Here is an English translation:

When do you pick up a pencil for the first time and decide that you want to dedicate yourself to it? Did you study drawing, illustration, fine arts...?

As far as I can remember I always liked drawing. I was a single child and most of my free time was spent drawing. With my academic achievements it was clear pursuing my passion for drawing was the best option haha. So after graduating from high school I went on to study illustration at Parsons School of Design, two years in Paris and then in NY.

How did your first professional assignment come about, and who was it for?

After graduating from Parsons, I did lots of small, totally irrelevant commissioned project. The truth is I can’t even remember half of those. At the time I was more interested in fine arts and trying to land some shows in art galleries. I had done this great series of sculptures/photos with my very good friend Joffrey and we were running around from gallery to gallery trying to find someone interested in showing our stuff. We finally did get a show in an established NY gallery which was pretty cool. Then at an other art show where our photos were displayed I met this guy working for Google and that lead to me doing some illustrations for the launch of (now forgotten) iGoogle. For a week, my work (amongst other) was projected on the building of the meat-packing district at night. That was pretty cool, and the first professional assignment I remember fondly.

Your latest illustrations seem aimed at a younger audience. How did you get here, to this type of illustration?

I just feel my style works well for children’ illustration and I always thought children books are such a cool medium for an illustrator. Some of my earliest memories of drawing are about copying pages from my favourite books. It’s something that really stuck with me. I still love so many of those books and they’ve been such an influence on my own style, probably more than anything else. Unfortunately I don’t get commissioned for children stuff much and I’m still looking for a publisher for a book project that I have.

Let's go back... On your website there are some impressive line drawings of urban landscapes of what looks like India?... Also some very detailed and impressive drawings of abandoned places...
Was it a time of traveling and getting to know you? yourself, more introspective? They have a certain obsession with detail, and as they are laid out, it seems that you have some knowledge of architecture. Is that so?

Unfortunately none of the drawings you mention come from a first-hand experience. I was commissioned to do the India drawings based on photos given to me by fashion designer Didit Hediprasetyo. His 2011 summer collection was inspired by his trip in India and he wanted sketches of his trip in the catalogue.
The abandoned places drawings are based of photos I collected online. I always liked drawing buildings. The more complex the better, and the colour, amount of intricate details and lightning of those places really fascinated me. I did about a dozen of those large-scale watercolour drawings some of which were finally exposed in a gallery in Chelsea. However I also did a series of about 30 or so drawings based on personal photos. A lot of common themes with the ones on my website. Desolate places, abandoned theme-parks, train stations or cargo ships. Something about those deteriorating places that retain a part of their past grandeur really captivates me. I still have tons of photos I took that could serve as reference for more drawings. I have no knowledge of architecture whatsoever. It’s just a matter of observation and figuring out the right perspective points.

Looking at the rest of the works more focused on music, there are a few works for The Gruesomes... What relationship do you have with them?

Well, since I discovered the Gruesomes with the release of the 2003 compilation Gruesomology I kinda become obsessed with the band. I have a huge list of personal project I would love to do (but probably won’t ever have the time) and one of those was to do a cartoon featuring the Gruesomes. That one was actually on the top of my list (along with a series of paintings inspired by the Gun Club that I really hope I can start next year). So a few years ago, after I was done with a particularly tedious book project for a terrible client, I decided to take some time off and actually do something I really wanted to do. I picked a Gruesomes song, and started making a music video for it. Once it was done, I sent it to John (bassist of the Gruesomes) who absolutely loved it. I didn’t know it but the timing was perfect as the Gruesomes were getting ready to go on tour in Europe. Because they liked the characters I developed for the cartoon so much, they asked me to do a logo for the merch. of the upcoming tour. After that, they asked me to do a few more posters with the same characters. Of course, this also meant meeting them on tour, going for drinks and dinner with the guys which was a dream come true. I tried to act cool around them but my inner fanboy was going crazy!

Apart from your own fanzine, Bananas, you collaborate in the Fanzine Dig It!!... tell us a little about it... Do you only illustrate or do you also write?

