La Blogotheque is not a normal music company.
For the past nine years, the Paris-based videography and online media firm has made it its mission to “change the way people experience music”.
It’s done so by filming and posting “beautiful, rare and intimate sessions” with a wealth of fantastic artists.
These projects – particularly the iconic online ‘Take Away Shows’ – continue to help fans see their favourite acts as they have never done so before.
The Independent Echo asked some of its staff what they love about the company, and the coolest moments they’ve experienced there so far…
Christophe ‘CHRYDE’ abric, Founder / CEO
* What’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened to you at La Blogotheque?
So, so so many moments. But if I had to choose one, it would be those minutes when I was in the middle of the crowd, in the Olympia in Paris, a microphone in the hand, recording Arcade Fire who agreed to start their show there, just after playing Neon Bible in the venue’s elevator.
One of the most iconic Take Away Shows we’ve ever done, but above all, an incredible, unique, moment.
* What does La Blogotheque mean to you and why are you proud to work there?
Well… When I launched this weblog in 2003, I would have never imagined it would become such a beautiful thing. I would have never imagined I and others would make a living out of it.
I would have never dreamed to film half the bands we actually filmed. I’m simply proud it exists.
* What do you hope to achieve at La Blogotheque in the future?
I have a secret dream to celebrate the Take Away Shows’ 10th anniversary. Too soon to tell…
MATTHIEU BUCHSENSCHUTZ, Associate Producer and Vice president
* What’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened to you at La Blogotheque?
Bon Iver playing in my living room in front of an audience of 40 people – the occasion of one of the first ‘pocket parties’, our private intimate shows series launched in 2008.
That’s probably when I decided to join Chryde to do La Blogotheque.
* What does La Blogotheque mean to you and why are you proud to work there?
Coming from big media organisation, choosing to develop La Blogotheque has been a life-changing experience.
A place where the team’s passion, dedication and flexibility are the key drivers of what we do.
I’m proud that we manage to get bigger while keeping it indie and highly qualitative in all our productions.
* What do you hope to achieve at La Blogotheque in the future?
Obviously keeping on developing outstanding projects; make them bigger, and enlarge the scope of our productions.
Especially I’d like to produce features around music. I’m sure we have all in our hands to do amazing films.
ONDINE BENETIER, editor / Artist coordinator
* What’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened to you at La Blogotheque?
Being alone in an empty Musée d’Orsay this year when we filmed a Take Away Show with French artist Dominique A was pretty surreal.
Filming Jack White at Château de Fontainebleau and having to pinch myself every ten seconds to be sure I wasn’t dreaming too.
But I guess the coolest thing that happened to me at Blogothèque was to fly to the US for a month and set up four Pocket Parties with four different bands in some people’s flats in New York and Los Angeles and broadcasting them live worldwide on YouTube. How cool is that?
* What does La Blogotheque mean to you and why are you proud to work there?
It means being creative, working with a bunch of cool directors, sound directors and bands.
Putting bands out of their classic promo schedule and seeing what happen when they have to be spontaneous in a world where everything is too predictable.
I’m overly proud to work for La Blogothèque when an artist we love say that the video he did with us was the craziest thing he did in his life.
* What do you hope to achieve at La Blogotheque in the future?
Honestly, we want to run the world.
ANOUSONNE SAVANCHOMKEO, Production manager
* What’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened to you at La Blogotheque?
- I got to hug Killer Mike, John Stanier from Battles and the guys from Liars.
- I hid mics in a private jet to record our Phoenix Take Away Show.
- I felt like a pioneer with the first drone filming we made.
- I went 150m under ground, literally, to produce our Empty Space film with Sigur Ros.
- I’ve travelled the UK like a rock star in a Belgian tour bus.
- Nicolas Jaar talked to me in French.
- Bill Callahan made a joke and I laughed.
- Jack White was there and I was there.
- I went to Rome for four days to film Nicolas Godin, and the Villa Medici was my home.
- I started drinking whisky with my beloved colleague Jonathan.
* What does La Blogotheque mean to you and why are you proud to work there?
Since college I was hoping to work for La Blogotheque, they are the best regarding filming music, period.
I’ve been obsessed with the Take Away Shows. I tried to film my own, saw it was a disaster, watched more TAS, then contacted Chryde for an internship, and got rejected – because at that time, the office was in his kitchen.
So I hit the road, made my own experience, kept contact with La Blogo and one day, I sent an email to Chryde letting him know I was still there. We met in a Café, the rest is history.
I’ve been working with La Blogo for 2-and-a-half-years now. I’m so proud to be part of that family, and La Blogotheque is a true family, with two dads, seven uncles – Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sneezy etc. – plus its many brothers and sisters.
It might sound cheesy, but it’s all about love: we love music, we love each other.
What’s important is the people who makes La Blogo; all the directors, sound engineers, cameramen, tech crew – all of them.
Of course in every family, there’s issues but we try dealing with them by sending some of the guys to the shrink :)
Everybody is passionate; we share that spirit, we want to create the best films we can. That’s all.
* What do you hope to achieve at La Blogotheque in the future?
Filming Nick Cave, I love you Nick, so so much, with all my heart, I’m desperate, please pretty please let’s work together, I’ll be your bitch. Seriously.
JEAN-BAPTISTE AUBONNET, Sound engineer
* What’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened to you at La Blogotheque?
I remember the first time we met the Local Natives, it was at La Route Du Rock winter edition 2010.
I liked a lot of their album so I was excited to try something with them and they were as crazy as us. So what was suppose to be a simple shooting became an epic game of who will have the craziest idea !!
We ended up shooting in a pub nearby, drinking pints of beer to warm us up at 5pm while their tour manager was looking for them cause they were desperately late for their soundcheck.
We met them again after their show to keep having fun, that was super cool.
* What does La Blogotheque mean to you and why are you proud to work there?
For me la Blogothèque is one of the few places where I can really express myself.
They trust me as much as I trust them so when we go on a project, it’s a lot easier than anywhere else.
They’ve offered me so many opportunities through the years to work with amazing artists with the right conditions to do something exceptional.
So when they call me it’s a no-brainer. I go with my eyes closed.
* What do you hope to achieve at La Blogotheque in the future?
The future is a really cool concept here cause it’s kind of the same game we played with the Local Natives – it’s who will have the craziest idea!
That means for me that in the future, I want to develop some concepts that will aggregate all the crazy ideas we had over the years.
I don’t know how or when and especially not which artist will go for it – but I know that this is the place where it is possible.