Patti Smith, Jane Birkin, and others discuss their life in music with Arman Naféei
Arman Naféei has the coolest job around. For a decade, he served as the musical director for the hotelier André Balazs, spending his evenings at the likes of the Chateau Marmont and Chiltern Firehouse — no doubt rubbing shoulders with some of the world’s cultural icons.
“I was always meeting these great and interesting people,” he tells me from his sun-dappled LA home as we discuss the new season of his cult music podcast, Are We On Air? “At one point, I realised I needed to record these conversations because I was just constantly learning and discovering something new from them.”
Tastemaker to tastemaker, over the course of three seasons, Naféei has sat down with some seriously esteemed guests; including Patti Smith, Jane Birkin, and David Byrne, to name just three. Their conversations are deeply moving and intimate as each guest — whether they be what the 36-year-old describes as an “icon”, “unicorn” or “cool kid” — unveils the soundtrack to their lives. Think Desert Island Discs, but with some occasional teary eyes on Naféei’s part.
“I love going into the creative process,” says the DJ, who has also lent his ear to brands like Chanel and Prada. “That’s why I interview people from all different worlds, not just music. That would be too boring for me. I like to learn what Francis Mallmann listens to when he cooks, or what kind of music inspires him to make a dish. That’s just as exciting to me.”
HUNGER sat down with Naféei to discuss season three of Are We On Air?, his dream guests, and why he felt such an emotional connection to Jane Birkin…
Congratulations on season three of Are We On Air?! What did the selection process look like this time around?
I have a general wishlist with my top names, and they’re always the hardest to tie down. But I am in constant conversations with artists, agents, management and friends. So I don’t really take time out from it, really. Most of the time, it comes down to scheduling issues. So many people are like ‘Yeah, great!’ and then ‘Poof!’. It’s about seizing the opportunity at the time. Season three is a little more art and fashion focused because I was hanging out with a lot of those kinds of people over the last few months. That’s the main difference — but more surprises will pop up as the season goes on!
They’re all your babies I’m sure, but what episode are you most excited to release?
Definitely, Amanda [Lear’s] and Rick Owens’, because they’d been on my wishlist since day one. Rick’s episode is really exciting, because he’s a super thoughtful person — the conversation was so deep in thought in a way that was beautiful. And it’s a new world to me but one of our guests is this huge K-pop star, CL. It’s fascinating to me that my phone just blew up over the past 24 hours because she liked and posted the trailer for season three, and now this army of people are following me. That’s a whole new experience, so I’m excited about dropping that one, but I love every single guest and episode. There’s always something new.
You literally have the dream job — you’re around your idols all the time. But there’s that quote that you should never meet your heroes. Have you ever had anyone who just didn’t quite live up to expectations?
Laughs. There were a couple, but I think it comes from the interviewer, not the guest. Because it’s just like any other relationship, or anyone you fall in love with, you project something onto that person. I learnt my lesson a little bit. I used to daydream and think we were going to become best friends, and then you meet someone and get a very cold response. That’s a shame sometimes, and it upsets me because I take it personally. But it’s not personal. I get it, they’re professionals and it can be business as usual for them. But that’s not what I want, and that’s why I try to help them let their guard down. I mean, you have to meet your heroes and try to make it work, but the key is not to project anything onto them and come in with neutral expectations.
It’s such a privilege to talk to people who are genuine changemakers. Do you think you’ve learnt more about relationships, and even humanity, through having these discussions?
Definitely. I’ve always been a people person and now people are my business. Having these in-depth conversations with people from different worlds, ages, ethnicities… there are so many common threads when it comes to us as a species and that’s very beautiful. That’s why I don’t get starstruck anymore. Of course, I get excited if I’m hanging out with Rick Owens, but after that first excitement, I try to connect on a human level. I try to avoid the champagne and bubbles, so that’s why the conversations are so intimate, we’re speaking as bodies, as friends.
Has there been one particular episode that has really stayed with you?
Jane Birkin’s episode for sure. That was such a personal moment for me, because Jane and Serge [Gainsbourg’s] whole aesthetic and vibe is so much part of my own personal identity and references. Just to have the chance to make that work in the first place was mindblowing. But to be in her home, at her dinner table in Paris, and having this emotional conversation. Honestly, I just went quiet and teary-eyed, because she really opened up. It was such an emotional conversation with the way she talked about Serge and everything. People really love that episode, and they go back and re-listen to it, and so do I!
But I also loved Julian Schnabel and Patti Smith’s episodes because they were pretty much my first. They supported me from the beginning — this was the beginning of the lockdown remember, and my life changed overnight. Getting the emotional support from these giants gave me the confidence I needed to run with it.
