About this episode
John is joined by Nicolas Godin, one half of the French electronic duo Air, to explore how they wrote, recorded, and produced their iconic debut album, Moon Safari. Formed in 1995 by Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel, Air rose to global fame with ‘Moon Safari ’ in 1998, a critically acclaimed, genre-defining album that helped elevate French pop and inspired a generation of down-tempo electronic music. In 2025, the duo marked its 25th anniversary with Blue Moon Safari, a bold reinterpretation by British producer Vegyn. In this episode, Nico shares the story behind ‘ Moon Safari ', sharing how each track came to life, the creative choices that shaped the album, and the instruments and techniques that defined the iconic Air sound. Tracks discussed: Sexy Boy, La Femme d’argent, Talisman, Kelly Watch the Stars TAPE IT Thanks to our friends at Tape It for supporting the podcast. Visit tape.it/tapenotes or use the promo code TAPENOTES in the app to get 20% off. LANDR Get 20% off LANDR Distribution and Studio at landr.com/tapenotes TRINITY LABAN Find out more about Trinity Laban's Songwriting MA here. MUSIVERSAL Skip the waitlist and get your discount HERE LISTEN to ‘Moon Safari’ here - https://lynkify.in/album/moon-safari/xYXmfb0a ‘Parlophone’ LINKS TO EVERYTHING TAPE NOTES linktr.ee/tapenotes Intro Music - Sunshine Buddy, Laurel Collective - https://lynkify.in/song/sunshine-buddy/YT47TLFI GEAR MENTIONS AKG C414 Talk Box Leslie Cabin Moog Minimoog Korg MS20 Fostex A80 Sequential Prophet 5 Roland Juno Roland Jupiter-8 ARP 2600 Synton Syrinx Peavey Classic 50 Ensoniq DP/4 Fender Rhodes Whurlitzer Spitfire Audio Instruments Ableton Cubase OUR GEAR https://linktr.ee/tapenotes_ourgear HELP SUPPORT THE SHOW If you'd like to help support the show you can join us on Patreon , where among many things you can access full length videos of most new episodes, ad-free episodes and detailed gear list breakdowns. KEEP UP TO DATE For behind the scenes photos and the latest updates, make sure to follow us on: Instagram: @tapenotes Twitter: @tapenotes Facebook: @tapenotespodcast YouTube: Tape Notes Podcast Discord: Tape Notes Patreon: Tape Notes To let us know the artists you’d like to hear, Tweet us, slide into our DMs, send us an email or even a letter. We’d love to hear! Visit our website to join our mailing list: www.tapenotes.co.uk TAPE NOTES TEAM John Kennedy Will Brown Tim Adam-Smith Will Lyons Nico Varanese Guy Nicholls Jessica Clucas Ali Lewis Evan Lawday Francis Hartgrove