In a digital world, Ganymede have turned their heads upon the analog world to create their unique synthpop music. Their addictive retro-futuristic electro-pop gems are surely dancing in your head right now and with the imminent release of their new album entitled "Euromantique", Electroage wanted to know more about this retro-analog pop band from the future. Interview by Final Man Welcome to Electroage.

As the majority of synthpop artists are playing in a retro or a futuristic field; you’re mixing the two with an heavy use of analog synths and digital ones. Do you consider Ganymede as "retro-futuristic " synthpop?

Absolutely, Ganymede could be thought of as the music of the future as envisioned by people from the past. Instead of going for an exclusively retro or modern sound, we wanted to take elements we love about the electronic music of the past 30 years and put them together in a timeless and original package, removed from the constraints of the demands of specific genres and stylistic periods.

Your music has a certain level of minimalism, though a polished sounding. What leads you to take this approach?

The danger with overproduction is that the rhythms and melodies and the heart of a song get drowned out as a result. Therefore, we like to layer our songs just enough so that they sound polished, yet so that all the various elements still have room to breathe and shine in the mix.

Analog synths seem to have the priority in your compositions. Why using those gears? What do you like the most about it?

We love the expressive, organic sounds created by analog synths, and it's impossible to get the quality of sound and control from their digital counterparts. The sound of analog synths is timeless - just listen to how futuristic the analog synthpop of the early 80's sounds when compared to how dated the digital synthpop from the late 80's sounds.

As your music is somehow minimal, your lyrics are more abstract and are a lot related to cities and the human beings living inside; which seems to be a certain fascination for our society. Why such a fascination?

It probably has something to do with the city being the epicenter of modern technological advancements. Just as a city is an example of people interacting with technology, we as an electropop band are an example of people interacting with technology to create our music.

We can feel a certain influence from early 80s techno in your new " Neon Rain " single as well as a more upbeat approach. Does it reflect what iscoming for your new album " Euromantique "? What can we expect from your new album?

We think "Neon Rain" is an accurate precursor to our new album as it remains true to the Ganymede sound, yet also illustrates some of the new styles and directions we're taking our music in.

Synthpop music shows a considered growth nowadays; how do you feel about it? What are you expecting from the growing scene?

The synthpop scene definitely seems to be growing, and we're excited to be right in the middle of it all. There seems to be new synthpop bands materializing every week, and hopefully it's only a matter of time before the scene rises above ground again.

Finally, beside your new album, what can we expect from Ganymede in anear and distant future?

Next up will be our appearance on the OMD cover album "Messages," to be released May 1st by Ninthwave Records and Oglio Records (http://www.omdmessages.com). At the end of May, we're performing at SynthCon 2001 in Los Angeles (http://www.synthcon.com), and we're hoping to put out a second single from the "Euromantique" album afterwards. We're committed to appear on a couple more cover albums, and we're always looking to contribute to compilations and remix other artists' music Thanks a lot for your time.

As a conclusion, would you like to tell something to the readers and fans?

Please visit our website at http://www.planetGANYMEDE.com for regular updates, and be on the lookout for our new album "Euromantique" in May 2001!