Hi Guys! Tell us a little about yourself, Where are you from? how old are you? and for how long have you been in the business? Greg: Hi there! My name is Grégoire, I’m 24 years old now, I’m from Paris (natively from Lyon). Mickael and I have been friends and music partners for almost 3 years now! Mickael: Hey everyone! I’m Mickael, 23 years old. I live in Paris but I’m from Bulgaria (Sofia).
Can you give the upcoming producers out there any advices for how to get to the top as fast you guys have!? G: I’d say that being obsessed by a very fast rise in the music fields would be the greatest danger to avoid. Build strong, patiently if needed and always remember the importance of your will, your inspiration and freedom. It might take longer, but you’ll not be forgotten once you’re at the top! Be strategic also, and use a well balanced communication, create a universe, be different! M: Always do the music that you love. Otherwise, it will be hard to find your way. Be aware of what the labels you like release, but try to have your own sound. Do you have musical background in some way? And how come you chose to produce housemusic? G: I studied the piano for a bit when I was around 10 but I got bored quite quickly. I recently started to study music again to be able to actually translate my inspiration. I think I have always had trained ears and my DJ experience allows me to analyze music in a different way. M: In fact I used to be a guitarist in some funk/rock bands and still do some jam sessions with friends. This actually gives me a strong inspiration. But house music and club gigs create vibes that are unique. DJing is as addictive as being in the studio!
What do you think of blogs like ours in general?
G: The great role blogs play in the music industry is beyond dispute now. We are all kids of the Internet. What I like about blogs is that they reestablish talent and passion as the key success factors in an industry where the personal network has always been more important. Thanks for that! M: I totally agree with that. Some people really spend a lot of time trying to take the best out of the releases, even coming from unknown producers.
Who has been your biggest inspiration when you’ve produced music? M: It’s quite hard to determine one single name and it’s not only about name-dropping. Early French Touch has thrown many people into house music but many names have been a deeper inspiration. Bands like Abba, The Thing, Queen, Electric Light Orchestra have been so creative – they dared to take risks. Nowadays, people take more time doing some proper cover versions than trying to innovate. G: I agree on that! I could add that I always had big respect for great producers like Eric Prydz, Sebastien Leger and Axwell. These guys have incredible melodic and sounding skills. What’s more, they have been managing their careers in a very clever way.
Which program are you using when you produce music? G: FL Studio and Logic are the sequencers we use. We are now trying to be able to control Ableton Live very well. Indeed, we’d like to perform real live in the following years. M: Some plug-ins and VST synths are very common but very useful : the Waves suites when it comes to mastering; the reFX, Native Instruments, Arturia, Spectrasonics stuff allow you to achieve some really original sounds (despite the thousands of synths out there).
What do you think is the main key in making a good track? G: You’re the key. The most powerful part of your studio set up is your brain. So one main key is to know how to use the softs, the plugs, the synths, the machines, in a way that would let your ideas be directly translated into beats. M: It is important to try to sound as good as big producers, but try not to copy the gimmicks and ideas. Finding originality in all aspects is very important: not only the melodies, but also the sounds (percussion, synths, effects), the vocals.. Of course, in order to be “good”, a track needs to have proper mixdown, mastering and to be playable in all kinds of situations. Trying to express a state of mind in a track is also a good way for inspiration.
Top 5 tracks at the moment? James Talk, Ridney – Forever Norman Doray, Avicii, Sebastien Drums – Tweet It Miike Snow – Silvia (Sebastian Ingrosso & Dirty South Remix) Arno Cost & Martin Solveig – Touch Me French Government – Toboggan What can we expect from you guys in 2010? G: 2010 has started very big for us! Signing on CR2 Records, attending the Miami Winter Music Conference, collaborating with DJ DLG, Swanky Tunes, Nino Anthony and many more. We are very proud to realize that DJs and producers we are great fans of are now playing our tracks and supporting us really strongly. With this basis, 2010 should be the year of an international development both for production and for gigs with several tours being scheduled. M: More and more work. We’re working on several releases, and we are trying to produce in various styles. We’re constantly doing some beats, edits & bootlegs, thus having enough self-made material for our sets. You have any big upcoming releases? G: Actually, the release schedule is very busy! And that’s so cool to see how the months passed locked in the studios will start to pay as the music we created will finally reach the ears of the members of our growing community. Panoptica is one of the main projects! It has been signed on the great CR2 Records imprint (the label of Arno Cost, Chuckie, MYNC, Norman Doray…) and should be released in late spring. M: And many more to come : a remix for Laurent Pautrat (WAG 2010), some collaborations (with Russian act Swanky Tunes and DJ DLG), and some singles (Toboggan and Desperate Traders). Check them out in our sets & shows!
Will you play in Sweden anytime soon?G: Well, nothing is planned at the moment but I’m really looking forward to rocking some Swedish butts. Our French friends like Tristan Garner, Arno Cost & Norman Doray told us how great people and clubs are in Sweden! So… if you guys ask for some French Government action there, we’ll do our best to schedule something! M: Yeah, you have great venues there, like the Solidaritet. Sweden is definitely one of the countries that really count in house music. Having some gigs there should really be a pleasure!
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