Exclusive interview: JBAG [+ exclusive goodies]

Back in March of last year we had the pleasure to play with Jerry Bouthier, half of French-Italian-British duo JBAG. We had a great time, not least during the dinner before where we dissected contemporary music culture from all angles. When Jerry played again in Stockholm a month or so ago, we managed to squeeze in a coffee before Jerry went to the airport, including more discussion. Since JBAG has a new EP coming out (on Monday), and since Jerry has a very insightful perspective having grown up with the British rave culture in the late 90's and 90's, I thought taking the opportunity to do an interview with the guys was a good idea. Here's the result:

So, who are JBAG?

Jerry Bouthier: JBAG are Andrea Gorgerino and myself. We got together a few years back united by the love of making people dance. We painstakingly learned the job and turned into a production unit. Andrea is the studio man, both brilliant musically and technically, I’m the dj and punter. We’ve learned it’s good one of us doesn’t get too technically involved. I had a 32 track studio in my living room for years and produced every day until I realised I wasn’t exceptional at it on my own, not enough musical training… It’s taught me a lot on how you make music though, which is very useful with Continental. These days Andrea and I are like brothers, with the added bonus that we never argue. In particular in the studio, we’re musically linked and bond over similar things.

Andrea Gorgerino doesn't sound typically British either. I understand you're from Turin?

Andrea Gorgerino: I was born in Turin and lived there until the age of 17 when i finished my studies in classical piano at the conservatoire. I moved to London to complete my engineering studies, that’s when Jerry and I met.

So, I have to ask: Juventus or Torino?

AG: To tell you the truth, i've never been that much into football. I'm going to answer Torino just because they have always been the underdogs.

And Jerry, you were born in Paris, but moved to London in the 80's/90's at a young age.There was obviously a lot happening music-wise at that time in general and in London in particular. Could you describe that period of time for us that weren't there?

JB: I was lucky to witness rave culture early on in London when going out and taking E was still about celebrating all forms of music. I clearly remember dancing to The Stone Roses, Soul II Soul, Rhythm Is Rhythm and Italo house almost one after the other at this big acid house club at the Astoria. You know kids everywhere on podiums with their hands in the air, it was insane! You could tell something very special was going on. Coming from a guitar/synth bands background, always with a keen eye on the dancefloor, it was a revelation: why create barriers between genres when there’s so much good stuff around? That was the reason I moved to London in the first place, Brits have an opened mind when it comes to music. I was sick of sectarian Parisians when there was so much to embrace. From then on, if it had a beat and a good tune I’d play it whatever the style. I truly felt music had changed forever and things would get a lot more mixed up.

What were the main differences between the music cultures of France and the UK at that time as you saw it, and how has that changed?

JB: Brits react to music with their guts. It’s in their genes. With the French it’s more complicated, you need to talk about it first, haha… No seriously you used to have to come to London for a lot of stuff, but now with globalisation, culture is pretty much the same all over the planet. The rest of the world has caught up with UK youth cultures, so in a way London’s less unique today, but the people are still super tolerant, respectful with good values and morals. it's such a cosmopolitan city anyway, it always feels very international.

Jerry, the times we have met, we have discussed a lot of music, the trends of the nu disco and house scenes. Obviously the emergence of house in the late 80's and early 90's has influenced you a lot, and I think there is a distinct retro, and even 90's feel to the early JBAG productions (I'm thinking of your Ladyhawke remix and the X-Ray Sex single for example), but despite that you're not that impressed with the recent 90's revival trend? And Andrea, what do you make of it?

JB: I wish the house revival was doing it for me but it feels like travelling back in time. I use to play house with my late brother Tom (bless him), so it doesn't feel new or exciting to me. Although I’m a huge fan of past music, I’m always more interested with the present. Music's life’s soundtrack and forever remains attached to memories. It’s important going through new experiences all the time and not stay stuck in the old days. With Tom we never just played US house anyway, it felt limiting as there was so much going on in Europe from the word go. We were more tuned onto the balearic spirit and were mixing it all up on Parisian dancefloors like Alfredo, one of our fave djs then… Today there’s a new generation discovering house, fair enough, as the continuation of disco that’s one beat that’ll never fail. But let’s bring today’s perspective into the equation, don’t just unimaginatively copy old records, that’ll lead nowhere in my opinion.

You mention your brother Tom. Is that something you want to expand on? Did I understand correctly that he passed away?

JB: Yes, it was very sad… he committed suicide in NY where he had relocated, 15 years ago. I still can’t believe it. For me it’s like an accident, he had a serious argument with his girlfriend, must have felt low and down, and he fell for it, tragic… I often mention him because we started this together and had the times of our lives. We came up together with the idea and the name Continental all those years ago and I’ve always felt it was nice to keep it going in his memory. We made our dreams come true when we started deejaying on the UK’s house circuit. We played almost everywhere: Ministry, Cream, Manumission, Gatecrasher, Miss Moneypennys, Club UK, Velvet Underground, Golden, Lakota, Club For Life… so many exceptional memories.

Hanging out with the whole scene at the themed Chuff Chuff parties held every few months (in plush Stately Homes and conference hotels scattered all over the country) on Sundays so that popular djs and promoters could join in the fun too. Most would book hotel rooms in the resort and things would get messy. Tom and I were both based in London at some point constantly touring the UK thanks to Unlimited DJs, our agency then, they had Rocky & Diesel, the Flying records lot, Jon Pleased Wimmin… It was already getting to the end of the stylish UK house scene sadly, it became commercial, just about money, superclubs took over. As the whole scene lost its spontaneity, music didn’t take long to take a back-seat. But then, not long later, electro came alongand I was smitten once more! But that’s another story, haha.

So, if re-hashing 90's house isn't your thing, what are you trying to aim for with your music?

JB: Don’t get me wrong, I love so many variations of house, half my record collection is house, 90% of the records I play are 4/4. Yet i’m always looking forward to hear new bastardisations, styles mutating one into another, mad, futuristic stuff, guitars, I don’t know… And good tunes too of course. One can never overlook that aspect. The backbone of all good songs is the chord progression, with JBAG we spend a lot of time getting the right chords in the right order. Making something a little sophisticated sound simple and easy. Because you know it’s only dance music, but that doesn’t mean it has to be totally brain-dead and take people for morons.

You have to remain open-minded, when house started off people didn’t really get it to start with, it was way too electronic for most. The drugs helped massively. A simple 4/4 beat with 909 kick & open hi-hat seemed thunderous but over two decades on the formula sounds tired and over-used, a simple trick that’s been abused too long. 4/4 is here to stay no doubt about it, but why not experiment within that rigorous frame? It’s possible to be a little creative whilst sticking to dancefloor rules. But no, people want instant fame and recognition, and sorry many don’t do their homework, there’s no tune, it’s badly produced on a laptop… The price to pay for the democratisation of music, everybody has a go… That’s so much to sift through though!

Andrea was a big house-head too, so it’s no surprise it shows up in what we do, just like other influences such as new-wave, italo disco, funk, indie, soul… We like to think that’s balearic, mixing stuff we like outside schools of thought. It’s a natural process that we don’t analyse much. We jam until we’re happy with the way things are going. On the other hand our vision’s always evolving so it’s hard to pinpoint. I’d say – just like when we’re deejaying – that we’re trying to communicate emotions whilst making people dance, that’s the main goal these days, offer something that’s human and makes you feel alive.

The EDM trend sweeping over the US at the moment, what do you make of it? Is it something positive or negative for our dance music culture?

JB: I’m not sure… At first with Gaga, you’d think, great it’s a start. Americans have discovered raving 20 years after the war, good for them, about time. But as they’re culturally imposing globally, EDM’s splashed out onto the rest of the world big time and that’s quite frightening. Call me old-fashioned but this is no music to my ears. I guess everyone at 16 year-old has a phase when they listen to crap noisy stuff, don’t they? Once you’ve acknowledged there’s an alternative to radio pap, there’s a lot of music to be found on the net so maybe it’ll open doors… Now with Las Vegas joining in, the whole dj thing has reached new heights of parody. EDM is like electronic heavy metal, pyrotechnics and tales of excess to titillate the kids, it’s ‘Spinal Tap’ all over again… and so show-bizy with the bottles tables etc. A long, long way from warehouse raves and ‘Voodoo Ray’, isn’t it?

