Jean-Michel Jarre

“I have always been of the opinion that when those in power are promoting actions and ideals that risk harming or impeding us, people should stand up to this.”

“What is important to me is that the world understand that the problems of the Dead Sea concern not only residents of the region but humanity.”

“I don't necessarily like anniversaries that much.”

“Dance fascinates me, and it is perhaps the most enriching audio-visual realm for a musician. Film-making also fascinates me.”

“People don't realize enough how important and influentical John Carpenter has been in electronic music. He did his soundtracks by himself, using mostly electronic and analog synthesizers. He's a cult figure with DJs these days for good reasons.”

“People are rejecting the power of the elite, but individuals such as Snowden are doing so in a positive way, trying to change things for the better. He is a very intelligent man and obviously interested in electronic music.”

“Snowden has demonstrated true love for his country. He has done something to improve the lives of people.”

“When you think after 25 years of Mao, Chinese people had no idea about western music or even western culture. They had no idea about James Dean or the Beatles or Charlie Chaplin, modern music or modern cinema.”

“When I was at the Group for Musical Research, with this idea of discovering electronic music, I quickly realized that that it was a very interesting and exciting approach to music, but I also saw that it was very intellectual and quite dogmatic.”

“My mother, who was in the Resistance in the Second World War, passed away at 96, and it was like she was 60. I almost have to apologise for my genes.”

“Bands like Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream, who I respect, have a very robotic, dehumanised approach. They're almost an apology for machines. It's very German.”

“I would say to anyone starting out that if their priority in life is happiness, then don't be a musician.”

“CDs are not as good as vinyl, and you buy one in the supermarket along with the yoghurt.”

“I'm convinced that the earth is much stronger than us.”

“What is very interesting when talking about electronic music is that - I would say that rock and roll is called the ethnic music born in America that invaded the world. Electronic music is certainly kind of ethnic music born in countries like Germany and France that has invaded the world.”

“My first synthesizer was the VCS3. I got it in Bristol in the late Sixties, long before Pink Floyd used them. I had to sell an acoustic guitar and an old reel-to-reel tape recorder to raise the money. You can do fantastic things with modern computers, but you cannot use them in the same intuitive, spontaneous way you can a VCS3.”

“In electronic music, staying behind your laptop for two hours is not too exciting to watch.”

“I have played a few times in Barcelona, including the fantastic Olympic Stadium. It's undoubtedly one of my favourite cities in terms of the people, arts, food, architecture and design.”

“When I first heard Kraftwerk, I thought they were an American band singing in German.”

“I just had one occasion in my life when suddenly my private life was everywhere, and that was an accident and beyond my control.”