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Gigolo's Vitalic on Life As A Gigolo: It Wasn't Sordid, Trust Me

Author: Benedetta Ferraro
Friday, June 21, 2002
"Gigolo: A man who is kept by a woman, especially an older woman. A man who is paid to dance with or escort women." (Observer)

Gigolo is also DJ Hell's fantastically productive electroclash record label and Vitalic, one of the key names in his stable, is a French (Russian-) producer who
happily admits to a misspent youth servicing "foreign ladies in their thirties with cash to splash out."

Chatting to Skrufff's Benedetta Ferraro last week in a West London hotel, he's both charming and a gentleman, if a little economic with his truth.


Skrufff (Benedetta Ferraro): Your biography sounds amazing… born in Ukraine, son of circus artists, crossed the border with only a little dog, family involved in selling fur to survive, and now you're a techno artist…is it all true-

Vitalic: "Of course it's not true. You see, I thought I could make up a few things about my life just to protect my privacy, but then it took over, though some things are true. I still want to change my biog every time we update the site. I'm going to make up a new story each time."

Skrufff: Is the media invasion of your privacy a big concern to you-

Vitalic: "Yes, it is. Ideally I'd like to have a quite life whenever I want to and to be just an artist, a musician. What's that got to do with the 'truth'-"

Skrufff: Are you actually from Ukraine, you sound very French to me-

Vitalic: "Well, I'm not French but I'm a good Russian speaker."

Skrufff: How did you get involved in music-

Vitalic: "My passion for music started very early on at the age of seven, I'm a classically trained trombone player, but clubbing has opened up new avenues for me and now I love dance music. As a teenager, you want to push boundaries, to challenge the status quo and techno incarnated my rebellion against music for the 'bourgeois'. The moment I heard it, I felt a big change was happening and I couldn't ignore it. It took me time to get into techno because I also had to find the money to buy new machines which at the time '96/'97, were still very expensive."

Skrufff: What happened to the trombone-

Vitalic: "I've still got it, but I don't play it anymore."

Skrufff: How did you hook up with Gigolo records-

Vitalic: "Basically DJ Hell, the boss, asked for my demos and that was it. Very simple. My girlfriend worked for them for two months promoting for the Berlin Love Parade. She handed over a couple of tapes and a year later I sent them my new CD, then they got in touch."

Skrufff: What is DJ Hell like-

Vitalic: "From a dancer perspective, he's my favourite DJ because he's colourful, intelligent, varied, clever and a risk taker. As a boss, he's never there, he's a very busy man."

Skrufff: Busy putting Germany back on the dance music map …

Vitalic: "He's not into faceless techno. He wants to create personalities, we are artists, we are musicians, we write songs and we have the right to express ourselves in whichever way we feel comfortable to. That's his philosophy. Techno doesn't have to be boring and anonymous, I mean, I'm not saying we're stars or even megastars, but we are people and we have opinions. I'm still not totally comfortable with photo shoots, but it will come with time. Another aspect of the Gigolo's philosophy is that we have a party attitude. We never arrive 30 minutes before our gigs and we don't leave 30 minutes after. Partying is an essential side of what we do, and unless the party is totally crap, we stay and we dance. I personally want to have fun. I like dancing and mixing with the crowds. Ah, and we love punk."

Skrufff: Are you nervous to play in the UK-

Vitalic: "I'm very nervous, of course. I've spent so much time in this country as a student, and to come back three years later to play live as Vitalic is very special to me. It's scary because UK audiences don't seem to show how they feel, whereas the Germans' response for example, is usually very loud, but Hell is also here, which is good for moral support. Eve
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