Interview: World Record-Breaking Pianist Chilly Gonzales: 'Jarvis Cocker and Peter Serafinowicz are My Best British Buddies'

As much a persona as a musician, the Canadian rapper and classical pianist Chilly Gonzales comes to the Royal Albert Hall on 28 October to promoting his latest album Gonzo alongside special guest Jarvis Cocker and Peter Serafinowicz as Elvis Presley.

This is far from the first visit to the capital for this fascinatingly eclectic performer who - among other titles - calls himself The Entertainer. At about the same time as his film composer brother Christophe was winning an Emmy for his work on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the artist formally known as Jason Beck was dropped by Warner Brothers, moved to Germany, declared himself "The President of the Berlin Underground" and adopted the stage name Chilly Gonzales. From there, he built up a solid body of work around Europe with his louche and laidback rap style for local label Kitty-Yo while mentoring and collaborating with indie heavyweights like Feist and Peaches. 

In 2004, he decided to give his lips a rest and let his fingers do the talking through his acclaimed collection Solo Piano, the first part of a trilogy that won him a new audience. Five years later in Paris, he set a world record for the longest piano solo-artist performance playing for over 27 hours and covering over 300 songs.

That's not to say he has entirely left his indie roots behind. He won a Grammy award for his work on Daft Punk's 2013 album Random Access Memories and collaborated with Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker on 2017's Room 29, a song-cycle describing the happenings in a Hollywood hotel.

Before his show next Monday, we caught up with Chilly for a chat.

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We'll be seeing Jarvis Cocker and Peter Serafinowicz appear on stage with you. How did your paths first cross and what can you tell us about their contributions to your show?

Jarvis and Peter are my best British buddies, almost like big brothers. Myd BBBBs…Big brother British buddies. No spoilers though. 

What inspired you to move away from piano-based albums? Will we see Solo Piano IV at some point?

I’m a passive artist, I wait for my unconscious to tell me what I’m creating. That’s why I didn’t write lyrics since 2012. It’s also why I don’t just crank out solo piano albums one after the other, I need to wait until my unconscious presents me with no other option but to compose for piano. If it’s not sincere it won’t work for me, and if that means making things that initially seem like bad ideas so be it. 

Your new album Gonza feels in some ways like a throwback to your early-2000s work for Kitty-yo. Would that be a fair comparison?

It’s a throwback, but also an update. Some of the lyrics of those early 2000s albums are so darkly and funnily self-loathing, but when I wrote or performed them they didn’t touch me, I didn’t feel the emotions behind them. My new songs might channel some of that energy but the difference is I feel it all as I write and recite. 

As someone who remembers watching you play in tiny East London clubs in 2000, I'm looking forward to seeing you come back here to one of the biggest venues in town. What do you remember most from playing in London at the turn of the millenium?

It was a wilder time but those venues (Trash , 93 feet East) were used to the wildness. Royal Albert Hall certainly presents a different context: my simultaneous embrace of respect and disrespect for music and the music business will resonate differently than it would anywhere else. 

You've had a much longer and bigger career than many who started out in the 1990s. What do you put that longevity down to? And what are your biggest regrets?

No regrets, just gratitude! Otherwise, hard work and old fashioned good luck to be still here. 

Finally, if there was a stage play or film based on your life, who would you want to play you? 

Sacha Baron Cohen, of course.
 

Chilly Gonzales will be playing at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday 28 October.

Photo credit: Victor Picon

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