by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

The Franco-Québécois cartoon co-production Les Triplettes de Belleville was a runaway hit at the beginning of this year for a number of reasons. It boasted a distinct graphic style, an engaging and idiosyncratic story and of course a fabulous score. The latter came care of Montreal musician Benoît Charest, part retro swing and chanson, part musical mad science. The score was good enough to sell like hotcakes, moving 150,000 units in the U.S. and earning Charest and band (which includes his wife Betty Bonifassi) a performance slot at this year's Oscars.

Mirror: You've worked on other films before. How was Triplettes de Belleville a unique experience?

Benoît Charest: Mainly because of the story and director. Sylvain Chomet is somebody who's very convinced of what he's doing and has a peculiar mind. Both of those together give something pretty particular. He's an illustrator, to start with, and his universe is a bit absurd, you know, the French bande dessinée.

M: I can see how Chomet's sensibility would work well with your music.

BC: Actually, it's the other way around in this case. I fitted my sensibility to his vision of the music. He hired me for the gig, and I had the constraints of doing the music for the film. Within the parameters, I had a lot of freedom, but I still had parameters.

M: What I like about both is, I'm fascinated by this sort of fantastic nostalgia. There are two ways of looking at the past. One is very precise and mathematical - say, in 1935, women in Paris wore this kind of clothes and people listened to this radio station and so on. The other is a more fantastic approach, where different decades and cultures blend together.

BC: That's what's interesting about Triplettes, that it's not precise in terms of chronology, the styles and everything. It's a parallel reality, what could have happened. Anyway, it's just a drawing (laughs)!

M: Now, the whole Oscars thing - I have to apologize, I didn't see it because I don't like awards shows -

BC: Good for you!

M: But it must have been a pretty surreal experience.

BC: Totally surreal. It was so surreal, you can't take yourself seriously. We did the gig as seriously as possible, because we're professionals (laughs). But we all know it's a crock. At the same time, you've got to be a gentleman and consider that it's a nice token of the milieu's appreciation of your work. Hollywood is Hollywood. But it was interesting anthropologically. It's so great being backstage and seeing all these stars. Some of them have the Krusty the Klown vibe - aaaargh (laughs)!

Bikes and microphones

M: Something else I love about the album is the use of tools or materials that are unexpected or considered unsuitable. To hear somebody playing a vacuum cleaner, that's completely original.

BC: There are no bad instruments, just bad musicians. It was Sylvain's idea to use these instruments, but I think he was throwing that at me without even knowing how it would come out. I was stuck with the burden of trying to make some music with household appliances. I fiddled around in my studio, kicked the Hoover around and nothing was coming out besides ‘Bonk! Boink!" Then I accidentally put my hand in front of it and it started whistling between my fingers. Then the other fingers started controlling the pitch. So I came up with a neat way of playing it.

M: A bit like bagpipes?

BC: Yeah, or like a theremin!

M: What other appliances did you use?

BC: The fridge-shelf sounds were from a real one that I'd put on a bass drum to make it resonate. I sampled sounds and organized them on the keyboard, to give me a bit more latitude. Then the bicycle is real bicycle samples, spokes and everything, that I'd blended in with kalimba, the African thumb piano. It was easier to mic this stuff in the studio because you can put the level really high to get all the sounds, but it would be hard to do live, certain of the instruments, because you have to crank the level on stage. Right now we're building a bicycle with triggers, and I'm going to use the real Hoover.

M: You're doing the Triplettes stuff at the Jazz Fest show, right?

BC: Exactly. It's gonna be fun. It's on the principle of a cabaret, a musical circus - entertainment, but a little on the weird side.

At le Spectrum on Friday, July 9, 6pm, $32.50

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