Le Code: For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to make music

Alexandre de Charrin, aka Le Code, has been producing ambient music for nearly a decade. He is a very prolific producer. Smooth soft tones, minimalistic patterns, and drones seem to flow from his very being. It’s hard to imagine anyone in the ambient genre who has a more identifiable sound. In fact, it’s hard to imagine a fan of ambient music who hasn’t encountered his work.

In a day and age when music can be regarded as disposable, a commodity, or worse yet, created by AI, I wanted to know more than the basics of his discography. I wanted to learn more about this French ambient composer, what his thoughts were, and who Le Code is.

I had the opportunity to discuss a number of topics about life, music, and the future with Alexandre. I hope you will enjoy a deeper dive into Le Code.

Derek Carter

First, let me say “thank you” for taking the time to answer some questions. Let’s start with some basics. Can you tell us where you are from?

Hello Derek, thank you very much for the opportunity you are giving me through this interview. I am very happy to answer your questions. I am French and I live in France in a region close to the Alps, halfway between Annecy and Chamonix, and not far from Geneva. I have always lived in France, but in several different regions: my father changed jobs a lot and we traveled regularly during my childhood, moving from city to city and school to school.

Today, I like the mountainous region, but I dream of settling by the sea. Maybe when I retire, but I still have to convince my wife...

Tell us more about yourself. Your background, occupation? Pets? Hobbies besides music?

After studying business and working in a bank for eight years, I switched careers to web and marketing, and I am now a web marketing project manager at a company that sells insurance in Geneva. Nothing exciting...

I have built my life around music. I don't have children (for various reasons), which gives me a lot of freedom to work on music in different ways. I've always been interested in electronic music, as my father introduced me to Kraftwerk and Jean-Michel Jarre records. During my teenage years, I was immersed in 90s dance music, as well as rock and pop, and I developed my tastes over the years.

Musically, I started out with bands playing trip-hop and electro-rock. We were supported by local concert venues, and I gained solid experience on the scene.

But what I like best is being in the studio, experimenting, finding sounds, creating, and saying to myself, “That sounds great!”

At the same time, I'm a DJ and host karaoke, blind tests, and quizzes in bars and at private parties. It's a very important part of my life, and I'm going to develop it even more in 2026 by forming new partnerships, with the goal of making a living from it next year.

This life is quite tiring, so I have to allow myself breaks. For that, I have my cat Flanger, whom I rescued from a DJ who had just had a child and no longer seemed to care for him. He's a bit like my son! And I'm a huge fan of movies and TV series: we go to the movies very often and watch a lot of high-quality series (fuck Netflix), which does me a lot of good, allows me to clear my head, and helps me think about other things.

When did you become interested in music?  

For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to make music. Except that I really didn't want to go through music theory, which seemed very boring to me. Today, I regret it a little; I feel quite limited in what I can play, and I compensate for this lack with other things.

I saw myself as a radio host (I played my parents' vinyl records on my stereo) or a pop singer... Lots of dreams, different paths that led me to where I am today. I had a little Bontempi keyboard, and I released albums on cassette that I composed on this very rudimentary synthesizer.

When I became a young adult and independent, I decided to take an interest in computer-assisted music. It was the very beginning of Cubase and other computer software in the 2000s. VSTs were a revolution for me, and I was able to satisfy my desire for electronic music thanks to various software programs.

I trained myself over the years and even gave lessons in the 2010s.

When you aren’t composing ambient music, what do you listen to?

In recent years, I've listened to a lot of ambient music, drawing inspiration from both the big names in the genre and the independent artists around me.

As a DJ, I also listen to pop music to keep up with what's happening right now. I must admit that, at 46, I'm not at all interested in current French music.

And in recent months, I've felt the need to reconnect with my favorite artists and different kinds of music: I've been listening to a lot of old albums that have accompanied me throughout my life. I've been feeling quite nostalgic lately.

I find myself loving the latest Deftones album and the Tron Ares soundtrack by Nine Inch Nails, rediscovering Depeche Mode, and listening to French artists that I would have hated 10 years ago, such as Feu! Chatterton, for example. It's very eclectic, and it feels good to not only listen to ambient music anymore, even though I still have an ear for that genre, of course.

How/when did you discover the ambient genre of music?

Before Mare Nostrum, I had a dub and deep techno label called Apnea Label, which I recently reactivated. I released a few ambient EPs on that label, as I found that music very mysterious. I've always been drawn to ethereal music, but I found it too new age, in the negative sense of the term: guru, enlightened, etc. But I grew up with bands like Enigma, Deep Forest, and Enya, who I consider to be a “commercial” gateway to ambient and new age music.

Let's just say that my entry into this genre happened quite naturally.

Where do you find inspiration for your music?

It's difficult to answer, because I work a lot with sensations and feelings. Instead of having a precise image in my head like a photograph, I feel a state of mind that I try to transcribe into music. I'll go for something nostalgic or melancholic if I want to talk about childhood, or a feeling of brilliance or blindness for something more positive or melodic.

I lay down the foundations of soundscapes or melodies, and then I transform them. Often, the original material fades away to make room for something else, my initial feeling has changed, and a completely different piece emerges.

What is your “go-to” studio gear? (What hardware, Synths, VSTs can you not live without?)

I start most of my tracks with pads and soundscapes from Luftrum's Lunaris 2 or Luftrum banks on Omnisphere. That may be why my tracks are consistent with each other: I know these tools by heart, and they are always a great source of inspiration.

Recently, I tested some banks from Tom Wolfe for Pigments, which are very interesting.

In FX, Strymon's Big Sky (whether as a plugin or a pedal) is my main reverb. I love working with Hologram's Microcosm. And an FX plugin called Mikron that adds movement. And of course, my Rev2 for big, deep basses or warm keys, and the Moog Sub37, which accompanies me on some more melodic tracks.

