Interview with Audio Media International

Audio Media International editor Daniel Gumble spoke to Solal and Lindsay to find out what inspired their collaborative album OUTSIDER. 

How did this project come about?

Solal: It came about by incredible chance, while on tour with Gotan Project in 2003. I was due to meet Kiyoko Lerner, a friend of a friend and fan of tango, for tea. The day before, I visited the New York Folk Art Museum, and there I was standing transfixed in front of the Henry Darger collection, when I noticed the plaque underneath, which said the paintings had been loaned to the museum by Kiyoko Lerner, the same Kiyoko Lerner I was due to meet the next day.

A great friendship and mutual trust was born from this, which allowed me to develop this project and to have access to the works and the unpublished lyrics written by Darger, never before put to music. He is often seen today as a 20th century Van Gogh.

Lindsay: It all started with Philippe, years before I became aware of his fantasy to make a record inspired by Henry Darger’s fantasy. I’ve been friends with Philippe since 2006, when he discovered my band Tunng and every time we were in Paris or he was in London, we would hang out. One day, Philippe mentioned that he was obsessed with the outsider artist Henry Darger. This was the first time I had heard about him, but I was going to New York that year with Tunng and we stopped by the Folk Art museum and I saw his work in the flesh.

I instantly understood why Philippe was captivated by the work and his story. So, when he asked if I would like to be involved in making a record inspired by Darger’s life and work I was immediately excited. It was 2015 when Philippe came to London to work with me in my studio. In that time, he had done so much research and had discovered lyrics written by Darger in his unpublished 15,000 page book In The Realms of the Unreal.

Check the full interview here.

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