Flaunt Premiere | Julien Bracht "Streets"

Producer Julien Bracht gears up for the release of his new album Now Forever One on June 11, premiering the video for “Streets” today on Flaunt. His first solo album under his own name comes after his recent remix for Grimes’ “My Name is Dark” and moves Bracht away from techno DJing into a new realm of possibility, all while continuing to explore new texture and structure of songs as with his project Lea Porcelain.

Flaunt caught up with Bracht for the release of the video for “Streets”, chatting about the inspirations behind the visual and the forthcoming album, Now Forever One. Read below and explore the digital streets.

What was the inspiration behind “Streets”?

First, of all, thank you so much for your interest in my music. To be honest, I can’t really remember, as I recorded “Streets” last summer when Covid was hitting the planet with full impact. I know that I was starting with this simple beat on the Elektron and I was inspired by the sounds, that came out of the prophet, after tweaking the filters and Oscillators. I always start from scratch with the prophet 6 and from there, I go from sound to sound. After I had this acid bassline, I came up with the other bassline, which would make the second part of the song. I somehow heard a voice over it and invited Enyang Ha to the studio. She is an amazing artist and Mastering Engineer (also for my album) and has a great voice. I showed her the instrumental and we came up with that melody and we recorded it in 10 min. After that, I had the two parts. I remember that one friend of mine helped me to bring some order in the track, as I was not able to listen to it in an objective way anymore. After the session, I knew how the track would evolve and finished the arrangement pretty quick. I always love to be inspired by the sounds I create in that very moment.

Why did you choose to showcase graffiti and murals in the music video?

There is no particular reason for it. When I was thinking about a possible video concept, I was calling my friend Micha Titze, and told him that I had the idea to fly through some streets and make a trippy video out of it. I remember, that I was inspired by Aphex Twin’s “T96 Collapse” video. Micha then told me about that new possibility to 3D scan with the new iPhone 12 and he would collect some of the scans on the internet and construct his own world with it. And he really liked the ones with graffiti art on it, as you discover new things each time you see the video.

How important is it for you to create visuals and videos to your music?

I think music together with motion picture is one of the strongest medium when it comes to triggering emotions and feelings. So, for me, it’s really important to have videos for the main tracks on the album. People always remember that feeling when they saw a video for the first time. The work with Michael Titze is really unique and he felt exactly what I wanted to see as a video for the song.

What can we expect from the rest of your album, Now Forever One?

Now Forever One is a journey through my last 4 years, doing solo productions beside the band project Lea Porcelain. On my debut, I try to play with opposites. Like sun and shadow. Basslines often represent the shadow, while the synth melodies are the sunlight, suddenly shining through the window. These bright pads throughout the album are the universe, in which the sounds live. For me, that album is my way to transport emotions that I wanna give to people, rather than transporting my own ones. This Album is my spiritual book of sounds, which should lead to inspiration and positivity. All sounds are handmade with analogue gear, most of them are one-takes. I try to let the sounds speak for themselves and be the transporter for them.

The album is a journey through different soundscapes and different emotions. I go from cinematic soundscapes to real rave bangers, trying to let them live in the same universe of sounds. I try to have no borders when it comes to certain energy or genre. Electronic music is there to explore different angles and possibilities we have with our machines. The “Sorbets” and “Extraterra” are there to neutralize your ears of any expectation of the next songs.

What was your favorite part of assembling your album?

Definitely when I realized, that I have an album and it makes sonically sense to me. I was always scared to think about it as an album and often going back and forth if I should release the songs on various EPs, but in the end, I felt like I want to show people the full picture of the Julien Bracht sound, that I made in the last years.

I love to listen to albums and I think this format should always be the main goal when you are a musician. The story you can tell with an album is much deeper than with singles or EPs. I hope that people feel this journey through my world of sound and maybe inspire them in a positive way.

How do you want people to feel when they listen through Now Forever One?

Loaded with energy to start with whatever mission in their life and achieve their goals. I feel, that in this time we should push each other to the maximum and try and get the best out of this life, as we only have one in this body.

If you want to have the full effect, you should lay down and use some good headphones and close your eyes for 1 hour.