Mazarin - Mister Stoltzfus's democratic dictatorship

Nearly three years after the widely acclaimed "A Tall-Tale Storyline", Quentin Stoltzfus's psycho-pop project Mazarin returns with the long-awaited "We're Already There".

Known for being a perfectionist and at times too wrapped up in himself, Stoltzfus reveals himself, in this chat, to be an open and curious person.

First off, I wanted to ask you about the name you gave the project. How did you come to choose Mazarin?

I was reading a book by the fantastic Italian author Umberto Eco, "L'isola del giorno prima". Mazzarino was one of the characters, and I really liked the sound of it and how it looked on the page. I only found out later that Giulio Mazzarino was a real historical figure, a controversial French cardinal. The book is essentially about a shipwrecked man who, after days adrift at sea, manages to reach an abandoned ship anchored not far from the coast of what might look like a virtual paradise. The ship has everything the man needs to survive, but his longing to reach the island drives him to madness, because the island was too far to swim to and the ship was too big for one person to sail to shore. I think it's a beautiful metaphor.

Let's talk about music. It took you almost three years to write and record " We're Already There ". How and why did it take so long?

Well, the record was actually finished almost two years ago, but we had to wait for the label to release it.

How has Mazarin evolved since "Watch It Happen", your first record?

We've come a long way since "Watch It Happen". I didn't have the faintest idea what I was doing on that record. I had these songs ready to be recorded, but I didn't know how to record them in the best way, so I just let them come together into a whole record.

With the second record, "A Tall-Tale Storyline", I had a better idea of what I expected from the recording process, but I was still learning.

By the time we got to "We're Already There" I had a very clear idea of how I wanted the record to sound and I knew how to achieve it. That said, making a record is a huge undertaking and it's always a challenge. Even though I now know the recording process better, the creative process still intimidates me a lot, and sometimes every effort I make just confuses me.

Yours is a varied, complex sound. How do you figure out how a song should sound? Is there democracy within the band, or do you decide practically everything yourself?

I write very intuitively. Basically everything comes out of what I improvise while writing. I write parts of a song, then start arranging it by recording several different versions, and I pick the one I like best. I like working this way, because it embraces a number of different situations. I let a song develop on its own. It's always pretty obvious when something isn't working. I find myself getting obsessive when something works, but not perfectly, and as I keep going everything falls into place. That's the part that takes the most patience and determination.

Mazarin is a democratic dictatorship. I impose myself on whoever is working on the recordings, but most of the time I don't tell the musicians how to play. I might suggest something, but I'd rather have the musicians I choose bring their own ideas to the table.

A few years ago I read in an interview that you write songs mainly when you feel sad. Do you still do that? "We're Already There" seems like such a cheerful record to me!

Not necessarily. I'm not as sad as I used to be a few years ago. Ironically, that's actually thanks to writing songs. I'm a bit happier now than I was back then, and that's probably reflected in the music too.

Where did you write "We're Already There"? Does the place where you write affect the songs?

I wrote that song in different places, which is typical of how I write. I take a lot of little notes and then put them all together, like a collage. I tend to write a lot when I'm in the car, mainly because it's a solitary place where I can really gather my thoughts. I also write a lot when I'm traveling. You find a lot of inspiration in being in new places.

"We're Already There". Where/what is "there"?

It's almost like that distant island. Most people with a linear concept of "time" tend to feel that the "future" will be better than the "present", yet they torment themselves over memories of their "past", instead of fully enjoying the experience they're living in the moment. I prefer the Hopi Indian concept of "time", which is based solely on present experience. They see the past as "manifested present" and the future as "present becoming manifest". It's a much more realistic view of how time actually manifests itself. Being content, yet still ambitious, remains the hardest goal to achieve.

Tell me how you chose the artwork for the CD cover. How involved are you in the artwork for your records?

It's a collage created by my friend Chris McLean. He gave it to me, suggesting it would make a great cover image for the record. I fell in love with it immediately and I think it represents my music and my songwriting well. Chris is an artist, and he has a talent (some might call it a "disorder") called "synesthesia", which is the simultaneous perception of harmonic opposites. Basically, he perceives sound as color and vice versa. It's something I read about a few years ago in a book on experimental cinema that I have at home, and I was immediately drawn to it.

Then I worked with Victoria Collier on the record's layout. I like to always be involved in the artwork and packaging of the record, you know.

Will there also be a video to support the album's release?

We're actually working on the video for "Another One Goes By" right now

What should we expect from your shows? Because there will be a chance to see you live, right?

We're putting together a European tour for 2006.

And what do you expect from "We're Already There"? For my part, I can only wish you all the best.

I don't have any expectations. Anything could really happen. Actually, I'm already busy thinking about the next record.

Quentin, thanks for the chat: it's been really enjoyable.

Thank you for these excellent questions.

(Milan, December 2005)

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