Electronic dance music has on the other hand been a big part of the British music culture, and even the commercial music culture, for ages. How would you describe the difference between commercial dance music in the States and in the UK?

JB: Er, to be honest we follow very little of what goes on in the charts cos we find most of it unbearable. For sure the best music doesn’t creep much in charts right now. For a long time American hits were exclusively downtempo whilst Europe enjoyed uptempo dance hits. America finally woke up from its rap/r’n’b coma and started to produce uptempo club tunes just like Europeans but their stuff sounds like bad hard-trance from fifteen years ago! They used to call it Scouse house in the UK, the kind of music you’d neck sambuca to in trashy bars on the Costa del Sol…

It seems more than ever, commercial music is about making money with little artistry involved, it’s so business-orientated and formulaic it’s not very challenging or exciting. If you know your way around a studio you’ll be aware of how easy it is to make electronic music, so why not try do your own thing? Write a memorable song… Saying this it’s an interesting time because of Soundcloud, budding producers have a window to get noticed and can go places even without a label. It’s alive and not controlled by anyone, how revolutionary is that?

Jerry, you recently set up your own label, Continental Records, but before that you were involved with the iconic French indie-electro label Kitsuné. Can you tell us more about that?

JB: I was sucked into Kitsuné cos I liked the label so much from their humble beginning (the ‘Love’ compilation). I feel a bit like a godfather to this baby. Ok I’m not saying I’m into every single band that Gildas goes for but as a whole I love the vibe. Kitsuné’s about talent, originality, a certain forward-thinking irreverence… I did one cd mix for them (BoomBox) then another (Ponystep), then we started the Soleil series which is doing really well. People have noticed, it wasn’t just another mixed cd, it’s dancey but has got lots of songs, goes places… almost like a little film to listen to. My experience working on fashion shows’ soundtracks has made me experiment more with dj mixes in an almost chill-out, psychedelic way, kinda ecstatic with moving melodies and always a groove to cling onto. I try to combine both Kitsuné’s spirit and mine. It’s always fabulously enjoyable.

That means you were certainly not a newcomer when setting up your own label Continental records. How was that like? More work or more fun?

JB: True, I learned a lot from hanging out with Gildas. He’s definitely not of the malicious kind, he’s honest with a healthy attitude towards business, it’s refreshing. And he respects artists… Doing a label is fun because basically we put out the music we like, it’s quite a selfish thing to do really. Yet it also gives friends and like-minded musicians a platform to do their own thing. We’d like to think it could make a difference, show that it’s possible to keep the quality threshold high and give talented people a chance. Not insulting the public, showing that we care about music and what it says more than anything else, proposing carefully picked remixers and stylish artwork. We’d rather not release anything than come up with half-arsed singles. There’s too much of that around. Again everybody has a go and is entitled to, no?

How would you describe the label and the music you put out?

JB: I’d say we release dj-orientated pop. It can be nu-disco, indie-dance, electrodisco, bit housey, whatever the label… we’re opened as long as they’re good songs/tunes that make good singles - with an emphasis on the dancefloor. Well, at least that’s the idea, haha.

I gotta say, I really love the artwork on your releases. Who's responsible for those?

JB: It’s a young and talented graphic designer from Paris called Marc Armand (check his website: http://tusaisqui.fr), a friend of the lovely Jupiter. For Continental we worked hard defining a contemporary feel that was inspired by the past. A bit like the music, the 80s remain an inspiration cos it’s the golden age of electronic music with little imposed rules, but we try to come up with something that’s of today. It’s easy to say ‘this was great then’, we wanna shape the present with amazing modern productions. And by that I don’t mean the kind of stuff brands are trying to flog us, but often what’s on the outskirts, more personal creations…

The next release on the label is your own single Mogadisco, which is out Monday. Describe it for us please!

JB: Mogadisco came out of nowhere. We were playing about with steel-drums samples, such a nice warm sound, and Andrea came up with this fabulous chord progression that really lifts spirits up. It took us a while to get it right mind. We like to contemplate a lot of options: sound-wise, arrangement-wise… I road-test drafts and come back with comments. The track’s our ode to hedonism… our call to party! Then Brazil’s Caio Zini, whose graphics I loved, delivered the fabulous video which has been doing the rounds all summer.

And what about in the studio? The old debate hardware versus software?

AG: It's a topic that doesn't interest us that much. For us it's long been an hybrid environment, making the most of what’s around. In our studio sounds coming from hardware machines like the Juno 106, Jx8P, Prophet VS, Oberheim Matrix, U220, SP1200… are constantly layered with software plugins's sounds to aim at creating sounds that are at the same time modern and familiar, in a classic way, a combination of moods. We have no problem at all using software plugins as long as we like their sound. And some of them are amazing. We’re big fans of plugins such as Soundtoys, D16, U-he, FXpansion, Native Instrument, Fabfilter, or even free ones like some of the TAL products. As far as softwares, we combine Ableton Live and Logic. Live is used in the first part of the creative process when we need to put ideas down quickly and try stuff out. Then we switch to Logic to create the final arrangement and do the mix.

And what do you have up your sleeve in the future?

JB: We’ve got lots of singles on the go from all over the place. It’s definitely a global scene. In a world saturated by trash, melody’s become the new alternative. All musicians with a good heart are at it.


"Mogadisco" is out Monday with remix support from Fare Soldi, Pharaoh Black Magic and ELIOT. And as a present to you, our dear readers, the guys give away the original (and in our mind the best) version exclusively through us!

Exclusive Interview: Johan Agebjörn

Tomorrow Johan Agebjörn, one half of Sally Shapiro, is releasing his new solo album "Casablanca Nights" on Paper Bag Records. We thought it was the perfect timing to make an interview with this talented Swede and hear what his thoughts and ideas behind this album was.

We must also before we get on to the interview let you know about the "Casablanca Nights" online release party tonight May 9 at 9 PM (CET) / 2 PM (EST). You will be able to listen to the album from beginning to the end online, and at the same time chat with Johan Agebjörn and other listeners.

Hello Johan. You're back with a new album " Casablanca Nights" and we're going to focus on the album in this interview but we need some background from you. You've been making music for quite a while now both as solo and with Sally Shapiro, but how did it all start?
It's difficult to say exactly when it started! I started to take piano lessons at age five. I bought my first keyboard at age eleven. When I was seventeen years old I bought an Atari computer and a sampler and started to make techno, drum & bass and ambient music. I played live at some local rave parties in Linköping. Some of the music that has been released on my ambient albums dates back to that period. However, at that time it was too expensive for me to buy the equipment I wanted to make less demo-sounding music, so after my Atari died, I turned to other interests in life. In 2003 (when I was 25), I discovered that the processing power of home computers was so good that you didn't need to buy a lot of synthesizers, mixers, effects etc to make professional music, so in 2004 I bought myself a G4 computer called Jürgen which I still record my music on. I made mostly ambient, electro and italo disco music, and spent a lot of time focusing on developing my sound since I was unemployed at the time. Then in 2006 my first 12" single was released – "I'll Be By Your Side" by Sally Shapiro.

The italo disco has always been a significant trademark of yours and today italo disco is named nu italo, what do you think is the biggest difference from the italo back then comparing to now and what do you think that you have spiced up the genre with?
I think that people in the nu italo scene are very good with replicating the sounds of the synthesizers from the 80s, but I think it's often still quite possible to hear if the song was made in the 80s or not. The sequencers in the 80s were less exact, and the processing of vocals and other sounds was different in some ways, maybe more analogue… There's also often something with the vocals, they were sung in a different way…it's difficult to describe, but listen to Klapto - "Mister Game" or Duke Lake - "Dance Tonight" for example – in those tracks there's a kind of weird but pleasant "staccato" singing by choirs which you don't hear in any nu italo… I have tried to imitate that but without success. As to the question what I have spiced up the genre with – when we launched the Sally Shapiro project in 2006, a lot of people were imitating the mostly instrumental electro italo disco sound of 1983, but nobody had tried to create something in the "dance romantic" style of 1984 (Valerie Dore, Savage etc). "I'll Be By Your Side" was an attempt to do that, but after the initial 12", we let ourselves be influenced by more modern styles of producing electronic music, for example by using sidechain compressing. Since we have our roots in a more poppy, melancholic style of italo disco, we have reached out to a lot of indie pop people with the music, and my new album is also released on a label that would rather count as an indie label than an electronic or disco label.