I used to love experimenting with lots of different tools, but I ended up getting lost. Now I stick with what works without spreading myself too thin.

Obviously, you started the Mare Nostrum label as well. How did that come about?

I started with the dub and deep techno label Apnea, and during COVID, I decided to take the plunge and create a second label that would be its little brother, dedicated to ambient music: Mare Nostrum. I had a few contacts who wanted to submit their ambient work to me, and I thought it was the right time. My friend Anne needed a new graphic design challenge, so we decided to set it up together.

Belle Brume

We released a lot of EPs, often by little-known artists, but the idea was to give all artists a chance. That's still what drives me today, but reality has caught up with me.

Anne wanted to shut down the label in 2023 or 2024, and I took over the management on my own. I got so overwhelmed that I wanted to quit a few months ago. It was too much work for one man. Until my friend Gaëtan, with whom I share the Belle Brume project, offered to take it over with me. Starting in January 2026, he will be joining me on the label: new graphic design for releases dedicated to the sea and the ocean, fewer releases but higher quality... I'm really happy that the adventure hasn't ended and that Gaëtan is joining me!

How has the scene changed for you both as an artist and label owner since you’ve been releasing music?

A lot has happened since Mare Nostrum's first release. The label has grown and built up a certain reputation (hopefully a good one), and I've grown musically as an artist: my style has become more refined, I've found my sound.

There are many ambient music labels out there, but few are willing to take on new artists. They tend to stick with the same artists, and I wanted to offer a label to everyone. Although it was a commendable intention, I was overwhelmed by the enormity of the task, and Gaëtan and I are going to refocus our releases to bring them into line with both economic and human realities.

I hope there is no competition between labels: I follow what others are doing with interest; it's inspiring. I think there is room for everyone, as long as we remain professional, human, and honest.

Can you share with us your current views on the state of the music industry? Streaming platforms? And AI music creation?

I think we all share pretty much the same point of view: AI can be very useful for certain things, but when it comes to art, it becomes very difficult to have a positive opinion on the matter.

I tested some music generators, and I had a 4-track ambient EP in fifteen minutes. It's really problematic, which is why I've been convinced for a long time that it's not enough to just release music; you also have to create a universe around it and make people want to connect with the artist before the music. That's what I try to do on my social media, a little less so in recent months because I have less time.

I'm also terrified by the importance we give to Spotify: all we see are videos on how to get more streams on Spotify, how to get subscribers on Spotify, etc. But there are other platforms out there! Spotify makes very arbitrary decisions that don't work in artists' favor (we saw this with the pay threshold, which kicks in once you exceed 1,000 streams in a month). What will happen when Spotify decides it will no longer pay for ambient music because it's too easy to do with AI? I think of all those artists and labels that have millions of streams ONLY on Spotify and rely ONLY on Spotify—they're going to be in for a rude awakening! Where's your mailing list? Where's your Bandcamp? Your YouTube page? Your Patreon?

Today, I listen to music on two platforms: Qobuz and Apple Music. The sound quality is superior (even though Spotify has launched its Lossless offering), but the remuneration is better for artists. And I've been buying vinyl again for the past two months. It's a real joy to hold the object in your hands and put it on the turntable.

Can you share with us future plans for Mare Nostrum and Le Code?

Mare Nostrum will be welcoming my friend Gaëtan from January 2026, and I would like to thank him once again. We have a few releases planned for the label, and I can't wait to reveal the new covers. Mare Nostrum is still going strong, so feel free to submit demos of your EPs on our website: www.marenostrumlabel.com

As for Le Code, I can't stop: I've already started working on releases for 2026 with some great collaborations coming up in the next few months. I'd like to create other monikers to increase my income, but having a community around my main project is very important to me, so I plan to release music for my subscribers on Bandcamp and only for them. I think having a special connection with them is very powerful for an artist; it goes beyond releasing music on Spotify and forgetting about it three months later.

I'd also like to start making YouTube videos again, posting new videos on my social media... I don't have enough time, I need a second life!

Finally, to end on a not so deep topic. What are your five “desert island albums”?

That's an impossible question to answer. But here's my selection, in no particular order:

• Air – Moon Safari. Air is one of my favorite bands. I'm old enough to have known them when their single Sexy Boy came out, and since then, they've been with me, especially this album. The machines, the universe, everything speaks to me. It's so classy and beautiful. I can't get enough of it.

  
  

• Depeche Mode – Songs Of Faith and Devotion. Perhaps Depeche Mode's least appreciated album, and yet it's the one that made me say, “I absolutely love this band.” The mix of guitars and synths is unique, and Flood and Wilder's production is at its peak. And when you know what the band was going through at the time, and Gahan's death for a few minutes, it's an album that is as tragic as it is magnificent.

  
  

• Nine Inch Nails – The Fragile. A huge double album, nothing to throw away: the melodies, the fury contrasting with the gentleness, the production, it's a true masterpiece that can be appreciated over time.

• London Grammar – Californian Soil. I love London Grammar, all of their albums. The third one is definitely my favorite, even though the latest one is just as good. The singer's voice is incredible, as is the production on the different albums. The melodies are unstoppable; it's both minimalist and very clever.

• Michael Jackson – Thriller. Not very original, but I'm a big fan of Michael Jackson's music. I came to appreciate Thriller quite late, preferring the modernity of Dangerous or History when I was a teenager, but Thriller remains a masterpiece of groove, melodies, and rhythms. Everything about it is perfect.

Interviewer – Derek Carter (KapTep)

Photos from Le Code's archive

Edited by Dionis Afonichev (Dionisaf)

Explore our Contemporary French Ambient Apple Music playlist

(You can also find it on Deezer and Spotify)