Giorgio Moroder

[2014, on his favorite soundtrack] Midnight Express (1978). It was my first one, I didn't have a clue what to do. Alan Parker was very much interested in one scene - when the kid runs away - and he wanted something in the style of "I Feel Love", a song I'd done with Donna Summer. But the rest he said, "Just look at the scene again and just do whatever you think." It was great, because it was one of the first times where I was able to see the movie, record on the movie - on video - and then listen back. So you know pretty much if a melody or sound works. It was great because I basically was able to do most of it by myself with no director or producer sitting next to me. Then when we mixed it down that was a day or two in Munich and it was a great day to finally see it properly in front of the director and making some little changes. That was definitely my favorite one. Show less «

[2014, on future collaborations] Oh there are so many right now that I love. I love Lady Gaga, Rihanna - all the pop girls like Katy Perry. I think Miley Cyrus is very talented too. Apart from the visuals, which you may like or not like, but her music is quite good actually. "Wrecking Ball" is quite a good song and she sang it really nicely. Show less «

[2014, on the rebirth of disco] I think disco's back. In fact, even before the Daft Punk album, before they won the Grammy which really launched disco back. The performance with Stevie Wonder and the song with Chic, that was a great disco reunion. Since last year, the big guys like Avicii for example, "Wake Me Up" that's not really an EDM [Electonic Dance Music] song. That's more like a disco song. I think a lot of those EDM songs are all coming back a little bit more to the disco format. You have acoustic guitar with Avicii and obviously Daft Punk used real bass, real drums, real violins, real guitars. So I think that whole style is coming back quite nicely right now. Show less «

[2014, on his alternative 1984-version of Fritz Lang's classic Metropolis (1927)] I wouldn't go back because it was such a big job. The one problem was that it took too long. It took about three years before I found the prints and the contracts - a lot of pressure to finish it. And then towards the end I felt some of the songs were not good. But then you can't really go back and tell, for example, Freddie Mercury, "Let's redo the song." So that was a little bit of a problem. Towards the end, almost every song was a little bit dated. Three years is a long time for a song. Plus, maybe the music was a little too rock or too pop. But people loved it - some hated it, some loved it - so, it's okay. It was a great adventure. Show less «

[2014, on technology changing electronic music] I think it's a good thing - it gives a chance of work to a lot of people. Today for two or three thousand dollars you can have a lot of equipment and you can do beautiful recordings. Obviously, if you're talented. If you're not, then it doesn't help at all! But if you're talented it's a great chance. You can work at home, you can record at home - you can do final recordings. Probably 80% of the stuff done at home doesn't work - not because of the technology but because of the talent. I remember when I started, unless you had two or three thousand dollars for a song you were not able to record. You needed musicians. You needed a studio. Now you can do it by yourself. It's a little bit more democratic now. Show less «

[2014, on the evolution of electronic music] If I listen to Skrillex then I definitely think it evolved a lot. A lot. I listen to the group Disclosure, they have great sounds. Maybe not as adventurous as Skrillex. I think the key thing is to have those beautiful sounds... the amazing sounds of Skrillex are almost phenomenal. Show less «

[on the soundtracks he's most proud of] Well, I haven't done that many. Midnight Express (1978) was all synth. It was my first film and is still the closest to my heart because, aside the fact that I won an Oscar for it, I had no idea what Alan Parker wanted. He never told me, so I did pretty much what I wanted. Scarface (1983) was a great film for me. But there are two really standout films [songs?] for me. One is the theme I wrote for Flashdance (1983), because it encapsulates a complete body of music. The lyrics are good, Irene Cara who sang it, was amazing. It was released before the movie, and it helped the movie. The other is "Take My Breath Away" [from Top Gun (1986)], that's the one I like the most from a purely musical standpoint. [2016] Show less «