Sally Shapiro, the project with you as producer along with Sally on the vocals, have been a huge success worldwide. When doing your solo thing as Johan Agebjörn, does it make things easier for you that you're behind Sally Shapiro?
Yes it seems like this new album is going to be recognized in pretty much the same circles as Sally Shapiro was, and the label is focusing a lot on the fact that I'm the producer/songwriter of Sally Shapiro. However, I also make ambient music that I release on Lotuspike, and the ambient project has been pretty separate from the disco project, it's mostly getting played on new age radio shows in USA and only a few people seem to appreciate both projects, though there is some overlap. So I would probably release the albums on Lotuspike even if Sally Shapiro didn't exist.

We got the album for preview listening and we really like the release. The last album as Johan Agebjörn were much more ambient and chill but with this "Casablanca Nights" you move more within several genres. It's both the nu italo and nu disco along with some ambient slower music and one track is very Massive Attack for me. Was this the natural evolvement for you as Johan Agebjörn solo?
I think it's a consequence of different things: A lot of people, both producers and artists, have collaborated with me on the album, so they have had some input in the sound of the tracks, making it more varied. Also, the album collects material from several years, so I have passed through more musical stages during the creation of the album than during the Sally Shapiro albums, which were both made in about one year each. Finally, for some reason I felt quite a lot of freedom with this album, for example to include the intro track which is played on acoustic piano. Maybe that reflects some kind of evolvement.

As mentioned, we really like the album and another thing that we like about the release are all the collaborations with other artists and producers. To mention a few of them; CFCF, Le Prix, Fred Ventura, Legowelt, Wolfram, Friday Bridge, Ercola, Queen of Hearts and Lake Heartbeat. How did you manage to get all of these people to be involved on the album?
Most of them are people I've got to know through the Internet during the process of the Sally Shapiro albums…some of them remixed Sally Shapiro tracks earlier for example, some of them I was asked to make remixes for, some were friends of friends. In some cases I just took a chance and contacted them on MySpace (Fred Ventura and Lake Heartbeat for example).

Also Sally Shapiro is one of the collaborating artists on some of the tracks. Do you think those tracks sounds different now as Johan Agebjörn solo and what they should be and sound like if they were produced as Sally Shapiro?
If they sound different, then I think it's more because of the input from co-producers. Actually we had a plan to release those tracks as a small Sally Shapiro EP, but in the end we decided to include them on this album, because albums work much better than EPs for us and the record labels.

The album is named "Casablanca Nights", any history or story behind the name?
I wanted a name that reflected the sound of tropical urban disco nights…also, the name of the album actually came after the basic creation of the artwork (which is made by Ylva Lindberg of Friday Bridge), and I thought it fit very well to it. It's also a reference to the old italo disco track "Acapulco Nights" by G.J. Lunghi.

We posted the awesome track "Watch The World Go By" a couple of weeks ago that you've made together with Le Prix and Janne Kask from Lake Heartbeat. We really loved the voice of Janne along with your beats and synths, are the any more plans doing more collaborations with him?
We were all three very happy with that track, and we have tried to come up with something new, however so far we're not satisfied…but hopefully one day!

Do you have any special expectations on this release yourself?
Not really, and that's a good thing…a Sally Shapiro album would come with a lot of expectations from people that it would be difficult to live up to. If some people can feel something similar when listening to the music, to what I and the other artists felt when we were creating it, then that's a good accomplishment. But I'm not trying to build a living on the music…I'm a full-time psychology student and a father (getting my second child in June!), so I'm not about to go on a big tour. Maybe some DJing every now and then.

Your favourite track or tracks on the album?
It's difficult to say, it changes. Currently maybe the last minute of the track "Casablanca Nights".

"Casablanca Nights" will be out on Paper Bag Records, you been with them for a couple of years now. I suppose the collaboration are working well?
Yes, I think Trevor (the label boss) and I have exchanged a few thousand e-mails now. He's a big fan of my music. Paper Bag's connections in the North American indie scene also feels like the most stable base for getting the music out there.

That's kind of it for now, we will get back to you when the release hits the charts. I can already reveal now that one of the tracks on the album probably will be on my "Best of 2011" list... So Johan, big thanks and bye!
Thanks for your support…bye!

And to finish off this interview Johan was so kind to let the readers of Tracasseur get their own exclusive 320 kbps mp3 of one of the tracks from the album, we give you:

Johan Agebjörn feat. Sally Shapiro - Le Noir Et Le Blanc Sur Le Piano [Tracasseur exclusive]

And pre-order/order your copy of "Casablanca Nights" here.

Exclusive interview: Erik Hassle

Erik Hassle, our Swedish talent with that great voice and cool red hair, that moved to London and made his career even bigger. He's back with the mini-album "Mariefred Sessions" and we caught him in action to discuss the release and some other things around Erik.

Hello, Erik. First of all we must say thank you for showing us your new tracks a couple of weeks back. We got hooked right away.
Hello and thank you. It's sensitive times always around a release, so it pleases me a lot that you like it.

This means that you're back and you're singing "Are You Leaving". What is your new single about?
"Are You Leaving" is about being caught in between your "yet to come" and your past. About the rootlessness of standing with only one foot in the memories from your childhood while the other one struggles to move on. It's a gap outside both realitys. In my case about a small town two hours south of Stockholm.

You left the small town for a bigger town, nowadays you even live in London. Was Stockholm too small for you? Maybe you had bigger plans with your new label of Island Records?
Moving to London was a natural step for me in many ways. Partly because I got signed to Island Records and have been working in a lot of different territories the last couple of years, but also it is a crazy town and a good base connecting both Scandinavia and the US.

Was it in London you met with our fave Ellie Goulding to make the fine duet of Robyn's "Be Mine" that was out in the end of 2009?
Yes. Me, Ellie and Little Boots were on tour together last fall. I love Ellie and we had a little getting-to-no-each-other-ceremony recording "Be Mine" and some other songs... It actually wasn't supposed to be released but it leaked out on Popjustice and the rest is history.

Do you have more projects on the go with Ellie?
Not at the moment, but she is always welcome to Stockholm.

If we get back to "Are You Leaving", the video is made by you and your friend Johannes Ring. And you went back to your hometown of Katrineholm for a Saturday night to catch the feeling of a small town. How was it to come back and do this kind of video?
It was fantastic and since it brought back so many memories, it was quite easy to come up with different locations to visit. The design of pleasure is permanent and a Saturday night is more than often the same. There is not many clubs, restaurants and houses to choose between and I really wanted to capture the beauty of that. The safety of knowing who your friends and enemies are and the safety of knowing you will meet them if you go to certain places is something I really appreciated while living there. Before we took the car down there to shoot the video, I was a little bit worried that people would be offended and not see the love in it. But the reactions to the video from the locals has been so nice and they really understood the idea.

Here is the video:


The whole new mini-album "Mariefred Sessions" is recorded together with Jocke Berg and Martin Sköld from the well-known Swedish band Kent. How was it to work with these guys, they're pretty big in Sweden?
I loved every minute of it. They really took me in and made the process very natural. It was a new experience to work with people coming from a band and I found that very inspiring. If they wouldn't already be a part of a band, I'd force them to tour this record with me. The writing and production process turned out quite "band-like" and it was great feeling the unity. And apart from being great guys they are really really fantastic songwriters.

Almost the whole album is also recorded in Martin Sköld's studio, that is in Mariefred. Was the title of the album clear to you or did you think about other titles for it?
Well, at first we didn't have a clear thought at all of what to do. We had been talking about trying and write something together, back then maybe just a song or two for my album no 2 that I was currently working on. But after just hanging out for a couple of days we had made 3–4 songs and quite instinctively felt we had to make something special out of it. The city Mariefred and Martin's little atelier was the core of all the songs and the name was the first that came out.

Is this maybe the fresh start of a long term working relationship between you and the guys from Kent?
Never say never...

The English paper The Guardian wrote a tribute article about you a while back and called you "the Stockholm Wunderkind". How did you feel when they wrote such a great article about you? Did you get scared?
Yeah a little bit scared. It was so early in my career, I was about 18 and it was a big thing to handle :) I remember how surreal it felt. Still in the start of writing my first album and they basically based that article around a couple of songs I had put up on MySpace. It led to so many good things though and created a buzz outside of Sweden.

