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Jean-Benoît Dunckel

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Jean-Benoît Dunckel is a French musician, best known as one half of the French duo Air, together with Nicolas Godin. He was born on 7 September 1969. In the 1980s he formed the band Orange with Alex Gopher, Xavier Jamaux and Jean de Reydellet. He studied mathematics and physics and taught at a secondary school in Paris before becoming a professional musician. Since 1995 he has formed Air with his partner Godin.

Music and breakthrough

Under the name Darkel he released his first solo album, titled Darkel, in September 2006. In 2011 he formed the electronic side project Tomorrow's World with Lou Hayter of New Young Pony Club, which released a first album in 2013. With the Icelander Barði Jóhannsson he worked under the name Starwalker, with an EP in 2014 featuring Losers Can Win and Bad Weather and an album in 2016. In 2015 the mini-album The Man of Sorrow appeared and he wrote the soundtrack for the film The Summer of Sangailé. In 2018 his second solo album, H+, followed.

Influence

In June 2022 he released the album Carbon on his own label Prototyp. On it he suggests that technology can save the world. Of the title he said that carbon does not disappear when you burn it and is full of power, because diamonds are crystallised carbon. In 2024 he wrote the film music for The Good Teacher. Dunckel combines electronic sounds and keyboards with a calm, floating atmosphere, and shows how a scientifically trained musician shapes synthesizers into a personal language.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a track by Air on which Dunckel plays keyboards and notice the synthesizers: which sound carries the melody, and how calmly do the chords move beneath it?

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists