Chloe from Paris: I Love Mental Music
Author: Jonty Skrufff
Thursday, October 25, 2007
"I don't like being pigeonholed generally," she stresses, "I have a lot of different projects but they are all in the same mood.
"I'm mostly into mental music as opposed to energy music. I like music that makes you dream, that carries you somewhere and fires your imagination."
Chatting down the line from her Paris headquarters, the Kill The DJ star admits she's equally passionate about producing as DJing with both activities joined at the hip.
"The two roles are very different, but at the same time
complementary," she muses, "which means that when you're DJing, you're directly in contact with the public and you receive immediate feedback...you build something with the public.
"Producing is about being alone in the studio, it's a work in progress inside your mind, but at the same time my mind is filled with the energy from the weekend. I really need both.
"I think I would be bored if I was only a producer or DJ."
Strongest on its electronic club cuts (and conversely weakest on haphazard guitar jams like the ultra-repetitive 'Round The Clock') Waiting Room is a bold record that reflects her deliberate efforts to look beyond clubs.
"I definitely didn't want to make a typical electronic album, I wanted to make it somewhere between acoustic and electronic, that's one of the reasons I included guitars on it," she says.
"I've been working on it for a long time because every weekend I DJ and, after the weekend, it's always difficult to find time to go back into production because you're tired from partying."
Admitting she veers more towards the minimal than currently super-hot maximal sounds of France, she's nevertheless patriotic in her tastes, notably towards veteran scenesters Daft Punk.
"I used to love Daft Punk's first album because at that time there were techno raves which were really underground and Daft Punk (with that album) brought the music to other people that were not so involved in the scene," says Chloe.
"I'm not so much into their second album, but I think it's good that they are continuing making music, they have a lot of fans. I'm DJing and playing a different style of music, but I'm quite proud that French artists are well known around the world.
"I like this idea."
How quick are you at creating your own tracks-
"It depends on the atmosphere and sometimes it takes me a long time just to sort out the technical issues such as finding certain sounds. There are no specific rules. A lot of the work is done when you have the original ideas, then it's about the technical side of recording those ideas, which is different."
How eager are you to perform these songs on stage-
"Actually for the moment I'm not planning to tour or perform this album because there are some tracks with guitars and voices and others that are totally electronic so it's not really practical. At
the moment, I will tour as a DJ and maybe do the odd live performance when circumstances allow it. I would love in the future to get more into playing live, for sure."
Do you feel more exposed playing your own music-
"As an artist you're exposed all the time and for me it's something new, something a bit different. As a DJ you're behind the DJ booth presenting the music of different people, and you're like every other DJ whereas playing your own music is something else. All
the time it's a bit risky but I like it, it's exciting. It's a natural progression of being an artist.. For me it wasn't totally different from what I was already doing."
Loads of French producers on labels like Kitsune and Ed Banger and Level 75 have broken throug Tags