Enigmatic stranger

ENIGMA (Michael Cretu)

Enigma is the world’s biggest-selling German pop music project ever. Period. Yet information on its creator, composer and producer Michael Cretu, is scarce. On the eve of not one but two new compilation albums, JONATHAN MILLER speaks to the reclusive man behind the musical mirror about current, past and future works…

“Good evening. This is the voice of Enigma. In the next hour, we will take you with us into another world – into the world of music, spirit and meditation. Turn off the light, take a deep breath, and relax. Start to move slowly, very slowly. Let the rhythm be your guiding light.”

It’s been 11 years since those seductively spoken, intriguing – and now instantly recognisable – words first drew us into the multi-faceted, segued longplaying listening experience that has become the trademark Enigma sound. That MCMXC a.D. remained on the American Billboard chart for five years is both testament to the longevity of the quality music contained within and just how many people took its opening sentiments to heart in that expansive country alone. They were not alone.

Worldwide statistics for Enigma’s debut album, its equally popular preceding single, the Gregorian chant-driven ‘Sadeness (Part One)’, plus subsequent albums The Cross Of Changes (1993), Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi! (1996), and The Screen Behind The Mirror (2000), are truly staggering: more than 50 number one chart positions and 85 platinum awards! 25 million album sales down the line (and counting), is it any wonder that Enigma is the most successful German pop music project ever?

But project is perhaps the operative word here. For it was 11 years ago that composer and producer Michael Cretu secretly set Enigma on a faceless musical trip around the world, figuratively and literally speaking – figuratively in that Cretu (credited on MCMXC a.D., The Cross Of Changes and their associated singles as ‘Curly M.C.’) utilised the best music technology in the world to sample the delights of global rhythms, sounds and voices, creatively fusing them to a contemporary danceable beat with a pop sensibility and production quality to die for; literally in that he successfully sold his idea to the world. And on his own terms too.

Once, when quizzed about his legendary shying away from the rigour of pop music’s well oiled publicity machine, bravado momentarily got the better of Cretu: “I knew that with the product I had, I was in a position to say just how I wanted things to go. No pictures. Nothing personal. Just Enigma.” So, again figuratively and literally speaking, Enigma it was, and mysterious Cretu remains, as is his want.

Having confidence in your music is all well and good, but playing God in the capricious pop world where 11 years can equal several lifetimes is something else entirely. Surely Cretu must have garnered an acute understanding of the complicated working mechanisms of the music industry to exert such exacting demands?

Solving the enigma

Yet, outside this mysterious musical world of Enigma, for many Cretu himself remains something of an enigma: a musical prodigy born in Romania on 28 May 1957, he began piano studies aged six at Lehrenstalt High School, a state-run establishment for nurturing young musical talent in Bucharest. In 1968 he underwent a five-month intensive study period in Paris, later progressing to the prestigious Academy of Music in Frankfurt between 1975 and ’78, doubling up as a jobbing session musician to earn his keep, before taking up German citizenship upon graduating with distinctions. Despite being an accomplished concert pianist, with a long-held ambition to become a classical conductor, those late-night studio sessions unexpectedly paid dividends as Cretu’s career careened toward the pop charts in which the Enigma name would one day regularly jockey for pole position: “It was more real life,” he would later reflect.

Initiation into this ‘real life’ profession came with one-time German Eurodisco chart-toppers Boney M, brainchild of ’70s production maestro Frank Farian: Cretu is credited with keyboards on 1978’s Night Flight To Venus album (replete with mega hits ‘Rasputin’, ‘Painter Man’, ‘Rivers Of Babylon’ and ‘Brown Girl In The Ring’). Cretu was clearly quick on the uptake, soon warming the producer’s chair for a string of mostly Central European popular acts like Moti Special, Hubert KaH, Austrian singer/songwriter Peter Cornelius (with whom Cretu later collaborated on the German-language Cornelius + Cretu in 1992; Cornelius also played guitar on the second and third Enigma albums) and, most notably, singing sensation Sandra (who’s albums sold a respectable seven million units with Cretu at the production helm). To say the latter was a successful partnership is an understatement – Sandra married Cretu in 1988, and contributed vocals to all the Enigma albums.

