Hi Olivier! How cool you come playing at Lief Festival, on the 3th of September. So tell us…how’re you doing?
I m really good thx, I m back from SonneMondSterne festival where i was playing for a Bar25’s Showcase. After a short but powerful nap i played with Jus-Ed at Watergate on Saturday night. Obviously I´m kind of exhausted but super happy as the gigs were really nice. Really exciting week end though!
Can you tell us something about yourself, your roots and how you got into the music business?
I started to go out when i was seventeen, I was hanging around in paris in the coolest parties and then I heard a lot about the batofar’s afterparties, everybody in the undergound was peaking about this place so diferrent from any other thiiings or venues in Paris, I went there once, it was incredible, the sound was new and the way it sounded was so weird and interesting.. I met most of the Freak n´Chic crew there, the energy was amazing, Dan Ghenacia was playing, it was the first time I heard him play and I still remember it. It was a lot of deep house coming from the west Coast and this have been a huge influence for me. Artists like Gemini or Kerri Chandler count among my favourite producers.
What do you feel are the big differences between the techno scene nowadays and the early days?
For me, there is not lot of differences, the industry became more woldwide, it has been helped by the developpment of internet, more people have access to the music and i see this in a positive way.. of course, i m getting older but i still have the same desire to party and i think the young generation also.
You play only vinyls and a cd every once in a while. What do you think about digital dj-ing and do you ever see yourself play eg a Traktor set?
I have been using serato for almost four years but at the end i was missing record shopping and playing vinyls. Also, i think its easier to find quality music when you go to the shops. Its exciting to look for some music.. Plus In the contrary it’s becoming quickly boring when you receive everything in your emailbox, you loose interest and this is something i’m fighting against.
Since digital distribution of music has become the standard in electronic dance music, there are much more releases every week then there where before that. There are also much more labels nowadays. Did that change in medium and distribution affect the average quality of the music?
Actually everything is really open, so many differents styles and producers. We all have differents tastes what makes the music more interesting! Indeed it would be boring if everybody’d make the same kind of stuff… There are loads of new label poping up nowadays, but many of them have difficulties every months, some distributors have collapsed and there are more and more producers each and every day. it means more music, and then bigger interest, but its now and then also more complicated for these labels to survive in this jungle. To conclude you need though to search longer if you want to find out the good music because its hidden behind loads of shitty stuff...
How is your own label going?
My new big project is to launch a label with Dan and Dyed. Dyed and I have always wanted to start our own label and the end of Freak n’Chic allows us to do it with Dan involved as well. We share the same roots, the same tastes and the same musical vision. We’ll mainly focus on releasing our own music and of course from producers all three of us enjoy.It will be called Apollonia,we took this name from the movie Purple rain : Apollonia is the girlfriend of Prince and she was also the lead singer in the girl band Apollonia 6.
You moved from France to Germany. Paris or Berlin? Why?
I moved to Berlin bY the end of October 2007 . I live in Kreuzberg in a really nice street called Graefestrasse. its close to Kottbusser Tor. I decided to move there cause the whole city lives for and by electonic music. Before the move, I had to email each and every one, classicaly.. Since i moved I meet them at the café around the corner down my flat, its much more agreeable and human. I have to say also Berlin is really cheaper than Paris. Everything here is new and very interesting ! I prefer the Berlin nightlife, even if Paris was really cool, as the good thing with Berlin is that you always have good parties with good djs and amazing sound system running ! the crowd is nice and does pay attention to the music! You can meet a lot of producers u like everywhere and anywhere and the best I think is that u really feel free and secure in the same time and I think that this feeling helps the people to enjoy more cause they feel better. I m always waiting hard for summertimes, it s always amazing. It is the best way for me to open my mind and I think it was the right time to do it.
What is the relationship with your neighbours like?
Well if u mean, are my neigbours annoyed by my music ? Well sometimes i can hear that someone is beating in my floor, i guess it means they dont like it and they will probably hate me more year after year ;)
The translation of the dutch word “Lief” in English is “sweet” or “love”. What do you love beside dj-ing and producing?
I like the life style, touring the world, meeting totally different people all around the planet, and of course i love to party.
What can the party people expect from you at Lief Festival and the afterparty on the 3th of September?
I love to mix a lot of different styles, i dont like to be stuck in one “genre” of music. When people ask me what i play, i often answer clubs’ music so expect be a mixture of deep techny housy acidito music ;-)
Thank you so much for your time! See you at Lief Festival!!
Shonky - MixJunk by SubcultureNL
1 comment
Sander
Tof om te lezen!!