During a recent interview with Billboard, Air speaks to their success within the music industry and the overlap and inspiration film has had on them.

Your music is incredibly cinematic. Were you always inspired by film?

JB: Yes, I always thought about music for films. Naturally, I was made for that, I think, but now I’m doing more soundtracks by myself, and it’s really rare to find the right movie. In movies, sometimes there is no room for real music, because the story and the pictures and the scenario doesn't permit any expression from music. Also in big productions, it’s less and less about melody and creating a powerful mood, [which is why] I’m more into independent cinema.

Your music has been featured in many Sofia Coppola projects, with the most famous being your Virgin Suicidesscore. Why do you think your music was such a perfect fit for her films?

JB: I think that our music has no density. It’s very romantic and sometimes there is not rhythm, so it goes really well with the pictures. And of course our music is really soundtrack-y, because there is room for something else. It’s sort of moody, ambiance music, and it goes really well with pictures in general.

Nicolas: We had a chance to do something sophisticated but innocent at the same time, and I was really moved by the movie because of that. It was our first movie so we were all new, we didn’t know what we were doing.

How did you meet her?

Nicolas: We met in L.A. through all of the people we knew there, because we were doing our "All I Need" video with director Mike Mills (20th Century Women), and Mike Mills had a production company called The Directors Bureau with Roman Coppola, who is Sofia's brother, so it was the same group of people. When we arrived in L.A. to work with Mike, we met all of these people and we still see them all of the time. It’s a very longtime relationship.

The film had such a cultural impact. What was the period like immediately following its release for you? What was it like to be a part of such a phenomenon?

JB: It helped us a lot, especially in France. In this country, cinema and the name Coppola is really well-known. It’s like an incredible brand, you know, so as we started to do the Sofia Coppola movies, we started to be respected in France and the world because the French audience did not believe in Air before that. The media thought we were a strange band, stealing the culture of France and exploiting it abroad to make money. With the soundtrack, we wanted to prove to our fans, and specifically our French fans, that we were real artists that were able to do some deep music that was really touching and moving. It was not about doing some easy listening music, it was about doing something really meaningful, with a very dark mood -- really sad and romantic and powerful at the same time. I think we reached our goal.

Read the full interview with Air here.

Don't miss out on your chance to see Air at SB Bowl on June 24! Tickets still available.