Mousse T Interview
Author: Shell Heaven Lee
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Good Morning, I'm very good, I mean good morning for you, but it's actually the middle of the night for me and I'm in the studio working like a maniac!
Your worldwide smash single, Horny was first released in '98. Upon hearing a bootleg mash-up this year with the Dandy Warhol's titled Horny as a Dandy you made it legal, again achieving worldwide success. How do you feel about the combination-
The only version that we have so far is the version I did. The mash-up was basically one some friends did with the acapella of mine and the instrumental from the Dandy Warhol's. Nothing too complicated, but I'm happy.
'All Nite Madness' is the title of your new album. And on the track listing I see there's one a song called Music Makes Me Fly in which you're accompanied by Aussie singer/songwriter Amiel. How did you come across her-
The company which marketed my album in Germany, Ministry of Sound, released Amiel's record over here too. And at one point I was sitting in their office when I heard this song playing next door. I was compelled to find out more about the song and the person who sang it. Coincidentally, she came over to Germany at that time to do some promo, so we met up, got on really well, and decided to go into the studio and make some music. We sung, wrote and made a track in a couple of hours. It was great fun.
We've been informed that you've taken on remixing the Boney M classic Sunny. What made you decide to re-do it after fellow German producers, the Boogie Pimps, had done it before- For many of us who haven't heard it yet, can you tell us how it's different to the Boogie Pimps version of Sunny from '03-
Yeah definitely. I mean, first of all, the difference compared to all the other versions that I've made is that this is an official remix. This is because, Frank Farian, the original producer of Boney M, contacted me and asked if I would like to remix Sunny and I was like "wow, that's one of my all-time favorites. I basically grew up with that song." And since they're doing a Boney M musical right now, you know they want to re-release that song, I was like, "I'm more than happy to do that if you deliver the original tapes of that song". He said "Yeah, I have everything", and basically did two versions. One version is pretty close to the original, but with that Gnarls Barkley vibe: a bit down-tempo, but really groovy. And the other version is a classic, disco version, more in a 70's mold. So, two version, and when I come over to Australia, I'm gonna drop them both in clubs.
We also understand you've been getting involved in rapper Warren G's comeback, as he was recently signed on the same label, Peppermint Jam Records which you head. How did that come about and is it a new direction for Warren G- What can we expect to hear from his first release in four years-
Yeah, Warren G is basically signed for all of Europe, apart from England, on my label, Peppermint Jam. And since I'm a big music lover, and a big fan, we decided to work on his album as for us there are no musical boundaries. Peppermint Jam, may be known mainly as a house music label, but sometimes we come up with cool pop records, or even hip-hop, or soul, funk, whatever. With Warren G, I really liked that record, so we said "Alright, let's do it for our territory and get some cool mixes, and add some Peppermint Jam flavour."
You were quoted in a '93 interview that you felt Germany was over renowned for techno and you wanted to bring a mixture of sounds, which inspired you to create your widely respected album 'Gourmet de Funk'. Do you feel the dance music scene in Germany has changed-
Definitely. Germany basically has always been a good market for music. Of course, the main reason for us< Tags