THE FORMER MEMBER OF GUSGUS TALKS ABOUT HIS NEW BIG PROJECT, “ LES ADVENTURES DE PRESIDENT BONGO”, HIS PASSION FOR VINYL, RECENT PHOTO EXHIBITION, WORKING ON THE SIDE AS A SAILOR AND CHEF AND WAYS OF MAKING LIVE AND INTERESTING ART
Stephan Stephensen (who is mostly known to the world as President Bongo as well as an artist hiding under a few more eccentric aliases such as Emotional Carpenter, Gluteus Maximus, ADSR and President Bongo) is the one who is responsible for the birth of probably one of the most well-known electronic bands from Iceland – GusGus.
Starting in the mid-‘90s as a GusGus member, Stephan was never limited only by music. Being a professional documentary photographer as well led him to use these skills in the creation of the visual aspects of GusGus, such as album covers and music videos. Stephan is also a well-known and respected photographer who regularly has his own exhibitions in different cities around the world.
Exploring new areas which make life and art more interesting was always a goal for Stephan Stephensen. Besides doing art, he is a part-time professional sailor and a chef so can certainly be described as a man of renaissance who is not limiting his development in any direction.
Recently after 20 years of loyal service to GusGus, Stephan left the project on the wave of world success a few years ago. His passion for moving forward left him focused on his solo work and production, and he put all his efforts into producing and releasing a conceptual series “Les Adventures de President Bongo” – a big body of work, which is, as he describes, an umbrella under which he can get together many things he likes to do, such as his own music, music that is produced for other people and photography.
In his interview with All Andorra, Stephan Stephensen opened the curtains on his main work at the moment – “Les Adventures de President Bongo” and the music that has already been released or is going to be soon for this series, talks about his part-time job as a sailor and chef and the impact of Reykjavik’s environment on his music, his latest photo exhibitions and things that make his life and art more interesting.
Interview: Dmitry Tolkunov
Hi Stefan! As far as I know, you are currently working on an exciting project called “Les Adventures de President Bongo”, which is a series of releases that are planned for the next few years. Can you please tell me more about the idea of this series and how is it going?
This project will take place over the next 7 years and will last until 2025. Its name is in a way a homage to the famous French comics “Les Adventures de Tin Tin”, but only in the way of the name, as the adventures of President Bong are much more musical. I see this project as an umbrella under which I can get together many things that I like to do – it is my own music, music that I produce for other people, my graphic design and photography. I’m going to release 3-4 vinyl records a year in this series and also I will be releasing this music digitally. When the cycle is finished, I plan to present a special box set with 24 vinyl records and also a book of my photography. And in addition, for supporting the project, I plan to organize a few photo exhibitions in different cities and maybe a small festival with all the artists who took part in it.
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