THE JOURNAL
Mr Sven Schumann. Photograph by Mr Alex de Brabant
One hour. No nosy questions about current dating situation or the state of current accounts. Free rein to talk creativity. Those are the boundaries Messrs Sven Schumann and Johannes Bonke set when approaching people for their weekly interview series, The Talks, in 2011.
In the decade since, the duo, who own a consultancy together, have clocked up 60-minute conversations with the great, the good and the maverick from the creative worlds of art, architecture, fashion, film, food, literature, sport and music. Their greatest hits include artists such as Björk, Mr Bong Joon-Ho and Mr Olafur Eliasson. How they decide whom to talk to is really simple, says Schumann, whose own creativity has earned him a spot on the MR PORTER Style Council.
“The Talks is actually a pretty personal selection of people we have an interest in,” he says. “In the beginning, we were aware we needed really well-known people to take part. Once that was accomplished, we also featured people who are simply the best within their industry.”
As a result, the 10 years’ worth of interviews talking about creativity and process offer a wealth of wisdom. So much so that The Talks’ creators have gathered some of the most memorable in a book, No Idea Is Final: Quotes From The Creative Voices Of Our Time, which features a range of perspectives from old hands to new industry blood. So what, in all his time setting the questions, did Schumann learn?
“I loved speaking to photographer David Bailey,” he says. “He is certainly not the easiest of interview partners, but I admire people who simply say whatever they think without worrying what kind of implications this can have or whose toes they might step on. Bailey is a true original and we ended up spending hours together talking about all kinds of stuff.”
We asked Schumann for five memorable quotes from his 10 years of talking to creatives.
01.
Mr Werner Herzog, filmmaker
“Go wild and go rampant”
“From a young age, I have admired Werner Herzog for his unique view on the world and fearless way of navigating through it. This quote is part of a bigger conversation about his creative process and what really struck me about it was that, so often in life, we are held back by the inhibitions we have and how important it is to sometimes just go for things and not worry too much about the outcome. Life is unpredictable and some of the greatest experiences will be the ones you never expected to have.”
02.
Mr Ricky Gervais, actor
“If you lose your temper, you lose”
“We asked Mr Gervais to take part in The Talks because The Office was one of the most innovative television formats of the past 20 years. This quote is a true reminder of how important kindness is in all traits of life and that anger normally only complicates things. This is a lesson I often had to learn the hard way and that I still struggle with from time to time, but the older I get, the more I realise that it is the only real way forward.”
03.
Mr Matt Berninger, musician
“Everybody likes to watch a drunk gorilla smash shit”
“Mr Berninger is the lead singer of the American band The National we had on The Talks a few years ago. Somehow, I always liked this quote because it shows that life does not always have to be so serious and that sometimes entertainment just for entertainment’s sake is OK as well.”
04.
Mr Kazuo Ishiguro, author
“I’ve got to be like Kubrick. I’ll take as long as I need”
“Mr Ishiguro is one of the most prolific writers of our time and we were truly excited when he agreed to take part in The Talks. We live in a fast-moving world and even though it is often fun to embrace that, I find it so important to slow down every once in a while and take my time with certain projects. The best ideas often manifest themselves when you look at a problem from different perspectives and try not to rush the process just to get to the next one.”
05.
Mr Stefano Pilati, fashion designer
“I learnt that you have to push away the demands of people’s expectations by believing your instincts”
“I met Stefano Pilati at his studio in Berlin right before he launched his own label, Random Identities, after years of working as the creative director of SAINT LAURENT and Zegna. Mr Pilati was clearly ready for the next chapter of his career and this quote spoke to me because, without our instincts, we are just like everybody else. If you trust your instincts, you take a certain amount of risk, but you will end up spending less time wondering what if.”
The Talks: No idea Is Final _(Phaidon) by Messrs Sven Schumann and Johannes Bonke is out now; _the-talks.com