another guy who was doing a ballet with The Residents’ music. He did a movie called Forty Deuce with Paul Morrissey as well. My dad is a special case. Did techno help? When I got into Spiral Tribe and SP23 I was 15, too young to go to raves. So I would always say I was going to sleep at my friend Max’s house, then come back at midday the next day with huge eyes. At some point my parents realised I’d been going to warehouse parties. So you’ll be working on your ma’s music soon? Hmm, I don’t know if that would be helpful. THANDIE NEUTRON
Jackson & His Computer Band’s Smash is out now on Warp.