It’s been quite the past few weeks for Anthony Gonzalez and the French electronic group called M83. On October 10, their sixth full length studio album Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming began streaming on the internet. Shortly after, they released a beautiful video for single “Midnight City”. Critics and fans alike received the new album incredibly well, with a Pitchfork “Best New Music” rating and #1 and #15 rankings for Billboard’s Electronic and Top 200 charts, respectively. M83 has already hit the road for a sold-out North American tour, including double shows in some cities. Before a show in Tallahassee, Anthony shared his thoughts of Nintendo 64 video games, expanding his horizons on the new album and imagining himself in distant galaxies.

Apes on Tape: So I hear you’re a huge video game fan. Do you have a favorite console you play on? Playstation, N64 or some classic system?

Anthony Gonzalez: (Sigh) Ah…I mean I used to play on every console. I started on the NES, then to the N64, then the Gamecube, Playstation and Playstion 2 and Playstation 3, Xbox, Xbox 360, Dreamcast

(Laughs) Nice, a few of them. I had a good buddy who was one of the top rated players for Halo on Xbox Connect. So I have definitely been addicted too.

Oh my god, that’s awesome.

What was your favorite game on N64?

Probably like, one of the Zelda’s.

(Laughs) I was going to say…”same here”. Are you able to bring video games on the road, or is there not time for that?

Well we have an Xbox 360. But I don’t have time. But I’m so excited for a ton of games. I want to play the new Deus Ex. I want to play the new Gears of War. Tons of games, like the new Batman seems awesome as well.  I just don’t have time. I’m going to take a break, like for Christmas. And then buy tons of games, lock up my bedroom and just play, play and play (laughs).

Yeah, I think you’ll deserve it after the tour and everything. Speaking of the tour, you guys kind of began this as the album hit #1 on the Electronic Billboard charts and #15, I think it was, on the Billboard Top 200. Pitchfork gave you that Best New Music too. Has it been pretty crazy so far on the road, a noticeable difference from past tours?

I mean past tours have been really, really awesome, as well, in America. But I feel like on this album, people are even more excited. It’s great to be able to play in front a very excited audience. For now, knock on wood, I’m super happy with how everything is going and I’m looking forward to the rest of the tour.

And I noticed that you were even able to book double dates in multiple locations. But considering you’ve got a double album worth of material, plus other albums, have they been more tiring to pull of? Or have you been making those shorter sets?

M83 – Wait

Yeah it’s tough. Playing two shows in one day, it’s really tough. (Laughs) And I mean I’m responsible for that because they asked me two or three months ago, “Do you want to play two shows at the venues that want it?” And I said, “Fuck Yeah! You know, why not?!”. But now I’m like “ahh, why?”. You know, you want to perform and be good at one show and then be great at the other as well. So it’s hard. But it’s only like two or three dates.

That’s not too bad. Now prior to this new album, I think you were very well respected in the electronic community. But with this album, while you still maintain that “epic” sound, you stretched your horizons in terms of instruments, arrangements and just the spectrum of sound. Were you going in [to the record] trying to change that or was it just the way the album turned out?

I just wanted to have fun and enjoy myself on this album really. I just wanted to explore new horizons and this is the reason why there are musical instruments I’ve never used in the past. I felt like I wanted to, I don’t know, to “be myself” is the right term. I just wanted to have fun.

Yeah. And vocally too, it’s apparent that your vocals are a lot stronger and further up in the mix. Was that due to feeling more comfortable and confident singing or were you trying to push yourself further?

It’s very hard for me consider myself as a singer.  I have never considered myself a singer, and I still don’t. But I just love to sing, really. And I just wanted to be less shy in front of a microphone, probably. I was tired of singing the same way always and always. I wanted to prove to myself something almost, you know?

Yeah. That’s awesome. So we had a reader (Natalie from Hood River, Oregon) who wanted to know about the sixth song, “Raconte-moi une Histore”. She wanted to know what the concept was behind that, if you don’t mind sharing.

“Raconte-Moi Une Histoire” M83

Well, this is really a song that I attribute to my childhood. I used to read a lot of, like, bad stories with my Mom and Dad. And I just wanted to recreate the feeling of going on an adventure with just words. And it’s basically my version of a child stories.

And did the little girl help out on the script at all? Did you talk to her about the idea or did she just kind of step in?

No, no…I wrote the story.

Obviously, dreaming plays a large part of the album thematically. I assume that’s a reference to nocturnal dreaming. But are you a big dreamer, is that how the album came to be like that?

Yeah, totally. I’m a big dreamer. And dreaming, not literally, but like dreaming of a better life, going into space, and doing crazy things in different galaxies in stuff. Yeah, I’m a big dreamer. I love to make stories. Even though I’m a grown up and I’m 30 now (laughs), I love to still imagine myself in a totally imaginary world. I like that a lot.

That’s interesting.  Now the “Steve McQueen” track, did you dedicate that just out of love for the actor? Was there a special reason or did you have a connection with him?

Well, it was one of the few working titles that we kept for the final track-listing. I mean, obviously I’m a big fan of the actor. But it’s just because [the title] sounded so good with the song.

 Download M83’s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming