During a press interview on behalf of Parrot Zik headphones a month before his passing, Lou Reed chatted with director Farida Khelfa about his childhood, sonic expertise, being a lover of bass and the power of music:
“Sound is more than just noise. Ordered sound is music, my life is music… You do what you love… or you get arrested”
Reed had been working with the headphone company closely to better the sound quality for lovers of hip-hop, rock and Beethoven. Eloquent and frank, polite yet commanding and showing no sign of weakness, you couldn’t have guessed that this would be the last time Reed would address the public.
Highlights from the interview were when things got personal and passionate for the Velvet Underground frontman:
“I know the way I like things to sound. I wouldn’t want to hear Beethoven without beautiful bass, the cellos, the tuba. It’s very important. Hip-hop has thunderous bass. And so does Beethoven. If you don’t have the bass, it’s like being amputated. It’s like you have no legs.
“I am very emotionally affected by sound. Sounds are the inexplicable… There is a sound you hear in your head – it’s your nerves, or your blood running. It’s kind of amazing to hear that.
“The first memory of sound would have to be your mother’s heartbeat, for all of us,” he said. “You grow up, from when you’re a peanut, listening to rhythm. But then there are nature sounds… The sound of the wind. The sound of love.”
Swoon! Lou Reed passed away on Sunday October 27 at 71 years of age. Doctors have now revealed the cause to be due to liver transplant complications. Press play to watch it above.
Mica Nantes
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