From a more international standpoint, Cretu co-produced the track ‘The Time Has Come’ on Mike Oldfield’s 1987 offering Islands, a phrase that was paradoxically used throughout his own anthemic track ‘Mea Culpa’ on Enigma’s MCMXC a.D., having relocated to the Spanish island of Ibiza with Sandra beforehand (where, coincidentally, his old production mentor Frank Farian also resides, as briefly did Oldfield). Rumours of Oldfield encouraging Cretu to cut down his busy production schedule in favour of concentrating on his own music do not easily hold water in light of the fact that Cretu’s largely forgotten first album, Moon, Light And Flowers, was released on Polygram way back in 1979, releasing two further albums for Virgin in Germany – 1983’s Legionäre and Die Chinesische Mauer (also released in 1985 with English lyrics as The Invisible Man) – before hitting international pay dirt with Enigma.

Revolution in the head

It’s been suggested that Enigma’s infectious debut recordings dramatically altered pop’s musical landscape. Indeed, as is acutely observed on last year’s Remember The Future 11-song DVD retrospective, in which Cretu’s image mysteriously appears only for a matter of seconds, “While restless spirits were changing trends, styles and fashions on a seasonal basis, Enigma remains a continuum, which reinvents itself. Whether you want to dream or dance, contemplate or love, meditate or make a joyful noise, Enigma makes music for the entire being, and each listener interprets it in his or her own way – ambiguous, intricate and seductive.”

Some might say this statement sounds somewhat pompous. They might be right, for of course it has its agenda, but there’s no denying Cretu’s considerable achievements as Enigma: no doubt Virgin are keen for Cretu’s musical alter ego to retain its status as Germany’s biggest-selling pop project ever; no doubt the simultaneous release of two new Enigma compilation albums, LoveSensualityDevotion - The Greatest Hits and LoveSensualityDevotion - The Remix Collection, will do much to further this cause.

For his part, Cretu prefers to let the music do the talking, as is evident in a record company press release where the composer briefly attempts to decipher those intriguingly titled new ‘L.S.D.’ albums: “I’m addicted to music. So, music is like a drug for me. And others, too, will be able to go on a trip – in a good sense.”

Everything old is new again

Were you personally involved in treating any of the tracks on the new LoveSensualityDevotion - The Greatest Hits compilation at your Ibiza-based private A.R.T. Studios – creating new crossfades between tracks, for example?

Of course! Enigma is my baby, so I can make these kinds of crossfades better than anybody else; I’ve always been the producer, the sound engineer and everything. On Enigma 4 [a.k.a. The Screen Behind The Mirror] I was also working with Jens Gad nearly everyday in the studio, but all the other albums were basically done alone.

How did you feel about revisiting older Enigma material again for this project?

One of the aims with this album was to produce a listening experience whereby you cannot tell which tracks are 10 years old and which are current. Also, I wanted to breathe new life into some of those older songs. The compilation is different – you hear other shades in the songs that sound new, but this is only because they are presented in another context.

The LoveSensualityDevotion - The Remix Collection album title is self-explanatory. How did this project come about?

It’s funny, but it was never my intention to do a remix album. What happened is I was looking for a radio edit for the normal compilation; I pushed the wrong button on the CD player by mistake and a completely different song started playing that I didn’t immediately recognise! I don’t know what song it was – it might have been ‘Age Of Loneliness’ – but I thought it was one hell of a remix! I thought I was going completely nuts, so I invited some other people to come in and listen because I’d forgotten all about it. I realised that so many elements of what we did 10 years ago are now in fashion – the structure and the kind of sounds being used. Then I said, “Oh my God! Let’s listen to the other remixes.” I ended up choosing the really good ones and put them all together, so I think it’s a very nice remix album. It has some four-on-the-floor elements, but not exclusively.

What’s your opinion of today’s seemingly remix-obsessed popular music culture?

I never pay too much attention; nine different versions of a song – I mean, how crazy! Here I simply tried to put out the best version of each song I could find. I do remixes for some situations, but I’m not interested in putting five versions on one record.

Remembering the future

Both new albums were premiered at the Hamburg Planetarium on 1 October as part of a new laser and light spectacular entitled Enigma: LoveSensualityDevotion - The Planetarium Show, a 50-minute programme especially designed for such domed structures, featuring Enigma music videos combined with effects created by the Zeiss Universal Laser Image Projector (ZULIP). Again, were you in any way involved or consulted in the preparation of this exciting event?