Anyway, we're really glad that you're back, with this new mini-album you've shown that you're "the Stockholm Wunderkind". Good luck Erik!
Haha, thank you!! Bye!

And here is a taste from the mini-album "Mariefred Sessions" that is really good, buy your copy here or use your Spotify. "Stay Away" is the next single from the mini-album.

Stay Away by erikhassle

Exclusive interview: Minitel Rose

The French electro trio Minitel Rose is back in the game. Two years after their critically acclaimed first mini-album, "The French Machine" (Futur, 2008), Raphael, Romain and Quentin have teamed up with K7! Records for their sophomore release "Atlantique". We decided it was time to talk with these three Frenchmen about the release and how good Nantes really is.

Hello Minitel Rose, you’re back, and you’re back with great news. You’re here with your debut album “Atlantique”. Feels good we suppose?
Of course, it still seems unreal for us to realize a child's dream. I mean we are doing music, travelling around the world to play it, how can't that feel good?

You released “Atlantique” on the French market back in May on Futur and now it’s time for the rest of the world to get their hands on your debut album when Futur and German label K7! are working together on the international release. What are your expectations with the release worldwide?
"The French Machine", our first release had a little international visibility. With this one and the help of K7! we are really hoping that we could be touring in those countries where Minitel Rose never played before, such as USA or Australia.

Our expectations for “Atlantique” went high when we first heard and posted the instrumental version of “Snake Girl” back in March. We weren’t disappointed when we heard the rest of “Atlantique” for the first time, so to speak. It’s a great album, are you satisfied with the general impression of “Atlantique” yourselves?
It's really hard to get an objective point of view on our music, I mean we put all our energy and our feeling into it. For us "Atlantique" is a real step after "The French Machine". We decided to do it only by ourself, we recorded it, performed all the instruments, mixed it, finalized the artworks, so the album it's exactly as we wanted to do it. We choose each songs to be unique in its style and now we put the same attention on their live interpretation.

If you then should compare this release with the release of the mini-album “The French Machine” from 2008. What do you think is the biggest difference between them?
"The French Machine" was a kind of two first years best of Minitel Rose. With "Atlantique" we were only the three of us, working in a big house in front of the sea during one month. Even if we get some ideas before to get there, we composed, recorded and mixed the whole album during this period. There were two years between these two records, during this time we were always thinking about how we wanted that album to sound.

It's definitely more pop but with a far better sound, we used synths we like such as Moog Voyager or DX7. Raphael found his own vocal style he was looking for, a mix between sexy intention and powerful new wave chorus.

We’ve heard that the first rough outlines for “Atlantique” were made while you were on the road?
This is not really exactly. It was what our French partners told to be more sexy but the truth is that when we are on tour it's hard for us to be focused on other things than the live shows, plus we like too much party, to do other things after a show. But we were always speaking about what we wanted to do, that is true. And we started some songs between two gigs in our home studio. We really wanted to be the three of us in front of our synths, we've always done like that.

You guys are originally from Nantes, that’s close to the Atlantic Ocean. Is it therefore the album got the name “Atlantique”?
"Atlantique" is a part of us. To be honest we started to work on this album in Paris, in a traditional studio with a professional engineer, but it wasn't us. I mean we didn't recognize ourself in the way to do music, it was the way for us to figure out that the place we are at when we compose have a real influence on our music. So we decided to rent a house with our own keyboards and stuffs, in a place we perfectly know and love. The place where we met each other 10 years ago: the Atlantic Ocean. The ocean was always there in our life and it's a kind of family member. And we like the idea to be on the other side of the US, which is a dream for us.

Nantes were said to be “the most liveable city in Europe” according to Time Magazine back in 2004. Do you agree with them?
How can it not be, this city is at human size, you can easily know the good people, the good places. There is no coolest contest, all is really natural. It's only 30 minutes from the sea. Architecture is wonderful... and we got the Muscadet (a French white wine).

You’re a part of the amazing Valerie Collective with acts like Anoraak, Russ Chimes and The Outrunners. Do you think that being a part of Valerie has helped you forward in your career?
It has helped us to get an international focus for sure. The blog is really famous, and the Valerie party organized all around the world get a real impact. Valerie is for us the best on the 80's revival sound. Each member get his own way in different sounds and regarding career choice this is why the collective is so interesting.

The members of Valerie work together a lot, you remix The Outrunners, Maethelvin remixes you, College and you collaborate. How well do the members of Valerie know each other?
First it was College who created the blog in parallel with his musical project. His friends from the childhood, Maethelvin and The Outrunners were starting their project in the same musical direction. They were the first members of the team, four years ago now. College saw us at our first gig in Nantes, he liked it and after a few beers we were part of the crew. It was the same for Anoraak. The last member was Russ Chimes (the only who didn't live in Nantes). We are friends first, and we share same influences such as 80's blockbuster, synth gods (Vangelis, Moroder, Tangerine Dream), and we all share the same graphist (The Zonders).

And speaking of remixes, back in the days you made a couple of special remixes of Pink Floyd and The Kinks. How was it to remix classic old songs like these ones?
It was a kind of game for us to remix songs that are untouchables. It was our first step into the remix thing, we had no limit and that's why it works I guess. It's always fun to play these songs in a DJ set.

Pink Floyd - Another Brick In the Wall (Minitel Rose Remix)

You’ve been playing live and DJing at some of the best clubs and festivals around the world. On live gigs you are four performers instead of three and you use no computers or tapes. Is the feeling more genuine when doing so?
To find the best way to do our live set was a long journey. We tried a lot of things, from one computer and two mics to how we got it now. As a spectator we like rock performances, this is what we wanted to do, put all our energy in our instruments. So we decided to use only instruments, play live (no computers) and to be joined by a drummer. The songs are not exactly as on the CD but we don't care, cause they got their own life on stage.

Tracasseur wants to thank you guys for the interview and we wish you all success with the worldwide release of “Atlantique”. Salut!
Salut!

Here are two carefully chosen great tracks from "Atlantique". Go and buy your copy of it here to get your hands on the whole great album.

Minitel Rose - Captain

Minitel Rose - Hundred Years

Exclusive interview: Stay Ali

Today we give you an exclusive interview with one of the great young hopes in Swedish electro – Stay Ali. They released their debut EP, ”Vat:Auhlau”, on Monsieur Adi’s label Technofavrik just before the summer. We met up with Bård and Elias from the trio (unfortunately Johan couldn’t make it) over a couple of beers. The interview lasted for two hours and we recorded it on a cell phone, which made editing hard but necessary work.

Here’s the interview after we boiled it down to the essentials.

What music do you listen to?
ELIAS – Wow, I listen to pretty much anything. Really, from hits to more indie stuff.

But are you out there on the blogs searching for music yourselves?
ELIAS – No, I wouldn’t say that.
BÅRD – But when you’re in the industry, so to speak, you get a lot sent to you which make you find quite a few cool bands. I also think that all of us together have a really broad taste in music. Johan plays and listens to a lot of jazz for example, and I listen to a lot of classical music, and jazz too.

Well actually, you can tell that you get inspiration from a lot of different music and that there are elements from different genres in your music. Some blog wrote that you mixed italo disco with this whole house thing, and we think we hear some techno too...

BÅRD – We don’t always aim for a particular sound.

ELIAS – No, exactly. Pretty often you listen to an artist or a song, and then the production kind of move in that direction. Then it depends on a lot of other factors too of course.

BÅRD – We’ve been doing this for four years now, and you can really notice that we’ve changed genres completely. Well, not genre maybe, but the sound at least.

ELIAS – And sometimes we go back closer to what we did before and other times we distance ourselves even further.

What kind of music did you start out making four years ago?
Both Bård and Elias laughs.
ELIAS – It really started out as a joke. It was really weird...

Four years ago, you were still in junior high school then right?

BÅRD – Yeah, ninth grade. It started out with me being over at Elias’ place eating crisps with my laptop. I had just started making some electronic music. We found this project that a friend had started on, that we thought was so bad.

Everyone starts laughing.

BÅRD – It’s good laughing at how bad it was after choosing to make a song out of it. Anyway, it ended up being our first song, and was called ”Korvhuset” (the sausage house), and I still have it on my computer.

