From the Club to the Silver Screen: Para One on Soundtracking 'Girlhood'

Released earlier this year to critical acclaim, Girlhood is a French coming of age drama. Writing in the Guardian, Peter Bradshaw notes that is has, "a raw emotional urgency and energy." Which is never a bad thing. Set in modern day Paris, Girlhood is an exploration of the life of a group of black French teenagers trying to deal with the difficulties that come during the transitory period between the comfort of childhood, the awkwardness of adolescence, and the harsh realities of life as an adult. It's great.

While you won't often find THUMP writing about independent French cinema, but not every independent French film comes with a soundtrack composed by Para One. For those of you with short memories, Para One first found fame in the French rap crew TTC, alongside Teki Latex, Cuizinier, and Orgasmic. Since those heady days, he's gone on to release infectious electro, heaving house and airy electronica on labels like Instutubes and Sound Pellegrino. He also runs the Marble label alongside Surkin and Bombo.

In 2007, he scored Water Lillies, directed by Céline Sciamma. Sciamma is the director of Girlhood and her and Para One have had a longstanding working relationship. We decided to talk to Para One about the pleasures and challenges that come with swapping the club for celluloud.

THUMP: How did you come to be involved with Girlhood?
Para One: Céline Sciamma is one of my best friends, we met in film school (La Fémis) 15 years ago and we've never stopped collaborating since. She wrote my short films and I scored her feature films. So naturally, she asked me if I would be interested in composing music for Girlhood and I said yes!

You've scored films before, what made this one different?
For the first time, there was the idea of a main theme. Céline's concept was to have one main composition that would gradually develop throughout the film, chapter after chapter. Also I recorded with several musicians, as suggested by the producer, and I felt like it really improved my all-electronic songs.

What was it about watching (or reading?) Girlhood that led you to think it was something you wanted to work on?
I can't really tell. I watched a first draft of the film without having read anything. That's usually how we do with Céline. I am one of the privileged early spectators. I just loved the movie and said yes right away. I thought it was a courageous film.

What's your process with soundtracking — do you take the whole film away and work on something or do you have a constant dialogue with the director?
The director, the editor and the producer are always welcome in the studio. We're all friends and very much used to working together and I love the fact that cinema is all about collective work. I spend enough time alone composing my own music so it's a nice change! I'm always happy to have their input. We go back and forth all the time. I work for Céline, she's in charge, I'm here to help her achieve her vision.

For you, what are the key differences in how you work on a soundtrack, compared to creating music for general release?
When you produce songs, you tend to fill everything in because it's supposed to take up the whole 'space'. Soundtracking is the opposite: you have to find the adequate balance, to lay the music in a zone where it belongs. That's actually quite liberating.

Girlhood strikes us as a film about adolescence and the challenges of facing oncoming adulthood — how did you attempt to reflect this journey in your score?
I wanted it to be very rhythmic although there were no drums, no beat. It had to feel like the passing of time, at an age of impatience. The theme was meant to push the character forward, at every chapter. It also comes with an ellipse, so it has to sound like an acceleration.

You make films yourself as well, would you say the visual arts have always influenced how you make music?
I wouldn't say they influenced my music. It's two very different fields of expression! If they were closer, I would probably have picked one. When I make music I visualize it but it's more like an abstract rendition of the sound, the frequencies and the harmonic colours.

Can we expect more films — short or otherwise — from yourself in the future?
Absolutely, we're writing with Céline the script for my first feature film as a director!

It's also been three years since the last Para One album — plans for any more?
Technically, I released an alternate version of it, "Club", last year. Plus the Girlhood sountrack… I've been really busy. But I've just signed on Ed Banger Records, and I'm releasing my new single, "Elevation", very soon. There's going to be a new album in 2016.

Reflecting on your career, film and soundtracking seems to have played an increasingly larger role in recent years. Have you in any way lost interest in straightforward releases of music in favour of more collaborative or varied projects? Has there been a shift in what interests or drives you creatively?
Not really, I love to do both. I'm still composing my own music every day and my next album is going to be coherent with my film. So it's kind of coming all together, at last.

Finally, Girlhood is a story about decision making during the transition between youth and adulthood. If you could speak to yourself at that age, during that time, what advice would you give yourself?
Be patient.

Girlhood is released on Blu Ray and DVD on 7th September via Studiocanal.

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