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Interview with Lestat

Author: michelle pirovich
Friday, January 17, 2003
I don't know about anyone else, but I can't help wishing that my mum never gave into the kicking and screaming that I put her through week after week to avoid my dreaded piano lessons. Had I looked into my crystal ball and realised that in the near future a career in music could have lead to a life of creating wonderful electronica instead of playing to a room full of stuffy old ninnies, then I may have ended up following in the path of French DJ/Producer, DJ Lestat. 'I think that the fact that I played piano for years when I was a kid influenced me a lot ...and I am so happy that my mother forced me to learn music, because I didn't like it then at all!!! I was learning classical music while I was listening to heavy metal...it was quite hard, but in the end, it has proved to be very useful... I think I have a great life, I can live from my passion, which is the best.'

Considered one of Frances' pioneer trance DJ's, DJ Lestat who will be taking to the stage at this years Rainbow Serpent Festival was originally playing techno and hardcore. 'That was how I learned to beat mix, when you play that kind of music, you need to know how to mix, which is not necessarily true for trance.'

Beat mixing or not it was Juno Reaktor's 'High Protons Energy' in 1993 that had Lestat rapidly moving away from techno and headlong into trance. 'It changed my life...completely; I discovered then that it was possible to make real 'electronic music.' I mean even then when I played techno, for me it was just 'noise' and the goal of techno was also different...it was minimal and it made people dance in a minimal way. Powerful trance though and especially psytrance makes people travel within their mind and if possible while they are dancing. That's how I like people to be affected by my music, but I always keep in mind that this kind of music is made for parties, which is why I try to keep this 'full-on' line...I want to make the people shout out too!!!'

It was inevitable that Lestat would turn to composing and producing his own work and under the 'Talamasca' moniker Lestat has risen to credible fame. His unique style of combining electronically generated sounds with the harmonics of traditional instruments has created a richness in his music that has seen high profile labels TIP World, Spirit Zone, Moon Spirit, Shaffle Records, MDMA, Krembo and Spiral Trax all grabbing at the chance to promote the sounds of Lestat.

With two albums to his name 'Beyond the Mask' (3D Vision) and 'Musica Divinorum' (Spiral Trax) and his own label 3D Vision which he co-founded with Christof and Mael, Lestat is about to embark on his third opus. 'My next album is called 'ZODIAC' an album that explores the 12 astrological signs through trance. I have seen what is particular to each sign as well as the differences between them which is what I will then translate into music. For example Aries is very full on, Aquarius is atmospheric, Capricorn minimal, and Cancer is beautiful…you know-' Aries full on hey, excellent now I can blame my continual relapse into NRG on the stars.

Lestat is renowned for his openly positive attitude towards music and life and it is this attitude that promoters find difficult to resist; keeping him in constant demand on a global level. 'My music is quite happy but not cheesy, full on but not aggressive…I know what the promoters want and they know that I know this...so everything is cool.' Throughout his travels though Lestat has found himself concerned with a current trend emerging in the trance scene 'There is too much minimal and dark music so I don't see as many smiling faces at parties as I used to, which has destroyed the scene a little for me, but I do believe it will change.'

Funnily enough it is the countries where life is overshadowed by grief and terror that Lestat feels the most positive energy. 'Israel has quite a powerful trance scene, it's unbelievable, in shops everywhere you will hear trance!!! You would be surprised to
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