Gildas Cosperec who was running Dig It! first contacted me in 2011 to do an interview about Bananas to be released in Dig It! We then kept in touch, talking about bands etc. but I never collaborated until 2015 when he asked me if I’d like to do the cover for the next issue. It had to feature the Gry-Grys. Of course I wanted to do it! Over the years I did two more covers for Dig It! The last one was in 2018. Gildas passed away in 2020.

Album covers, t-shirts, posters... What is the format you like to work with the most, with which you are most comfortable? What do you listen to while you work?... Recommend us three groups that you usually listen to...

I don’t care so much about the format as long as the subject interests me. However it’s true that I do feel more at ease with those format than others. For instance, I find it easier to do a full illustration full of details than a clear effective logo, so generally I prefer working on an album cover or poster than a t-shirt.
I work listening to music I listen to any other time of the day: garage, punk, some soul. Only albums I know well, never on shuffle or never any radio or podcast because I found that the unexpected or unknown breaks my concentration. I’d be totally thrown of if 53rd & 3rd played after
Beat On The Brat instead of Judy Is A Punk. Lately though I started listening to some jazz while working and I find that it keeps me focused
better than rock. Can’t do a whole day of jazz though, so after a couple of hours I typically revert to the usual. Greg Cartwright bands (Oblivians, Reigning Sound, Compulsive Gamblers) are definitely some favourites while working. Dex Romweber (Dex Romweber Duo, Flat Duo jets) is another one I listen to often while at work. I also really like instrumental music while working. Lots of 60s instrumental comps on rotation, but if I’d have to go with one artist specifically then it’d be Takeshi Terauchi who played instrumental surf with strong traditional Japanese music undertones. Great stuff!

What do you think about Artificial Intelligence and how it is affecting your activity?

For now, I don’t feel particularly threatened, most of Ai generated art is laughable. It can only copy (badly) what has previously been done already, without understanding the core of the material it copies. It’s a pretty poor substitute for a real artist. Many other professions will be endangered by AI before the ones in the creative fields. It can become an efficient helping tool for artists though.

Your illustrations are friendly, soft lines, pastel colors, innocent... But they have a very rogue background: Monsters, accidents, bizarre situations... Is this contrast intended or is it something unconscious...?

My biggest problem as an illustrator is that I have a very hard time moving away from my natural style. And my natural style, as you rightly say is friendly, soft-lined and pastel-coloured. Sometimes it clashes with the concept which might be more violent or cynical. My mind and my hand have very different ways of expressing themselves and yet they have to work together on the paper. The result is this, friendly illustrations which on a closer look are not as innocent as they might first appear.

What projects are you involved in? And who would you like to make a cover or poster for? Tell us about a strange situation that has arisen while doing work for a band, a request or recommendation that has shocked you...

Right now I’m about to start on my fourth animated film. For the last six years I have mainly been doing animation. Bringing characters to life through animation is something I find so satisfying. It’s one step beyond illustration and something I really would like to pursue. This new film is kind of an adventure film for children but for the next one I would really like to combine my two passions, music and animation. Let’s see if I can find a good subject!
I’ve done illustrations of some of my all time-favourites already. The Mummies, Dead Moon and the Flamin’ Groovies for Heatwave Magazine, the Real Kids for Dig It! The stuff for the Gruesomes we talked about earlier, so I feel fulfilled.
Nothing too strange has come up working with bands. The only thing is sometime a band has a really terrible concept of what they want. I feel awkward telling them I don’t want to do it because their idea sucks but I slowly try to move them away from it by either twisting around their concept or offering something altogether different. It usually works and I get my way.
Well OK now that you mention it, Los Polipos commissioned me to do their new 7” artwork. They validated the sketch, but halfway through the final line drawing the drummer thought it looked like his character was giving a blowjob to Ivan and wanted it changed. Ivan and I had a good laugh about it, and after a few retouches, everybody was satisfied with the final result.

Our space is limited. If you would like to say something that we haven't asked you, go ahead and tell what you want...

Nothing more, thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to do the interview and the Bananas Magazine story!