Biography
Jean-Benoît Dunckel is a French musician and composer, best known as one half of the electronic duo Air alongside Nicolas Godin. Born in Versailles in 1969, he studied mathematics and physics and taught at a middle school in Paris before pursuing music professionally. In the 1980s he played in the band Orange with Godin and others; the pair formed Air in 1995.
Dunckel has composed film scores both with Air and as a solo artist. Their work for Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides (2000) is among the best known. He has also scored films including Cyprien (2009), The Summer of Sangailé (2015) and Summer of 85 (2020). Under the name Darkel he released a solo album in 2006, and has worked on side projects such as Tomorrow’s World and Starwalker.
