Rone

As a teenager growing up in the suburbs of Paris, Erwan Castex discovered that art could be a cure for his shyness. He briefly studied filmmaking, but after encountering leftfield labels like Warp Records, he turned to electronic music as his chosen creative expression, launching his Rone project on Agoria’s InFiné label in 2008, at the age of 28. (The alias was meant to be “R.one”, a phonetic riff on the pronunciation of his first name, but the graphic designer forgot the period.) Folding together elements of IDM ambient and experimental techno, Rone’s richly melodic, rhythmically dynamic music demonstrates expansive qualities that are the opposite of his own inhibited nature. And while he has said that loneliness is an essential part of his work, he has also found a lifeline in collaboration: Rone has appeared on albums by The National and Jean-Michel Jarre, played with Helmet/Battles drummer John Stanier, composed for the filmmaker Spike Jonze, and even teamed up with dance company (LA)HORDE and sci-fi author Alain Damasio.