If you ever marvelled at the playful and imaginative universe of Ed Banger Records in Paris, the credit goes to SO–ME – a colourful illustrator and music video director who knows a thing or two about visualising music.
Visualising music
with SO-ME
If you ever marvelled at the playful and imaginative universe of Ed Banger Records in Paris, the credit goes to SO–ME – a colourful illustrator and music video director who knows a thing or two about visualising music.
| CONTRIBUTORS |
| INTERVIEW: VICTOR THOFT WORDS: OSCAR LASHLEY PHOTOS: ELIZABETH HELTOFT |
So–Me, also known as Bertrand de Langeron, is a Parisian illustrator and music video director. His first claim to fame comes as art director for Ed Banger Records, where he does all the visuals, from covers to flyers and t-shirts for acts such as Justice, Breakbot, Cassius, Mr Oizo and SebastiAn.
What really catapulted So–Me to international stardom though were his music video skills – and in 2005 he won the MTV European Music Video Award for his video for the Justice track We are your friends. Since then he’s done videos for Kanye West, David Guetta and MGMT – and last summer he did Major Lazer’s Get Free video in Jamaica, which turned out to be a monster hit.
We’ve dropped by his apartment for a quick chat on music and art – and the start of Ed Banger.
“I met Pedro Winter (founder of Ed Banger) at a party, where I’d brought some of my graphic designs. He saw them and liked them, and asked me to meet up with him again the next day; I did – and we have been working together ever since.”
Ed Banger would instantly become a recognisable brand, in part thanks to the playful and imaginative hand-drawn work of So–Me that would adorn all material coming out of the French record label.
“The inspiration has come from pop culture and illustrators of the past – and we’ve been very conscious about being recognisable. You can tell that the work comes from the same hand – and back then it was a good thing, because we wanted Ed Banger to be known as a crew. People had to identify with us as a family.”
“We also looked towards Wu Tang Clan – a bunch of guys coming together, creating a brand for all of them as a group and individually, and creating a whole new sound. There had never been anything like them before; the flows they had and the identities they created for themselves were out of this world.”
When asked about the red thread of the So-Me way of working, he smiles...
““It’s all about knowing what you like and what you don’t like, sticking to it and keeping things simple.””
top 3 galleries
- Gallery V1 – Copenhagen
- Galerie Central – Liège
- Alice Gallery – Bruxelles
favorite 3 movies
- Mon oncle d'Amerique – Alain Resnais
- Ran – Akira Kurozawa
- Husbands – John Casavetes
So-Me
Born: Paris in 1979
Current City: Paris, France
Occupation: Director & Illustrator