Interview: Philippe Deschamps

In this interview, we meet Philippe Deschamps, a Paris-based ambient artist whose musical journey spans from classical piano to film scoring and immersive soundscapes. Deeply inspired by minimalism, krautrock, and the vastness of nature and space, Philippe crafts sonic environments that blur time and melody. With a hybrid setup of guitar, pedals, and digital tools, his music invites listeners into introspective, textural worlds. We dive into his creative process, influences, and the evolving role of independence in today’s music landscape.

General info

Artist Name: Philippe Deschamps

Age: 47

Location: Paris, France

Social Media / Music Links

linktr.ee/philipped

How long have you been making music?

I've been playing the piano since childhood. Then I've been doing film music for 15 years and ambient music for 3 years.

Do you release music under a label or independently?

Independent

Creative process and inspiration

What drew you to ambient music in the first place?

When I was an art school student, I was a fan of Steve Reich and Philip Glass, the American minimalist movement, as well as Can and Neu!, the German krautrock movement. I loved the sensation of time dissolving into repetition. Then I discovered Brian Eno's Discreet Music album. It introduced me to a new way of understanding time. Elements repeated, disappeared, transformed... like a flow, a melody that doesn't quite reveal itself. It was this pleasure of immersion in a time devoted to sound, textures and immersion that drew me to ambient music.

Can you describe your creative process when starting a new track?

I always start by experimenting, by looking for a sound, a texture, a color. Once I've found it, I have a new instrument, and it's as if all I have to do is let myself be guided.

Where do you find inspiration? Emotion, nature, science fiction, or something else?

Everything that waves in nature inspires me. Sometimes it's the shape of the ocean's surface, or the movements that the wind creates on grasses and trees. Sometimes it's astronomy, like exoplanets or the asteroid belt. Space is a great source of inspiration.

How would you describe your sonic identity or the mood you aim to create?

I seek to create an abstract sonic place, transforming a musical duration into an immersion in an imaginary space. I'm working on music that's somewhere between a drone on the one hand, with its textures, harmonics and internal pulsations, and a barely revealed melody on the other. Let's say I'm looking to create immersive music that's like a place to relax.

Are there any artists that deeply influenced your style?

Brian Eno showed me the way, as he has done for so many others. Then William Basinski inspired me with his work on the melancholy textures of The Disintegration Loops. Lastly, Chihei Hatakeyama, I love his drones and his guitars run through a lot of pedals to get that sweet sound.

Gear and setup

Are you using hardware, software, or a hybrid setup?

I produce all my music with Ableton Live and various Max for Live modules. I use their LFOs a lot. I don't have a synthesizer, just a midi keyboard.

What’s your favorite piece of gear or plugin, and why?

I often record with my Fender Telecaster guitar, using a Lehle volume pedal and Chase Bliss reverb and delay pedals. As far as plugins are concerned, some are recurrent in my productions: Arturia's Pigments instrument, used to mix guitar recordings with granular textures or wavetables, and Eventide's Blackhole reverb, which has very rich colors.

Challenges

What’s been the biggest challenge so far in creating ambient music?

Blue Question was the first ambient track I produced. But it took me eight months to finish producing it. I really liked the track, so I didn't want to release it too quickly, without being sure I'd done my best. I released a first single, then others. Releasing singles on a regular basis helped me make great progress, and I was finally able to finish mixing and mastering Blue Question. To put it another way, the biggest challenge for me was to start finishing and distribute my music.

How do you stay motivated or inspired when you're in a creative rut?

I open a new project and let off steam. I'll come back to the blocked project later. Or not.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I release independently, but I also work with labels. It's important for me to remain independent. As well as having creative compositional skills, these days you need to be trained in production, mixing and mastering, graphic design and communication on social networks. It's important to learn all the issues and parameters of the music industry. Working with labels such as Ambient Soundscapes and Mare Nostrum, Silent Sonic Records and Ambient Cat, through compilations, collaborations and then my own releases, has enabled me to expand my audience, give credibility to my project, and above all to have new challenges and new goals.