ELIAS – But to our second song we made a MySpace page where we uploaded it together with a music video. The desire to make a music video was greater than doing the actual music production. We made a weird song and a weird video...

Which song was that?
ELIAS – It’s called ”One Fish”. It’s on YouTube.


We’ve seen that, but there isn’t an mp3 out there, is it?
BÅRD – No, probably not. In those days we used to meet up all three in the evening, and then we made a song and a music video, all in the same evening. Mainly, it was the whole process that we enjoyed, and then we maybe ended up with a video that was fun to watch. We didn’t really have a clear idea with what we were doing, it was more just about having a laugh.

So you didn’t have the idea that ”tonight we make a song and a video, and then we take it to a label”?
BÅRD – Hehe, no that wasn’t the plan. But it always ended up on YouTube the same night though.

You’ve already told us about your broad music taste, but what sort of music did you grow up with, and what are your favourite bands?
BÅRD – The band I listen to the most is Esbjörn Svenssons Trio (a Swedish modern jazz band), Frank Zappa is really good, and then Gorillaz actually.

Those three are a pretty interesting combo...
BÅRD – Oh yeah, and Bob Hund too.
ELIAS – I’m not really “in the know”, I have a more ordinary taste. But my father listened to a lot of 60s music, and I grew up with The Beatles and The Beach Boys who I like a lot. Lately, I’ve listened to Of Montreal and Fleet Foxes, and Grizzly Bear are my absolute favourites. And I’ve started to listen a lot to Dungen too. Well, that’s the sort of music I listen to I suppose.
BÅRD – I think you can see some sort of pattern there.
ELIAS – Exactly, Grizzly Bear also feel inspiringly broad, almost like jazz sometimes.

Yeah, they’re very interesting. You can hear that they’re inspired by a lot of different things.
ELIAS – Yeah, totally. It feels like intelligent music somehow.

Speaking of intelligent music, it feels like your music is very intelligent, like you have a lot of thought and knowledge behind it. It shows that you, unlike a lot of other artists, are musically schooled. Like your track “97” for example. You have mixed together a lot of different kinds of music in that track. It has these clubby house or techno sounds, but the slow tempo and the harmonies makes you think of classical music.
BÅRD – When we did that song we had listened a lot to Aeroplane’s remix of Friendly Fires ”Paris”.

Stay Ali - 97

Friendly Fires - Paris (Aeroplane Remix ft. Au Revoir Simone)

Yeah right, it has the same slow but steady beat.
BÅRD – We’re a lot into that sort of thing. It’s not really a party track, but it’s not mellow either. I like that. That’s how the whole EP turned out I think.

We’ve noticed that the bpm counter says ”97” as in 97 bpm. Is that why it’s named that?
BÅRD – He he, yeah, that’s why. We thought it was an unusual tempo.

Yeah, it’s rare we listen to songs slower than 97 bpm…
BÅRD – There are a lot of 128 bpm tracks around, especially remixes. It’s been a while since we last made one, but we’re currently working on a remix of the song “Backseat” by Stay Gold where Salem Al Fakir is singing. He’s got an amazing voice that is great to work with. That song is like 140 bpm though and three or four other artists are remixing it as well, so we figured they would slow it down to 128. Which is why we’re thinking of slowing it down to somewhere around 105.

The strengths with both Aeroplane’s ”Paris” and ”97” is the tempo. They’re quite slow, but still energetic. There’s the Computer Club edit of Aeroplane’s remix that kicks it up to a more ”workable” tempo (130 bpm), just as Datassette has done with “97” (115). We like it, what do you think of it?
BÅRD – He’s really underrated. I don’t understand why he hasn’t got more plays on his MySpace. He’s made a great remix of Röyksopp that's on their EP, for example.

Stay Ali - 97 (Datassette Remix)

How do you know him?
BÅRD – Well, we don’t really know him. I just thought he was good and he wasn’t super big. So I shot off a mail to him.

Two remixers on the EP and you took contact with both of them yourselves?
ELIAS – We met Owl Vision during a gig down at Deathelectro’s club (I love Electro) down in Gothenburg , and turned out he was a great guy…

He’s more trash electro...
BÅRD – He calls it deathelectro actually. Don’t know if he maybe created that genre… I can’t think of anyone else who is so “death”…

So where do you think electro will go from here if you get the chance to be spokespersons?
ELIAS – I think the tracks that will get big will have some sort of finesse to them. Take “Backbeat” for example, I can’t really put my finger on what it is, but it’s just like no other song I’ve heard. And “Paris” is another track that I’ve thought a lot about how it sounds.

Yeah, there’s something that sort of sticks with you, and make it stand out. Some of all this 80s influenced music sound very much alike. You sort of lose the artist somehow. You recognize the song, but can’t really place the artist. ”Paris” takes two seconds and you know exactly what track it is.
BÅRD – Yeah, it can be a unique sample, a synth hook or a riff that stands out. I think that’s what it takes to make a ”hit”.
ELIAS – A bit smart… Intelligent electro. And I have to add, when I heard Datasette’s Röyksopp remix, I got this feeling that ”this is the new electro”. Maybe it doesn’t work for everybody, but it’s unique somehow.

Elias, you mentioned earlier that he grew up with a lot of 60s music through your father. It’s a thing we’re interested in. What kind of music you’re brought up with, so to speak. So what have you grown up with Bård?
BÅRD – Me and Elias has known each other since we were born actually, so we have always listened to the same music really. I listened to The Beatles and The Beach Boys too; The Beatles already in kindergarten even.
ELIAS – Then we listened to more rock in primary school. I even bought a striped jacket, a white and blue striped one, which I wore with red Converses. So it was more Ramones there for a few years. They really are some sort of geniuses, in the way that they’ve been able to make evergreen hits with only three chords in a song.

Karma Tree is featured on one of the tracks on the EP, are they the ones who are singing?
BÅRD – Yeah, it is. It was actually a song of theirs that we were supposed to make a remix of. But it ended up being a completely different song that had nothing to do with the original anymore. So we asked the guys if we could have it and credit it as our own and feature them instead, which was fine by them.
ELIAS – They’re also a Stockholm band and about the same age as us. We don’t really know them that well, we’ve only met them a couple of times.

What are your roles in the band? Have you like different strengths, and is there a lot of arguing?
ELIAS – Sometimes actually, and more so now than before. In the beginning you could let things slide, knowing that you got that back later. When we were younger this thing didn’t matter as much as it does now, but now everyone put their foot down when they’re not satisfied.
BÅRD – We usually get together at Elias’ place, where we make the music together. Sometimes I may have started on a song, but we always meet and discuss the song and talk things through.

Ok, so who makes the actual production and the harmonies?
ELIAS – Bård does the rhythms and beats, and more of the production.
BÅRD – Johan is really good on harmonies and stuff. He makes a lot of the composing.

What about these gigs? How long ago was your last and when is the next?
ELIAS – We had two gigs last May, but sadly I couldn’t participate.
BÅRD – The last gig we played in a church. It was a new electro collective here in Stockholm with a lot of young bands, and we were invited to play. They had removed all the church benches and they had smoke machines and stuff. The reverend was a sound engineer, a man in his 40s with worn tattoos. It was a pretty different gig.

Have you got any favourite artist you’d want to remix or have remixing your stuff?
ELIAS – Maybe it’s cheesy, but it would be cool to be remixed by someone really big. So you just get your stuff out there.

Who’d that be? The Swedish House Mafia or David Guetta?

Everyone laughs.

But if David Guetta would call you personally and beg to remix one of your tracks, would you say no?
ELIAS – No we wouldn’t, we don’t gave a lot of pride in that way. We take whatever we can get.
BÅRD – Maybe it’s boring, but I think Boys Noize is really good.
ELIAS – Danger would be awesome. He’s big AND he’s good. He would be the coolest to be remixed by. And I would love to remix Sébastien Tellier if he asked for an official remix…

What are your plans for the next release?
BÅRD – We have actually thought of releasing an indie EP. It wouldn’t be unplugged, but it would be guitar and piano and Elias on the vocals. And with indie we mean like MGMT and Jamaica.

