Interview With Justice

Caught up with legendary duo Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, better known as Justice, at CRSSD Fest this past spring. They were kind enough to chat a bit before their set!

Photos by Anise Lew for Synth History.

Without further ado…

Justice by Anise Lew for Synth History

Synth History: How did you two meet and what kind of music were you into?

Xavier: We met through mutual friends in 2002. We’ve always listened to many different things. Back then, we spent a lot of time in pawn shops buying records. We loved The Buggles’ first album, The Age of Plastic. We still love it. There was Saint-Preux, he did a lot of things, but the record that we liked was classical music arranged like disco tracks. There was Space, a French synthesizer project. When I think of that time I think of that music. 

Synth History: Do you remember some of your first pieces of equipment?

Gaspard: I remember a piece of gear that we couldn’t afford, it was the SH-101.

Xavier: At the pawn shop, being sold for 180 euros. We were looking at it saying, “Maybe one day.”

Gaspard: Yeah, “If only.”

Xavier: We couldn’t afford it, and then it got sold, but the first synth we ever bought together was a Juno-106. We still have it.

Synth History: What are some songs you used it on?

Xavier: It’s on a lot of the songs off our first record. It’s on “D.A.N.C.E.”—the arpeggio in the beginning and the chords on the choruses. It’s the bass on “Genesis”. 

Synth History: When your first album Cross came out, did you know it was going to take the world by storm?

Xavier: No, of course not. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Every time we do something, it feels like commercial suicide. Our first track was “We Are Your Friends,” and then it took us two years to make “Waters of Nazareth”—which we were really scared to release, because we thought we might have killed whatever we had going on. It alienated people and then between 2005, 2006, 2007 it became the sound people expected from us. Then we released “D.A.N.C.E.”, and surprised people again, and our second record [Audio, Video, Disco], was 60s and 70s British rock. A lot of people who liked [Cross] didn’t like that one, and on and on.

But it worked out. Our first album had taken us to places we never imagined, and that gave us the freedom to do whatever we wanted. That’s the best luxury as musicians. Having a big hit would be great [laughs], but having underground hits is even better in some ways as it gives us total freedom, total control over everything we do, whether it’s the record, the visuals, or the way we represent ourselves at live shows.

Synth History: In terms of production, do you have any go-to pieces of gear, hardware or otherwise?

Xavier: Computers have become so powerful and good at what they do, especially now. I know it’s not the topic of your zine [laughs], but apart from the computer, there is not one piece of gear that we rely on. The only thing we don’t attempt to do with them is to emulate things from the analog world. 

Gaspard: [to Xavier] Didn’t you have an uncle that made instruments with eggshells?

Xavier: Yes I did. 

Synth History: I want to hear about that!

Xavier: He pretty much said it, I had an uncle that made instruments with eggshells [laughs]. They were all in tune and worked as well.

Synth History: What program do you use to make music with?

Xavier: Now we work in Ableton. For each album, we like to change the way we work in the studio, because you can become a bit—not lazy, but when you know your sources, it’s very tempting to just say, “I know how it’s made, I’m just going to do it this way”. That’s not what excites us. Every project and every song needs a treatment and needs different tools. 

Of course in the 60s or 70s, the studio would have their set gear and that would be the constraint. But now, it’s 2025 and everything is possible on the computer. Why limit yourself to one set of compressors? It changes every day and for every track. 

Synth History: Do you think having limitations can be a good thing in certain circumstances?

Gaspard: Yeah. On the first record we had very few synthesizers because we couldn’t afford them. But then on the next one, we used guitars, Solina, Mellotron, Rhodes. The third one was more strings and choirs. For the last one, we used the PPG Wave, it was the centerpiece. 

Xavier: Hyperdrama was pretty much made with the PPG, and the VST plugin called the WaveGenerator. 

So we limit ourselves in that way, but even if we decide on what specific gear to use on a track, we’re not dogmatic about it, we’ll break the limitations. In the end, the important thing is not the intellectual satisfaction of thinking, “I made this record with only one guitar and one Mellotron”—which was the case of Audio, Video, Disco; but If the song can be better by using something else, then we use something else.

Synth History: If you had one piece of advice for your younger selves what would it be?

[said in unison…]

Gaspard: We wouldn’t change anything. 

Xavier: We wouldn’t change anything.

Gaspard: Stay free. Do something you can sleep with at night, don’t compromise. We’re not super experimental or super punk, because we love pop music and pop melodies. But we also love the dark side of electronic music and the violence of it. 

Xavier: Trust your gut. When you honestly like something, there may be other people that connect with it. Of course the amount [of people] is a bit relevant because you need a certain amount of people to connect with your work in order to make more of it. But when you feel that something isn’t quite good–even if other people are telling you otherwise–trust your gut.

Synth History: Do you think it’s easier or harder for artists to make it these days?

Xavier: Definitely harder. I think if we were just starting out today, we wouldn’t entertain the idea of starting a band. It’s too complicated and difficult, because now the metrics have become too important. The job of a record label is to develop an artist, spot someone, and give that someone a few albums to bloom. We have friends who are just starting out and talking to record labels. They tell us the record label will say, “Oh, your music is great, but come back when you have more followers.”

Gaspard: “Come back when you do the job we are supposed to do.”

Xavier: Not everybody is meant to be a social media figure. We’re not, for example. But the problem is that now, it’s all about the metrics—the amount of monthly listeners you have on Spotify. 

Synth History: And a song blowing up on TikTok!

Xavier: It’s a nightmare. The metrics have taken over the music. Of course, it’s important to have some kind of persona, and sometimes even having a ‘non-persona’ is a persona in itself. But in that sense, I think it’s way more difficult these days. We know very talented musicians and they’re having a very hard time.

Gaspard: Also, I think it’s very harmful in general with art to have instant feedback.

Xavier: I don’t go on socials and for the last record I haven’t looked at any feedback at all, and I don’t feel disconnected. It’s good to put something out there and let it go.

For example, with “Waters of Nazareth", if we had instant feedback, I think we would have quit music. When we were playing the track in clubs or at festivals, people were not enjoying it at all. The only initial feedback we had was from a few friends, and they thought there was a problem with the vinyl pressing because it didn’t sound good to them! It took the track maybe one year or something before it became successful, Soulwax and other DJs would play it at clubs. It could take months or years for something to catch on, and having instant feedback kind of destroys that possibility. 

So kids, get a job. [laughs]

Synth History: Ok, I know you’re about to go on so I don’t want to take up too much of your time! If you had to recommend one album for someone to listen to at least once in their lifetime, apart from your own, what would it be? It could be anything and doesn’t have to be electronic or pertain to synths.

Xavier: I wouldn’t recommend our own music [laughs]. It certainly won’t be electronic music. 

Gaspard: Mine would be The Human League’s dub record [Love and Dancing]. And actually, it’s something we listened to a lot when we first met as well. 

Xavier: I love that record.

Gaspard: That record is really amazing and every time I tell someone about it I’m surprised that they don’t know about it. It’s so great but it’s completely subjective. 

Xavier: A lot of records changed my life. But I  would say, Electric Warrior by T. Rex. 

Synth History: That’s a good one.

Synth History Exclusive.

Part of Synth History Issue Five.

Photos by Anise Lew.

Interview by Danz.