|
With Velvet Underground chanteuse Nico her all time hero, it’s perhaps unsurprising that French DJ/ producer Chloe’s debut album The Waiting Room is radically more eclectic than the minimal deep tech-house she usually DJs though she’s quick to point out she spurns labels. “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 complimentary,” she muses, “Which means that when you’re DJing you’re directly in contact with the public and you receive immediate feedback and you build something with the public. Whereas 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,” she says. Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): How quick are you at creating your own tracks? Chloe: “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.” Skrufff: How eager are you to perform these songs on stage? Chloe: “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.” Skrufff: Do you feel more exposed playing your own music? Chloe: “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.” Skrufff: Loads of French producers on labels like Kitsune and Ed Banger and Level 75 have broken through internationally in the last 12 months, what kind of impact has that had on the French club scene? Chloe: “In France there are lots of good label night parties going on which are very big. Ed Banger’s parties are very popular as are Tiger Sushi and Kill The DJ parties. Ed Banger is a crew of artists that produce a special type of music and Tiger Sushi do their own thing too. But they’re all based around the same concept of putting on parties around the world.” Skrufff: Is the French club/ DJ scene very competitive or more supportive? Chloe: “There are so many different styles of music, for example Tiger Sushi are promoting a lot more non electronic groups these days, and we are very good friends with them, especially because Kill The DJ, before it became a label, was supported by Tiger Sushi. And now Kill The DJ is a label but when we do parties sometime Joakim is included because we like the same sound.” Skrufff: How much do you dream about mainstream crossover stardom and pop success? Chloe: “What do you mean?” Skrufff: Ideally, do you want to be as famous as Nico? Chloe: “I just want to follow my instincts, right now I’ve done this album maybe I’ll do a second, third and fourth album and maybe I’ll live in a different city in the future. I don’t know, I don’t want to plan for ten years ahead. I’m happy with this album project because I really wanted to do it and I hope I can touch some people with it. But since I’m not performing live I can’t go in the direction that is already pre-defined by the system. I hope that this album will touch other people outside the electronic scene. I want to show people that you can add acoustic music with electronic music. I believe in a special way of new pop electronic futuristic music.” Skrufff: How up are you on Myspace; has it changed your life or approach to work? Chloe: “Not really because I only signed up to Myspace three months ago and I didn’t want to do it previously because I was so busy on projects like my album and DJing. I can see that lots of people spent lots of time on Myspace and I was afraid to lose time. So I decided to do Myspace as a promotion thing, after I’d finished my album. And finally I have friends and it’s funny and I’ve actually come across some friends I used to know at school. But for the moment, I don’t really see the point of Myspace. At the beginning I refused to use it because I didn’t understand what was the point of it. I didn’t like the idea that just because everybody else has a Myspace page, I should have one too. Finally, I have one, for the moment and I must say it’s made it easier to get in contact with other producers.” Skrufff: Are you born in Paris? Chloe: “Yes I am though my mother is English. She lived in Paris because my father is French, they met in Ibiza, which is not very original (chuckling).” Chloe’s album The Waiting Room is out now on Kill The DJ Records. http://www.myspace.com/chloekillthedj Interview by Jonty Skrufff Subscribe to Skrufff music newsletter at www.skrufff.com
|
