Legendary sound artist Frédéric Sanchez – best known for his soundtracks for Maison Margiela, Prada, Miu Miu and more –curates a work from home playlist, exclusively for AnOther
Frédéric Sanchez is possibly the most important sound artist working in fashion today. Since the late 80s, he has crafted soundtracks or “oral tableaus” for the industry’s most influential designers – from Martin Margiela (in fact, he created the soundtrack for the Belgian designer’s debut show and continued to collaborate with him throughout the 90s, for his own shows and his shows for Hermès) to Prada, Miu Miu, Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, Comme des Garçons, Jean Paul Gaultier, Jil Sander and many more. A sonic alchemist, he creates unique sound environments which draw on the music of the late 1900s and fuse genres ranging from jazz to hip hop.
Since the outbreak of Covid-19, Sanchez has, like the rest of us, been confined to his home in Normandy where he lives when he’s not travelling. Counting himself lucky, he says that this time has been a rare opportunity for rest and relaxation – a contrast to the speed and stress of his normal life. “For the first time in 30 years, I have had the chance to stay at home for more than a week,” he tells AnOther over email. “As it has been a wonderful spring, I have enjoyed watching nature. I have tried very hard not to think of the uncertain future ahead, which has allowed me to work on personal projects making videos and composing music. I have a studio in the house where I spent most of my days and night. After a few days, I completely disconnect with everything, not even knowing which day or time it was. To be honest, I have never slept so well ... ”
As a musician, it was only natural that the change in sound – of total lack of it – is one of the things he has noticed most, and enjoyed most, about this time. “It was extraordinary how quiet it was; no more cars, no more planes, no more sound pollution,” he reflects. “Only the sound of nature. As I play piano, I really enjoyed the pure sound of the piano overlapping with the birds singing and the wind blowing through the trees. Suddenly all of this felt very real.”
There’s a sense of this in this work from home playlist, which Sanchez curated exclusively for AnOther Magazine. As working from home has become the ‘new normal’ for many of us, we asked Sanchez to give us some music to soundtrack this new reality, where for many the hustle and bustle of the office has been replaced by the silence (for those of us without children) and solitude of home. The playlist begins with a tranquil track from Conjoint and concludes with a serene song by Christina Vantzou. “There is something quiet in this selection, something serene that surrounds the listener,” he says of the playlist. “But at the same time, a feeling of being outside, like if all the windows were open and the mind could easily escape.”
Listen to Frédéric Sanchez’s work from home playlist below:
