Alessandro with Giorgio Moroder on Doug Aitken’s Station to Station

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Alessandro Moroder will be joining his father Giorgio on Doug Aitken’s traveling art project ‘Station to Station’ from Sept 18th until the 21st.

‘The Plan is There is No Plan: A Conversation with Giorgio Moroder’ Interview about the project from the Station to Station website:

Giorgio Moroder will join Station to Station at Santa Fe and make a recording on the train before performing in Winslow. Henrietta Tiefenthaler, who has helped curate the music for Station to Station and member of the band Thrillionaire, spoke with Moroder about what he is packing and planning for Station to Station.

Henrietta Tiefenthaler: What’s the plan for your journey from Lamy to Winslow?

Giorgio Moroder: The plan is there is no plan. I’m going on the train with Bruce Sudano, the husband of Donna Summer. There’s going to be a microphone, there’s going to be a recording studio in one of the wagons. We’re probably going to start to compose something, listening to the sounds of the train. I guess we’re going to stick out a microphone, maybe the train stops somewhere, recording the sounds and emotions, and then see how we can turn them into a song. I’m going to play the bass and Bruce is going to play guitar and by the end of the day we’re going to have a rough idea of the song, and then we’ll have one more day to finish it. Once we have it, the idea is we’ll rehearse it and play it live in Winslow, where I play bass, Bruce guitar, and I’m sure we’ll find a drummer. I think we’ll have one of the other performers singing background vocals with Bruce. I’m not going to sing though, maybe some background but that’s all.

HT: I’d love to hear you sing!

GM: No, you wouldn’t.

HT: Your son will be coming on board…

GM: For that part of the journey he’ll be the official photographer. Well, not official. I call him “official.”

HT: Ha!

GM: He’s into Polaroid. He’s going to document the trip, take pictures of the landscape through an artist’s eyes, which Doug will post on the Station to Station website.

HT: Had you heard about Doug before we approached you?

GM: No. Actually that’s not true. I saw the museum projection project, the 360˚ around the museum where he projected around the walls instead of inside. I didn’t realize it was Doug though until he showed me the pictures and I recognized it.

HT: In terms of equipment what will you be taking on the train?

GM: Nothing except a bass (if I have to). Otherwise, I think station to station are going to provide everything. A laptop, speakers, microphones, Pro Tools…

HT: Do you use Pro Tools? When did you start using Pro Tools?

GM: I guess 10 years ago, or whenever it first came out.

HT: What were you doing 10 years ago?

GM: Oh, 10 years ago I was playing a lot of golf, and playing with images on the computer, where I, you know, transform and add some stuff. That was quite a time-consuming hobby.

HT: What is that? Graphic design?

GM: Well, kind of. It’s where you take a picture of, say, Liz Taylor (she gave me a beautiful picture of herself) and I took the color out and put my own colors in, added some things to her head, changed the colors of her eyes, and I had it painted in oil and I have one copy and gave one to her. That was one of the things I did. I did one of Donna Summer, I did one of my wife Francisca.

HT: Are they public?

GM: No, I haven’t had a show yet. It’s a bit difficult to go public with them. I don’t know if Liz Taylor would allow it.

HT: Can I use it for this?

GM: I think we can. It’s not for sale and it’s a unique piece so I don’t see why not?

HT: So what are you packing in your suitcase?

GM: A toothbrush, a comb, a pair of jeans if I find them, as little as I can. And, of course, my computer.

HT: Wow, you’re a light packer. I’m going to be taking multiple suitcases. Haha.

GM: Yes, my wife is going to be heavy loaded too.

HT: What most excites you about coming on the train?

GM: It’s just the fun of it. It’s nice to be with people, it’s great to travel on a train, which I’ve done quite a lot of lately. We used to live in Paris so we would go to London on the eurostar and with the tgv to Zurich. It’s such a great way to travel. And this is even better because we don’t have to be at point b in an hour. It’s a great bunch of people and it’s almost like a little holiday trip so I’m going to enjoy it.