Alexandre Navarro is a guitarist, "sound maker," and French independent producer. He was born on August 27, 1974, in Talence near Bordeaux and currently lives in Paris.
In the mid-90s, after playing as a guitarist in several rock and song groups, the discovery of the sampler, drum machines, the acquisition of a 4-track cassette recorder, and a delay pedal radically changed his approach to music : these were his first purely instrumental experiments. The influence of post-rock, trip-hop, and drum & bass played a significant role in his musical development, thanks to labels such as Warp, Ninja Tune, Mo Wax, Thrill Jockey... In 1998, alongside his studies in anthropology specializing in the history of religions, which he completed with a master's degree, he discovered and studied — thanks to an invitation from a friend — concrete and electronic music at the Bordeaux Conservatory. As a member of the Octandre association directed by composer Christian Eloy, he was noticed at the festival Futura 2000 with his triptych composition "KIO."
In 2001, freshly moved to Paris with his future wife, he partially abandoned purely concrete music despite his fascination with the works of pioneers such as Pierre Schäfer, Michel Chion, or Bernard Parmegiani. After a stint with the electro-pop group Frantic, for which he composed a track, he started in 2004 an independent career and released his first album "Please, sit down" on the Swiss netlabel Realaudio from the demoscene directed by Roger Stucki (member of the techno duo Digitalis). Catapulted into the free scene under the " Creative Commons " license of the time, he performed concerts in France, Europe and Mexico and released on various international labels such as Archipel, Standard Klik Music, Mandorla. Stimulated by this excitement, Alexandre Navarro also founded several netlabels EKO in 2006 and then SEM label in 2007 (with Letna).
Upon the closure of Sem in 2014, he founded Disqan and finally the highly conceptual "les disques imaginations" in 2018 with its 8 unique 10” vinyl releases, ultimately deciding to no longer run labels.
These various experiences allowed him to meet numerous international artists and release albums and EPs on other labels : Laverna, Dronarivm, the Californian label Constellation Tatsu, the mysterious Handstitched*, and today Facade Electronics.
Beautiful encounters such as that with the Mexican composer sadly deceased in 2018, Manrico Montero (Mandorla, SEM label, Sub Rosa), turned into friendship and sparked others, such as the encounter with Fax (Rubén Tamayo designer, composer, and founder of the Mexican label Facade Electronics). During the SEM label era and the release of his album Arcane, his decisive encounter with German designer Markus Schäfer — Büro Ink — sealed a beautiful collaborative friendship for most of his artworks and the creation of his logo.
Without being conceptual, his compositions intertwine the exploration of modular synthesis, old-school & granular sampling, the play of electric or acoustic guitars sometimes embellished with numerous effects flirting with post-rock, field recording, electronics, "ambient" and concrete music, microtuning... But in the end, it doesn't matter, it's the passion for sound in all its forms that harmonizes simple melodies. Since 2004, "Navarro" has released over 24 albums and EPs on international independent labels, two of which were nominated for the Qwartz Awards in France (Arcane in 2008 and Loka in 2010). On occasion, he has collaborated with artists such as the Swiss Sam Graf or his uncle, architect-urbanist and scenographer, Frédéric Druot. His music has also been used in the documentary film by Mame-Fatou Niang and Kaytie Nielsen "Marianne's Noires" and several short films, including those of Australian independent filmmaker James Latter — "Traveller"; in 2016; "Home" in 2021 — and Chilean Martin Ponferrada for "Everything is upstream," several times awarded at the Southern Shorts Awards in 2018, including the "Best Music" award. [watch the short films]
Alexandre Navarro has also remixed artists like Brian Eno, Squarepusher, Fax, Manrico Montero, Arbee, Mathon, Yann Pillas, The Green Kingdom.
Interviews
2019 • Tapage Nocturne — France Musique2018 • Mes enceintes font défaut
2017 • Indie Rock Mag
2016 • Archipel
2012 • DCDL
2006 • Benzine Magazine
Index ╱ Info