Do you feel you have an advantage because of your backgrounds in classical music, playing instruments and going to music schools?
BÅRD – I’ve actually thought about that. Mr. Oizo, who’s one of my favourite producers, and who I by the way would love to be remixed by... I suspect, but don’t know for sure, that he hasn’t got a musical education. In a good way I mean.
ELIAS – Either he got lots of education or none at all.
BÅRD – His music is pretty fucked up. It’s bizarre, but extraordinary at the same time.
ELIAS – The thing with a musical education is that you learn the rules of how to make music, but also how you can break those rules.

What’s your most embarrassing song that you like? You know, a song that you’re not really supposed to like?
ELIAS – I have to say Rhianna’s ”Rude Boy”.
BÅRD – I choose the whole OC soundtrack.
ELIAS – I actually downloaded Jason Mraz’ ”I’m Yours” recently, and that’s pretty embarrassing.
BÅRD – Oh, and I came up with another one, ”Fireflies” by Owl City.

So what’s the feeling with Stay Ali now, does it feels like you’re on a roll? That stuff is starting to happen?
ELIAS – I often use to think that things are about to happen, and then it doesn’t.
BÅRD – But there’s always little stuff happening ….
ELIAS – Right now there are a lot of small things happening. This blogging thing is new to us. It’s great that people write about us, and there have been a lot of that recently.
BÅRD – Plus the”Vat:Auhlau” EP is on iTunes.

You were really young when you started out. How does that show? A lot of stuff happens between ages like 15 to 20. How have your production changed during these years?
ELIAS – We have always wanted to make these pumping, energetic tracks. But now when we have started to go out, that feeling has diminished. But making more ”mature” music comes automatically I guess.

Funny you should say that, because you’ve always felt more mature than most artists your own age. It was hard to believe you’re teenagers when you listen to your tight and well produced music. So what’s in the future? Where do you want to be in, say a year?
ELIAS – We hope the future is bright…
BÅRD – I’ve always dreamt about producing some vinyls, and that’s actually what we’re going to do with ”Vat:Auhlau”.
ELIAS – We want to get out and play more. Get out in the world. We’ve played in Italy, Holland and Norway. And we hope that Monsieur Adi’s connections in France can land us a gig there.

Lastly, you said you didn’t want expected questions like “how did you come up with the name Stay Ali?”, but we have to ask anyway!
ELIAS – Haha, we were actually thinking about that on the way over here. We have a few different stories, or variations of a story, because the real one is pretty boring.

Let’s start with the real story.
ELIAS – Ok, there was this girl on my MSN that called herself Stay Alive. She had seen that crappy horror movie with the same name, which we hadn’t seen at the time. And when I minimized her on MSN it said “Stay Ali...”. I started to call myself that on MSN and had that name six months or so. And then we stood there without a name... Well, Johan had the suggestion that we would call ourselves My Female Bodybuilder.
BÅRD - ...Which was so bad…

Everyone burst into laughter.

ELIAS – We didn’t come up with anything else, and then Stay Ali sort of stuck. And then we saw the movie and it was horrible.
BÅRD – It was really really bad.

That was a good story, but what have been the ”official” story?
BÅRD – Ok, we actually told this story to Too Many Sebastians, but they didn’t know it wasn’t true, haha. The story was that I had a friend called Ali who was from Iran. His parents decided to move back and we started a campaign among our friends that he should stay. Everytime we saw him we shouted “stay Ali”. We even started a Facebook group and everything. They moved to Iran anyway, so we took the name to always remember him.

Well, this was a lot of fun! Thanks for a nice interview guys! Tracasseur wish you good luck in the future.
BOTH: Thanks a lot, and thanks for the interview!

Stay Ali - Time [Tracasseur exclusive]

Exclusive interview: Digitalfoxglove

Today we proudly present an exclusive interview with German electro star Peter Vincenz Wenk, better known as Digitalfoxglove. The interview came about in a rather unorthodox way. We got an email from him with his new remix of Leeds indie-band Heads We Dance and an invitation to ask for more information. Some emailing back and forth led to an improvised chat interview, complete with the soundtrack of his live-streamed mixing.

I’ve edited out some off-topic discussions, like the differences between Swedish and German Christmas foods and favourite rum drinks, but if you’re really interested you could email us and we’ll be happy to indulge you. It still has a chatty feel to it, so bare with us when we're jumping between the topics.

When the interview starts below, Peter had already told me about his plans for an album release in the summer. He had also played me a snippet of his upcoming track “Synthetic Sunshine”, which we’re eagerly anticipating.

First off, how did you come up with your name?
I thought about a name and I wanted something... poisonous. A Foxglove is a deadly flower and then I added "digital" since I make electronic music.

You’re German. Where in Germany are you from?
I'm living in Darmstadt, a small town near Frankfurt. If you would translate it to English it would be "Gut city", so well, it’s the end of the world…

Gut city, eh? Yeah, 'tarm' is gut in Swedish so it sounds about right.

(here we had a linguistical discussion about the similarities between Swedish and German and the influence of German on Swedish from the Middle Ages)

So when did your interest in music develop?
Oh, that started really early when I was around twelve years old. I had just got my first computer and a good friend from school brought Impulse Tracker 2.14 (for DOS) to me. I think it was around 1994 or 1996. I messed around a lot in that little program; sampled a lot of stuff, crazy work for a dumb kid but it was so funny to play around with. When I turned 17 and started my everyday work I stopped making music till I was 23.

I listened to heavy metal and stuff and went through almost every genre. Then I met Aleks from Discodust. We were working at the same company for a while and are now good friends. He brought back my fire for electronic music. I'm 26 now so that was in the 90s..

So how did you make contact with On the Fruit Records?
That also happened thanks to Aleks. He got me in contact with Franck (Freak You) and we both loved each other’s 'trash and unfinished tracks' folder so much that we decided to do a collaboration. Now we are really good friends too. One of my best I think despite the geographical distance (Franck lives in Antibes, France).

Speaking of your music, it’s no surprise that you say you listen to metal. You can sometimes hear that sort of guitar walls in your music that sounds a bit like French trash electro, but with a twist.
I think that’s because I overused distortion on for example “Brassionata”, but I’ve left that style a bit. On the other hand I'm a big fan of Rammstein. I just received a fat banner of their new album. It’s three meters wide and one meter high. I’ll hang that over my screen. It says 'Love is there for everyone'…

That’s nice. So, trashing your old music are you, hehe?
Yeah I'm going to change my style a bit. I’m trying to get a bit more funk mixed up with dreamwave and also some heavy passages.

Yeah, that sort of trashy French electro has evolved a bit hasn’t it?
Yeah it has definitely. Speaking of that, I'm working together with Slaughterbrains too on a new track that shows the direction that I'm moving in.

(Here Pete played a snippet of the upcoming collaboration)

We recorded it via Skype during a live jamming session while having some drinks…

Sounds great! I think that you have a great feeling for melodies and harmonies, especially in the track with Freak You.
Thank you. Well, I’ve never played any instruments, except drums when I was younger. Because our family was not very rich, I never got my own drum set and I had to find another way to make music.

So your musical influences are metal and Rammstein?
Haha, no not really. Sure, I love metal but if I have to decide which music really influences me then that is some work of Miami Horror and all that nice sounding 80s stuff. But I really don’t have fixed genres that I like – I'm always trying to do different stuff, like the little dubstep influenced breakdown in my “Take my Picture” remix.

Do you dj?
Yeah sometimes, but I'm focusing on production. Sure, djing is fun too and I think in 2010 I will play some more gigs. But what I'm often doing is djing online!

(at this point Pete sets up a stream and starts mixing live online, with our chat sprawling out to discussions over track selections, favourite drinks etc)

Do you play in any clubs in the Darmstadt area?
I’ve just had two gigs so far. One was in Salzburg the other one in Dresden.

…Oh, I got more info for you! “Beasts and Flowers” will be re released with remixes by We are Enfant Terribles, Justin Faust, Diamond Cut, FFair, Underhall and Jungle Fiction.

Cool, that’s great news! On On the Fruit?
Yes.

What’s your favourite music right now?
Miami Horror – “Sometimes”, some Justin Faust stuff, the new Monsieur Adi – “We are the Romans” and of course Freak You's remix of it.

Tell me about the collaboration with him. How did it work?
For “Beasts and Flowers” it was like... I did some melodies, especially chords and leads and some bells. Then I was talking to Franck and he said wow, let’s finish this one together! I exported what I had so far and then it was just taken to another level. So let’s say he did the polishing of everything and also was the man behind the nice bassline and the long sweeping chords that starts at about halfway into the track.

