Co-owner (50% stake), Château Miraval
Billboard Presents: Tour of Miraval Studios With Brad Pitt & Damien Quintard | Billboard Cover
Co-founders Brad Pitt and Damien Quintard take us on a tour of the legendary Miraval Studios and share their future plans for the revamped studio for our latest cover story.
"Olympic”
(Simon HENNER)
Performed by French 79
© Alter K
(p) Internexterne, under exclusive license to Alter K Courtesy of Alter K
“Between The Buttons”
(Simon HENNER)
Performed by French 79
© Alter K
(p) Internexterne, under exclusive license to Alter K Courtesy of Alter K
“The Remedy”
(Simon HENNER)
Performed by French 79
© Alter K
(p) Internexterne under exclusive license to Alter K Courtesy of Alter K
Souffle au...
Transcript (8 segments)
B
Brad Pitt0:00
It was pretty dank in here, you know. It still smelled like the 70s, or maybe the 80s to be fair. Like it hadn't been touched since then, so it needed to cuddle.
Hey Billboard, welcome to Miraval Studios. I'll be showing you around. So the company... There were always plans to revamp the studio. We had the great bones of what Jacques Lucier created here, and it's got great historical prominence from the music talents that have come through these doors. So it was always something we wanted to revamp, but didn't want to do it until we could do something special. And it wasn't until I heard what Damien was doing. He had the gig before he even knew it. He had the gig before I even knew if he wanted the gig. I mean, that was it from my standpoint.
D
Damien Quintard1:28
As a French engineer, it was kind of a Holy Grail, you know. I mean, for us it's something that's super important because it was one of the legendary, one of the iconic studios. And then I came here for a few weeks to understand the vibe of the place. So it was really a matter of understanding the philosophy before anything else. So this is our control room. In front of us, actually, you can see a full 180-degree glass view that separates the control room from the live room. And one of our main focuses when we started redesigning this project was that we really wanted to make sure that we could have a space where there's light coming in from literally everywhere. You want to create a space where you can be free, where you're not encumbered with all the outside world, where you can be free to digest, to download, to be introspective. And this place offers it for me, and I have a lot of creative friends that have been through here since, and it seems to do the same for them.
B
Brad Pitt2:31
So I, it was just in that spirit, really. I agree. What's most important, in my opinion, is the inspiration that people have when they come into a space and this feeling of being safe. And that's what we're trying to do here, is really have something that's super inspiring. It's always felt like a sanctuary for me. My artist friends that come through here, it's the same for them. And it was really the only goal: make it, let's make a sanctuary for artists to come in and do their thing. I got a painter friend who's down there in the studio painting right now. Bands who come here, chefs will come through, a novelist, a sculptor, and then come together and kind of cross-pollinate ideas and bounce off each other, or just put it all away and have a hang by the poolside.
D
Damien Quintard3:12
We wanted to create a space where we can only use the best of the technologies from the past, or the analog equipment, the hardware, the compressors, the EQ. They'll have a different sound, they'll have a different texture and color. It really helps during productions when you can give the artists lots of choices. You know, how do you want to sound today? Also, at the same time, integrate a lot of digital technology within the desk so we could have a hybrid setup. And we also have the original SSL board that was there, and that curated and created so many fantastic records here in the past. We have the Jacques Lucier board that Roger Waters recorded on. The cool thing is that it's also a room where we can edit films, mix them, master them, etc.
B
Brad Pitt4:06
Well, you know, the other half of the building are editing suites. And my friend Fincher was already here this summer editing his film. And you know, I got a lot of director friends, so they can come through as well. And I don't know, this artist kind of hang out.
D
Damien Quintard4:22
So when you're in this live room, the idea was that the sound would be organic, and that was super important for us. So what is an organic sound for us? It's something where the sound will hit the wood, the sound will hit the natural stones of the domain. You have stones everywhere, you have wood everywhere, you have a big olive tree right behind you. And it's really a space where we want people to feel comfortable and cozy and creative. This is also the building where they make the rosé. It's literally beneath us.
B
Brad Pitt4:55
You know, our first act to come in who's just royalty: Sade. It's meaningful for us because she recorded her first and her third album here under Jacques Lucier. So to open it up that way, it was really special. Again, she's just royalty. Use Judas Priest, George Michael with Land, Gypsy Kings, so many, Rammstein, so many cool, cool artists that created a wide variety of music, whether it's pop, rap, symphonic music. Lots of things were done here. And yeah, it's a little way of showing our past and soon our future. I don't know, it's just special to give it new life. I'm really, really excited to see what music comes out of here. We're just on the ground floor, and we're just waiting for us to start building up the new legacy. And the name of Miraval that needs to get out in the music world to say, hey, now we're open. Who's coming? We're open for business.