Actually, I always wanted to premiere Enigma 2 [a.k.a. The Cross Of Changes] in a planetarium, but somehow it never worked out. More recently, we did a DVD [Remember The Future] and the director of the planetarium in Hamburg liked it very much so he called Virgin saying he’d like to make an Enigma programme based on the videos. He proposed a public showing every day; we agreed, but we wanted to premiere the albums to the press first. I gave them all the music from the CDs, then they told me what they intended to do and how they’re going to do it.

I suggested a few small changes here and there – they wanted to start the show with a different piece of music, for example. But it’s very well done, created by the guy behind the DVD, who I knew already.

Both LoveSensualityDevotion albums feature the new single ‘Turn Around’. How would you compare this with earlier Enigma singles?

It’s difficult to say in a few words, because, for Enigma purposes, it’s a very heavy-sounding song. I was in the mood to do something different, but I think I could only do this kind of song as a one-off single. I like this song more and more – not because it’s the latest thing I’ve done as Enigma, but because of its simplicity; it has a charm about it and it’s so full of life. For me, it represents what Enigma is all about, but in a very modern and unobvious way. It has all the famous ingredients and spices that made Enigma successful – a little flute, a little speech and some monks in the middle part – that are like shades of the past, but with some clear development as well. I’m very happy with how all these aspects have integrated together in a very organic way. Yet, you wouldn’t notice unless you paid attention.

Ibiza uncovered

It’s been reported that you relocated to the idyllic Spanish island of Ibiza in 1988 with your wife, Sandra, where you subsequently bought an old farmhouse, which doubled as your family residence and private recording studio (A.R.T. Studios), and also an 18th Century house in Ibiza Town, in which you established a basement restaurant. Why, specifically, did you choose to make Ibiza your home?

In Germany, it was always freezing in winter, so my wife said, “Please, let’s buy a little house somewhere south so I don’t have to face another cold and wet German winter!” So we bought a little old farmhouse retreat on Ibiza with a view to getting away from the cold for a couple of months each year.

Then I said, “Why don’t we build a little demo studio there? Then we can maybe stay for five months!” Eventually, this demo studio became better and better equipped – so much so that one day someone working there with me said, “You can work here just as well as anywhere else, so why bother returning to Germany?” So that’s how we came to stay on Ibiza.

While there is virtually no additional information on the sleeve artwork of MCMXC a.D., all the Enigma albums were in fact recorded at A.R.T. Studios on Ibiza; moreover, last year’s The Screen Behind The Mirror and the new compilation albums are credited with also being mastered there. What can you tell us about your studio in terms of equipment and layout?

Basically, nothing has changed over the years, except the desk and a few synthesizer modules.

So what was the studio’s original mixing console?

Back then I used another desk, custom built by a friend of mine. Basically, it was like a Neve, with solid-state routings. At this time there was no comparable analogue desk anywhere in the world with 12 aux sends. You can imagine how long ago that was!

Of course synthesizers and samplers have always been integral to the oft-imitated Enigma sound. What were you using on MCMXC a.D., say?

Yamahas, Rolands – the usual stuff. But they were still recorded on hard disk; I haven’t used tape machines since 1989! I used a big, digital machine called the AudioFrame 1000 – I think it was called the WaveFrame in the early days; they’re always changing the name! Today, this is still my basic sampling workhorse – an incredibly good machine to work with. Many of its functions are still absolutely state-of-the-art!

Home is where the art is

The Cross Of Changes states it was “Recorded with the big help and support of E-Magic and Euphonix at A.R.T. Studios, Ibiza/Spain.” Presumably you were using – or even endorsing – products by these companies?

I used Logic because I’ve known [E-magic founder] Gerhard Lengeling ever since he first started creating music software under the name of C-Lab, back when I was using Creator and then Notator on the Atari. So now I’ve been working with those guys for something like 16 years. I started using Logic when it was at version ‘Beta 1.0’! Today, I’m using version 4.5, I think.

And Euphonix?

I had a Euphonix desk at that time – a CS2000. Is that right? I don’t remember the exact model, but I had the smaller, old frame because I liked it better.