What’s your relation to these 8/16bit sounds? I mean I grew up playing videogames with these sounds.
Oh, I love chip tunes! I'm a passionate C-64 fan. I had one since I was 10. I used to play Kikstart (a motocross game) on it, and Giana Sisters of course. I had an Amiga 500 too. I played with Protracker on it. And Firepower 2000 and North and South.

So what do you think will be the direction of "French electro" in the future? You were talking about more dreamwave stuff…
That's not an easy question, but I think Kris Menace, Alan Braxe and other big ones have put that music to a whole new level. I think it will just get more… 'real'. With real instruments; live played bass and that sort of thing.

Thanks for the chat and the great music and good luck!

Heads We Dance - Take My Picture (Digitalfoxglove Surprise Remix)

Moulinex & Xinobi - DISCO Texas Theme (Digitalfoxglove Remix)

Visitor - Los Feeling (Digitalfoxglove + Wonder Remix) (repost)

Digitalfoxglove feat. Freak You - Beasts and Flowers (also on Arnie's Best of 2009 mixtape)

Grum - Woah (Digitalfoxglove Remix)

Digitalfoxglove - Brassionata

And, finally, here's the actual mix Digitalfoxglove did during the interview:

Digitalfoxglove - Liveset for Tracasseur

Exclusive interview: Lifelike

As we wrote about in a post a while back, one of of the true greats of French house, Lifelike, visited Stockholm a month ago. We took the chance to have an interview with him about his music and about barbecuing, censorship and bass playing. Here it goes:

Great gig Saturday night. How was your evening?
It was a great evening for me too, the audience was really enthusiastic and full of energy!

First thing first, could you tell us a little bit about your musical background? What music did you listen to when you were younger?
A lot of early 80's and late 70's pop productions like Cabaret Voltaire, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and all of that Manchester/Liverpool scene from that era. Everything that had synthesizers and drum machines and that didn’t sound commercial to my ears…

At the same time I discovered the whole funk/electro disco scene through a local DJ friend that had a funk radio show in my local town and was 300% into this sound. I liked all that right away too, as all those black musicians where using the exact same gear than their white, more melancholic colleagues from Manchester.

I love both side of that 80's period and wouldn’t be able to choose between funk/disco and electro. They all were composed by great musicians, black or white doesn’t matter to me.

What was the first record you ever bought?
I think it was a remix from Pet Shop Boys by Shep Pettibone, West End Girl extended or something like that. I spent all my money on records when I was a teenager!

In your set Saturday you played a lot of early French house classics like Daft Punk and Stardust, along with even earlier electro and new wave classics. What are your influences right now?
Well, my roots are definitely in that pop electro scene of the 80's, I can’t refer to any recent electronic band outside Daft Punk as an influence on my music. But if you ask me about pop music then yes, I’m influenced a lot by recent artists like Chromeo and Empire Of The Sun, The Presets, Midnight Juggernauts and this whole new scene coming from Australia. Those are the best bands I've heard in recent years really.

What do you listen to at home? Is it synth house 24/7 or do you listen to emocore at home to balance your diet?
Hmm, I don’t listen to that much house music to be honest. I don’t find anything interesting in it anymore. I have a big record collection, I still haven’t listened to all of it, I usually wake up and pick up an old record that I listen to through the day, it’s so relaxing.

We’ve read somewhere that you played the bass in a band in high school. Is that true?
Yes it's true, but I’m a pretty bad bass player nowadays, as I haven’t practised for years. I dropped it when I heard the first digital synthesizers in a music shop. It had the bass already sampled in it and sounded as good as the same real one... hmm well that’s what I thought, of course it sounded like crap at that time, ha-ha.

Fred Falke is a former bass player, your colleague Kris Menace played the bass on Jaunt’s Travelling EP. Is playing the bass a requirement for “French” house producers?
You’re totally right, there is a school for French house bass players in Paris. Just kidding... Well it’s probably a noticeably character of our sound, it’s a big part of the sound of the label Vulture and of course the productions from Daft Punk and Thomas Bangalter made heavy uses of bass lines. It’s certainly a trademark that we should have patented!

We’ve got the feeling that the likes of you, Falke, Menace, Jaunt and Charlie Fanclub are pals. Do you play football in the park and have barbecues every Sunday?
Not really, we're connected of course but we do not have such proximity. I’m closer friends with Alan (Braxe) than with Fred that I know a bit less. And we all are more or less aware of what the other ones are doing. There are other connections with Pedro Winter, who managed Daft Punk in the past, and his Ed Banger Label, as well as with Justice for example. It’s a scene that has his trademark I think. We’ve of course met many times but we’ve never talked about barbecues – maybe we should!

The French touch movement has a very distinct sound. How would you describe it?
That’s pretty difficult to answer... I think it’s a lot to do with disco music, it’s maybe more a sort of coolness in the way of producing the music. A sound that is quite rough, and in fact pretty much back to the roots of house music. I can’t tell exactly what it is, but it’s usually easy to tell the difference between an Eric Prydz production and a Thomas Bangalter production. The latter has a style that everybody would kill to have, it’s indescribable, and the former tries to get the same style as much as possible, but without the understanding that it’s not only the sound that matters, it’s the content too...

I'd say I agree with you on that one... You’re of course a very productive remixer. Which remix is your personal favourite?
I honestly can’t choose. I’ve done a lot these years, I would have to recheck them all. Maybe I would say it’s the on I made for Chromeo that I’m the most proud of.

Arguably your biggest hit so far is Discopolis from 2005, which you made with Kris Menace. You had some censorship problems with the video. Could you tell us about that?
Well those are the mysteries of Television censorship. We never understood why they censored that video while you can go on the same channel and watch RnB or hip-hop videos where guys are smacking some black women's asses for hours while your little 10-year old brother is eating his meal. It’s just bullshit generated by a handful of people who think that they know what people want to hear and see. In fact they are on the wrong way really, that’s why the alternative electronic club scene is so strong, people don’t want to hear the crap you find on big TV or radio channels, it’s a sign of good health of the youth isn’t it?



So you're as big a fan of the FCC as Jimmy Kimmel then? On another note, you released Sunset together with Yota in February, but before that it was a while since you made a release of your own. Are we going to have to wait until 2011 for your next EP?
Not at all, I've had around a release every year. I do a lot of remixes, DJ sets and other productions that keep me busy another good part of the year you know. In the end, believe me or not, I've only got little time for my own music. I could release more if i really wanted it, but I like the idea of releasing an EP once a year or so, it makes the thing more interesting.

Speaking of Yota, she’s a member of the new duo Frankfurt Express that you produce. We're all anxiously awaiting the EP. How’s the work coming along?
It's going well now, we're almost finished. It’s a difficult project, as the main composer works with very old machines, samplers etc. It’s more time consuming to produce and sync them all together in the end. But the result sounds fantastic to me, it's such a great sound so far. Yota's voice fits perfectly to his music. I’m very proud of the project.

You played a version of Frankfurt Express’ “Wake Up” that sounded like a Lifelike remix. Will it be included on a future Frankfurt Express release?
Yes, definitely, the remix is still unfinished as I was trying to adapt the track to a late dance floor crowd, but it sounded quite good to my ears at Debaser last night.

Yeah, we thought so too. What are the differences between making remixes, making your own music and producing others?
You take more risks when you make your own music, you put a lot more stress and pressure on yourself when the record is getting released than if you would have to remix another artist or if you're producing tracks.

Both sides are cool, remixing is a fantastic way to adapt your sound and music to an artist that could have a totally different sound. I like to imagine Moby having a drink in Miami in 1985, and try then to put the remix in this ambience for example.

With productions it’s a less selfish way of making music. You have to deal with other artists and you can’t have your will all the time, you have to compromise. At the same time, it’s a great job as you learn to work with other musicians and you're there to put your talent into their music, to help them to realize a project.

What’s more fun?
Remixing is definitely more fun.