Music is such a powerful tool. Do you think you’ve hit the genre jackpot in a way because it can really make people open up? I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like music or hasn’t been affected by it in some way…
The power of sound is… huge. As you said, everyone has a soundtrack to their life. Even if you get people who say they don’t listen to music, I disagree, because they have been surrounded by music since they grew up, so I could play a certain track that would trigger something in them. It’s a tool, and through my work in music direction and consulting over the past 12 years, I’ve realised that it’s underutilized when it comes to marketing. I would make it the core of any strategy, use sound to really influence people’s emotions, their spending habits, and ultimately their emotional connection to the brand. It’s a tool but you have to use it right.
Is there any type of music that could put you off from a place personally?
Lots of things put me off wherever I go. Even if I don’t want to pay attention to it, my ear does. It’s not so much about the genre, it’s about how you apply it. What energy level, what story are you trying to tell? What’s the volume, the tempo, the content — does it fit with the identity of the brand, of the space, who’s there? They say you master a subject when you do it for 10,000 hours, and I’ve definitely had more when it comes to music, so at this point, it’s a visceral experience for me. With DJing, you have to catch people at a certain moment and navigate through the evening according to what they want. I’ve been to places where I’ve asked them to turn down the music. Music can be an afterthought. If it’s not at the forefront it can really interfere with everything else that is going on.
Fascinating. So when it comes to alcohol consumption, what kind of music makes people want to drink more?
One of the questions I ask my guests is “what would you play if you have one drink and what would you play after you’ve had five”. When they’re on drink one, you have to ease them into it. You can’t play something at 120 BPM at the beginning of the night, because they’re not ready. It’s like a rollercoaster, you go up, there’s a peak, and then you bring it down. Usually, in regards to alcohol consumption, after 3 AM, people don’t spend money, they’re just wasted. Between 9 – 10 PM, keep it very slow at 105 BPM, and then bring it up to 130 BPM around 11:30 when the party element starts. Then during the last hour bring it down again because people’s ears get tired too, even when they’re drunk.
So, what’s your first song and fifth song? I’m sure it changes all the time…
You know what, I just had this experience a few days ago… I was playing a DJ set for Grace Jones and a handful of people in Jamaica. It was the biggest compliment because she was dancing from the beginning to the end. I started the evening with a record I just bought by Dennis Brown and Gregory Isaac, called ‘Easy Life’, so I started the evening with that. She just loved the record, I gave it to her afterwards as a gift. Then, at peak time I played her song, ‘Fame’, for her. You don’t usually do that. but after a minute she was dancing. That’s a peak time track for me.
And then, an emotional time in someone’s life in music normally comes when they’re a teen. You’re so vulnerable and hormonal, and it’s just easy to connect. What was your musical taste when you were say, 17?
That was my indie/rock/electro-clash phase. We were listening to The Libertines, and of course, The Strokes. I’d just moved to London, so every week, we’d go to Trash and it was just like the university of cool. Only the coolest people in town would go there… Incredible.
What are the three genres that you keep going back to?
Disco, opera and 60’s Italian pop.
Three defining artists?
It’s literally impossible to answer, and I do this to my guests! Luciano Pavarotti, it’s just all my uncle would listen to. Michael Jackson, because I was also obsessed with him growing up. And then something from today… the Strokes, just to break it up.
Can you do the same for soundtracks?
I was obsessed with Grease as a child. My family would put me in front of the movie and I’d watch it over and over again. Definitely that. The Dior Homme soundtrack when Hedi Slimane was at Dior, and then, ‘As Heard on Radio Soulwax’ by 2MANYDJs.
A song you’d send to young Arman that you think he’d love.
Oh, that reggae I just discovered in Jamaica, because my dream was to become a fisherman in Jamaica when I was 12.
Favourite innocuous sound? Like birds, or sirens…
Fire. It’s my element and I love that sound.
Is there such a thing as bad music taste?
Yeah. But it’s not so much the person’s fault, it’s them not paying attention. It’s like sitting on the sofa and just listening to the obvious stuff. For me, that’s not interesting enough. It’s fine to listen to super commercial stuff if you have some knowledge of musical history and depth, but if it’s just consumption and the algorithm, I think that’s bad. Dig a little deeper.
Have you ever been through a phase when you can’t listen to music?
Yeah. In the mornings, I don’t listen to anything. I meditate and ease my way into it. And also to give my ears a break because they’re not the greatest anymore. Sometimes I need complete silence. Ears can get tired of listening to a lot of music so they need a break to appreciate listening to it again, for sure.
Craziest experience you’ve had with a guest — off the show?
Probably with Mert Alas. We started working together and we had some… fun nights together. Let’s leave it at that. Laughs. When we party we party, it’s fun. We dance, there are shenanigans, he plays the piano… amazing people are there.
What does music mean to you, how does it enrich your life on a day to day basis?
Music is life and life is music.
Listen to Are We On Air?, here.
