Easily the most breathtaking performance that took place at this year’s Moogfest in Asheville, NC (read our wrap-up here) was the stadium-sized explosion of driving synth-pop that M83 unleashed on the final night of the festival. It was awe-inspiring, to say the least, and further went to solidify how much we love Anthony Gonzalez’s latest double-LP, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, so we had to make sure to chat with the French-born producer while we had the chance. During our quick conversation, Gonzalez shared with us some insight as to why he’ll always be fascinated with childhood and explained how he doesn’t want everyone to love the music he makes.

XLR8R: The release of Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming seems to have been met with widespread acclaim, but there are still those that say making a double album was a bit self-indulgent. What do you think of comments like that?
M83: I mean, this is part of the game. You spend time on an album, and some people won’t like or won’t understand it. I’ve been making music more than 10 years, so I’m used to bad review and bad criticism. And that’s fine. I think it’s important for me to feel that some people really enjoy this album, but it’s also important for me to feel that there are some people who don’t like it. It’s good to not be loved by everyone.

What is it that you like about people not loving your music?
Well, it’s just a question of personality, you know? Sometimes you’re going to be moved by a song or not. It’s totally random. It’s what I like about being a musician and what I like about being a music listener: you respond to some melodies, and you don’t respond to other ones. That’s the game, yeah.

Throughout pretty much all of your work there’s an extreme focus on the idea of being a child and the exuberance of youth. Is that something that you’d ever see yourself growing out of?
I feel like it’s almost impossible for me to get away from my childhood and my teenage years. It’s part of myself, and writing music and composing songs about my past is the only way I’ve found to remember [those times]. It’s like a therapy almost, to write about it so I can remember it.

Are there any specific memories that were brought up when you made Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming?
Tons of memories! When I started to compose this album, I moved to California, and I was feeling very lonely there because I was away from my friends and family. I was in a new city, so it was tough. What really kept me going was remembering happy memories from my childhood. It was almost necessary to do this, like, return to the past.