JB Dunckel
Biography JB Dunckel
JB Dunckel
Known as a solo artist and the co-founder of the hugely influential duo Air, Jean-Benoît Dunckel is a mastermind of stylish, sensual, and ethereal pop.
Before becoming a professional musician, he studied maths and physics, and went on to form Air in 1995 with former bandmate, Nicolas Godin. The duo soon earned acclaim for their seminal 1998 debut album Moon Safari, and the soundtrack to Sofia Coppola’s 2000 film The Virgin Suicides.
While he and Godin worked with Charlotte Gainsbourg on her 2005 album 5:55, Dunckel embarked on a solo career, and his 2006 album shared the hazy atmosphere and lush synth passages as his Air work, but also explored Dunckel’s fondness for more straightforward pop and rock.
When Air went on hiatus in 2012, he founded the sci-fi pop act Tomorrow’s World with New Young Pony Club’s Lou Hayter, and Starwalker, a duo with Bang Gang’s Bardi Johannsson.
Whilst continuing to make and release albums with Air, and as JB Dunckel, he also began to score TV and film productions on his own. His scores include François Ozon’s acclaimed Summer of 85, which saw him nominated for a Cesar Award for best music, the Netflix series’ Mythomaniac and The 7 Lives of Lea, the critically lauded The Good Teacher, and For Night Will Come.
Alongside his score work, 2024 saw Dunckel release his first solo piano album, ‘Paranormal Musicality’ on Warner Classics, as well as writing and recording his first-ever ballet, Möbius Morphosis, a monumental work blending electronics, percussion and mixed choir. The ballet was commissioned as part of Paris’s Cultural Olympiad, in collaboration with renowned choreographer Rachid Ouramdane, and brought together over 100 acrobats, dancers, and choir members on stage.
Air are currently on a world tour to celebrate the 25th anniversary of ‘Moon Safari’, and performed at the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024.