You made music under the Ferris Bueller alias in your early years. None of us have heard anything of it? Tell us about that project.
Back in 1999 I was trying to do something totally 80's, the name of Ferris Bueller came naturally to me as I was a huge fan of this movie in my teenage years. It wasn’t a very successful release to be honest, the recording company at that time (Undercover Music) had enough of my delirious productions that used Linndrum drum machines and Roland synthesizers at a time where they told me that I had to filter disco to sell records. I was influenced a lot by Les Rythmes Digitales at that time. The records where produced on really cheap set-ups if I remember well. Yes, horrible set-ups back in the days, an absoulute hell to sync together!

OK, thanks for the interview. Good luck with everything and welcome back!.
Thanks!

Now listen to more assorted Lifelike...

Lifelike - The Cult (2002)

Lifelike - L.O.V.E. Is What You Need (2003)

Lifelike & Kris Menace - Discopolis (2005)

Lifelike - Running Out (2005)

Alyoa - It's Been Too Long (Lifelike Top Gun Remix) (2005)

Kris Menace Presents Stars on 33 - I Feel Music in Your Heart (Lifelike & Kris Menace Remix) (2006)

Chromeo - Needy Girl (Lifelike Remix) (2008) (Link fixed)

Killa Kela - Everyday (Lifelike Remix) (2009)

... and buy everything with Lifelike on Juno!

Exclusive Interview: Emmon

A short time ago whilst playing records at Pleasant, a nice girl came up to us and told us that we were playing great music that you seldom hear at places in Stockholm. She said it was fun to share the good music interest with us. Then she left and fifteen minutes later she came back with a signed copy of her new record “Closet Wanderings”. A nice girl making great music, her name is Emmon!

Hello Emmon, or Emma, which is your real name. Who is really Emma aka Emmon?
From a subjective point of view it’s a tough question to answer. Maybe it’s as simple that we are the same creative, crazy for music, irascible and explosive person that are busy as a bee. But Emmon suits me better as an artist, and at the same time it gives me an alter ego to fall back on and simultaneously it gives me the chance to live out my extrovert pop star dreams through Emmon.

I would describe your music as modern electro pop with big influences from synth. But how would you self describe your music?
I think it’s a fair and significant description of my music that I totally agree with.

Right now you are very hot and much stuff is going on with Emmon, lots of projects, live gigs and a remix competition of your forthcoming single. Besides that your new record “Closet Wanderings” received very good reviews from the music critics. Have you got the act of hubris now and cruising the city in a white limousine?
The only thing I can get the act of hubris of is when I see how the hard work really pays off. I think I could be kind of hard to satisfy, especially when I’m doing almost everything that’s creative for Emmon. It includes everything from writing songs, record, produce, mix, make covers, make videos and direct photo shoots. The big issue for me is maybe my bad patience with myself. I believe that you always can make more out and reach higher levels. Not even the sky is the limit!!

I also must take the opportunity to congratulate you, because your birthday was a few days ago. I suppose you celebrated a little when you played live in Eskilstuna last Friday? How did the gig work out?
Thank you very much! It was fantastic! It also was the first ever performance for a new member of my little band I have when I performs live with Emmon. Niklas “the Driller” Kärreskog is our new keyboardist together with me and Tony “the Beat” Ahola on drumpads. Jon Axelsson from Melody Club is also participating as keyboardist from time to time but right now he is quite busy with the tour for his own band.

By the way so are you and Jon Axelsson engaged. How is it to be together with another musician? Are you going on each other’s nerves or does it take a musician to understand a musician?
We’ve been together for quite a while and of course it’s an advantage that we both are musicians. It probably gives one another more insight and understanding to the great amount of time and energy you put into your music. To work as a musician in that intense way we do is a kind of crazy and different way of living, which almost certainly demands much understanding from a partner. In our case we often push each other forward, support each other and always helps out when help is needed. Besides that it is a priceless benefit to have such a good musician and technician as Jon close at hands when my patience fails.

Right after the gig in Eskilstuna you went straight to Helsinki in Finland for the next live set. It was not the first time you played live in Helsinki. Is it maybe so, that the Finnish are your greatest fans?
All Emmon fans are the greatest fans. But it’s true that lately a growing fan base has emerged in Finland, and that of course makes me happy. It’s also happening things in the eastern parts of Europe and I will for example release my new record in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.

You have recently also been involved in the project “An Evening With Depeche Mode” with several of other great Swedish artists such as Henric de la Cour och Tingsek. You have touring around Sweden and paid tribute to Depeche Mode. You got the honour to perform one of the biggest synth hits ever “Enjoy the Silence”. How did that feel and how did the tour work out?
It has worked out very well and it was a great honour to perform a hit of that calibre. I also sang “I Want You Now”, that also is a great Depeche song. It’s always fun to be a part of these kinds of projects with other talented artists, people that you get to know and become friends with. I’ve been a part of several other Depeche Mode tributes before and the next is as soon as May 20th at Kolingsborg in Stockholm. It will be a tribute to the album “Some Great Reward” from 1984.

As mentioned before, your forthcoming single “Lips on Fire” had a remix competition. It seemed like it was a tough decision to crown the best remix of all good remixes?
It was horrible! So hard having to decide between so many good remixes even if there were a few that didn’t reach that class. If I alone could decide, I had let plenty of remixes win, but now it wasn’t me alone and we had different opinions. So it came up with a compromise. But one thing for sure, I will have a lot of great remixes to play next time I’m DJing.

You have also been doing quite a lot of remixes yourself. Of course you’ve been remixing a few songs for Melody Club but also for acts like The Knife, BWO, Universal Poplab, Soviac, Paris and recently for Don Juan Dracula. How do you choose which songs to remix?
It’s different from time to time; the latest remix I did was for Jacques C’s “A Moral Life”. I happened to be introduced to that song and instantly felt that it was a tune I wanted to make a remix of. I often get proposals of songs to remix and if it’s sounds nice I go for it! Unfortunately I have been forced to turn down several good songs lately just because I put the production of “Closet Wanderings” in the first place. I love to do remixes and could be doing it full-time if that possibility existed but there are so many other things that must be done before the remixing thing.

Recently you also have been hanging out in a dark basement, when it was springtime outside, to record the video to “Lips on Fire”. Tell us about that experience?
It was everything, but not hot and sunny. In the video I should look sweaty, dirty and quite beaten up. For that reason, over and over I was poured with water and had to crawl around on dirty cellar floors in two days. So I really hope that the material was good even if it was my own fault, because I came up with the idea and produces it together with Tony and Niklas (from the Emmon live band) and Niklas’ brother Joakim Kärreskog.

Until the new video is out, watch this video for "Secrets & Lies":


Since 2006 you are with the record label Wonderland Records. They are based in Lerum outside Gothenburg. A quite odd remark is that I actually grew up close to Lerum, in a place called Floda. How about that odd remark and how is the collaboration with Wonderland working out?
Oh, that was quite an odd remark, that area of Sweden grew a lot of great music taste! Wonderland Records gives me that artistic freedom I need as an artist, and that is exactly what I’m looking for from a record label. To be with a more alternative label doesn’t give you all the resources and benefits as a more established and bigger label. But the most important thing for me is to collaborate with people that share the same interest for creative solutions and also have music as primary driving force rather than economical interests.

Emmon is your solo project but you are also a member of the indie pop band Paris. I presume that you are fully focused on the Emmon project right now or do you have time for Paris also?
I always keep full focus on both my music projects. The advantage of Paris is that I’m not alone; there are three more members in the band that hold one's position and I trust them big time. Paris has by the way started recording album #4 and will shortly release a new single and video.

And the final question is about your background as an art student at Konstfack (University College of Arts, Crafts and Design) where you studied a few years back and actually came up with the whole idea about Emmon. But what do you think about the cultural debate lately, regarding the two students that have received huge negative criticism due to their degree projects?
I actually haven’t gotten into that debate enough to make a fair comment about it. But it’s crucial that the art institution exists further on, as an active and daring comment to our contemporary period to have the possibility to make problems visible and enable the opportunity for changes.

Tracasseur wants to say thanks for a very lovely chat with Sweden’s next big electro pop queen! Good luck!
Thank you very much yourself!! I hope we get the chance to play together soon in a near future.

You can buy the record here and you can also listen on Spotify. And here are some candy for you from Emmon:

Emmon - Lips on Fire

Emmon - Secrets & Lies

Emmon - Belarusian Night

The Knife - You Take My Breath Away (Emmon Remix)

Don Juan Dracula - New Sensation (Emmon Remix)