I understand you replaced your Euphonix console in 1998 with a custom-built AMEK DMS (Digital Music System) uniquely geared toward the requirements of a modern composer and producer like yourself by virtue of its having a master keyboard at its centre, as opposed to only a mixing work surface, as is tradition. What can you tell us about your involvement in its development?

I was very impressed with how co-operative AMEK were. I mean, can you imagine? Of course a mixing desk is very important to me as a producer but, as a musician, I was asking if they could add a master keyboard to their latest pride and joy! I’m sure they thought I was completely mad, but they seemed excited about the idea.

Later they sold a few DMS systems in Europe that are based on this custom version. If my information is correct, this is still the only system that is a little like Pro Tools in hardware. I can assign whatever channels I like to the controller surface – to control a sound module, for example.

Basically, I wanted to be able to quickly program and mix all from the same place. That’s why I needed to have a built-in master keyboard, because 80% of what I do is keyboard based. The remainder only involves slight adjustments of the production. So AMEK were very nice about it all, also making a few software changes for my way of working.

It was their first digital desk using computers that were not locked away in a machine room somewhere – now that’s standard.

Brave new world

I understand A.R.T. Studios is about to be relocated to the grounds of a large new house that Sandra and yourself have been having built elsewhere on Ibiza for the last six years…

The construction work was only finished one week ago, but the equipment isn’t installed yet.

In what ways will it differ from your previous studios, both in terms of equipment and layout?

There are similarities – from the shape of the room to the philosophy of where to place the desk and racks, and so on. This layout has been perfect for my kind of work for so many years, why change it? But the design is different; the control room is smaller, because I don’t like big rooms. It was necessary to make them bigger to accommodate the big mixing desks of the past, but that’s changed now.

Have you considered moving into the space-saving realms of software-based samplers with the likes of Nemesys’ GigaSampler or, more recently, E-magic’s EXSP24 or Steinberg’s HALion?

Not really. The only software along those lines that I have is SampleCell, but it’s a pity that nobody’s supporting it anymore. Visually it’s rather old-fashioned, in terms of editing, but the quality of the sounds is still very good. Anyway, I’m not a big fan of this kind of stuff because I’ve kept all my old digital machines, like the AudioFrame. So, for me, it’s really important that I try to avoid software. But if I have to use software plug-ins, I like them to be TDM; then, when you load a song, you know you have everything automatically ready in the system. Of course plug-in technology is now becoming so powerful that my computer is already sweating every day when I boot up the system!

Are you using a Power Mac G4?

No, but I will probably change to a G4 eventually. You know the old saying “Never change a winning team”? Well, I never change the equipment! But seriously, I’m in the middle of another production right now, so I’ll have to wait until the last possible moment.

Now Apple is talking about a G5, but I’m still using a pretty old-fashioned G3! The important thing for me is that it’s working well and the timing is good. One problem is that I’m working with three TFT screens and you can’t run three screens with a G4; I don’t understand why. But I need all that screen space, so I prefer to hang on to my G3 for now.

And now for something completely different

You’re currently working on a new Sandra album with your wife, set for possible release later this year. This is Sandra’s first album since 1995’s Fading Shades; what can listeners expect this time around?

We chose the material very carefully. I think it’s a very good choice for the times, taking into account her history and everything, but it’s a new kind of Sandra – much better! We’re not just repeating what we did years ago.

Recording is completed, and now we’re in the middle of mixing.

And finally, aside from your current Enigma projects and the forthcoming Sandra album, what can we expect from Michael Cretu next – another Enigma album of totally new material, perhaps?

After all my equipment is installed and so on, maybe I’ll start thinking about Enigma 6, or maybe some other project. Right now, I don’t know. Besides, I won’t be able to start anything new until the new studio is working fine. There’s lots of testing to be done, but you never know what I will discover while testing!

www.enigma.de

ENIGMA • SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY

MCMXC a.D. (Virgin Records, 1991)

The Cross Of Changes (Virgin Records, 1993)

Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi! (Virgin Records, 1996)

The Screen Behind The Mirror (Virgin Records, 2000)

LoveSensualityDevotion - The Greatest Hits (Virgin Records, 2001)

LoveSensualityDevotion - The Remix Collection (Virgin Records, 2001)