Tomorrow’s Talent, Waterfalls + a Big Music Festival, Welcome to Cabaret Frappé

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All images courtesy Cabaret Frappé Facebook page.

Hello! Can you introduce yourselves, who is behind the Cabaret Frappé in Grenoble? Is that a Starbucks drink?

Nope. It’s a pure European blended musical event organised by Grenoble city. The festival, 70% funded by the regional government, offers 3 stages and various activities during 6 days. More than half of the events remain free. Only some shows are paid, at a really affordable price.

How long has the Cabaret Frappé been going on for?

The Cabaret Frappé is already going to celebrate his 17th birthday. This year, beside the must-see festival in the garden, the festival also features brass band performances in the city train station, and will have a free concert on the Bastille, a fort on the top of a hill, offering a breath-taking view over the city. To finish, the Cabaret Frappé offers an after party in a legendary concert hall : Le Ciel.

Is the end of July a good time to visit Grenoble?

We can definitely say that the end of July is a good time to visit Grenoble, in order to enjoy the area, surrounded by three wonderful mountain ranges. The mountain is also an amazing natural place to visit outside the winter period. During July, it’s the perfect weather to go around for a walk, and cool down in the lakes and waterfalls of the area. Within Grenoble, you can visit the charming city centre streets and parks, and enjoy many entertainments as well.

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What kind of artists will be performing?

Assuming the role of a pioneer, the Cabaret Frappé is behind many innovative musical discoveries. The festival supports musical creation, and ensures high quality programming. It promotes local and international artists within a large range of diverse music styles.

What’s the vibe like?

The festival mainly takes place in a nice park, in the heart of the city. It brings about 50,000 people during the week. Friends and family gather in this fresh oasis, under the shade of the trees, to enjoy a moment of relaxation ideally suited to discovery. Around the musical program, various activities are freely organized: readings in the Rose Garden, world games, screen printing or free childcare centre for young parents attending paid concerts.

What are you the most proud of about the CF?

We are really happy to give the opportunity to discover today tomorrow’s talent. The Cabaret Frappé attaches great importance to promote emerging artists and showcase their performance in front of a large public.

Bâton Blanc + 3/3 Party - Featuring SE62 - Lille 30/4 [INTERVIEW]

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For our music lovers in Lille, you might remember when we interviewed Bâton Blanc on the occasion of their first techno party. For a smaller town like Lille, with a limited nightlife, a techno party was a big moment of celebration. Now, after planning and a lot of work, the team at Bâton Blanc has a new venue and partner in 3/3. A new party has been announced, this one happening on Thursday, April 30th at the Tchouka Club. You can find the details here

As the headliner for this event, they are bringing in an up-and-coming Ukrainian producer. His name is SE62, and we had the pleasure of interviewing him: 

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Hello SE62! Can you introduce yourself? Where are you from originally?

Hi there, my name is Yura, I am 27 years old. I have been living all my life in Kiev, Ukraine.

How long have you been making music? How did you get started?

My music background started at 10-12 years old. My grandfather was a musician, he showed me a lot of folk instruments. I started producing my first music at university when i was a student. Somebody dropped me Ableton CD.

What’s the character of SE62 now? Who would like to listen to your music?

At the moment I’m listening to house music and a lot of instrumental hip hop from the golden era (early 90’s). Love that gritty stuff. And jazz & soul records. I am trying to make more clubby music. I am happy to see when people dancing and have fun!  

What kind of things do you have planned for 2015 and beyond?

Travels, my first album, wedding, hope Magister Study and a lot of work with the music and design.

Looking forward to visit Lille. Henri (Inner Sense) made awesome gift for me. It’s a book about French cities, such a cool book ! I am so exited to come!

The Art of the Rework - The Avener Answers Your Questions [LONG FORM INTERVIEW]

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A heavily bearded technical team sets up instruments on a packed stage while multicolored lights reflect brightly from the walls of the popular French TV Show “C A Vous.” The kitchen of the hidden studio in the 11ème has elegant-looking appliances. Everything gleans in stark contrast to the rainy grey courtyard outside. 

The hubbub is all for their latest episode, featuring a true Whyd favorite: The Avener, whose track “Fade Out Lines” has been sitting in the top 10 of the Hot Tracks for months on end. It’s in a small office stocked with Mars bars to the side of the studio that we finally meet Tristan from Nice, the French artist who has just released his album “The Wanderings of The Avener,” and who is about to perform for the French public at large for the very first time. 

If he was nervous, it was transmuted into warm friendliness. He sits down, cigarette in hand, ready to answer the Whyd community’s questions. We have 10 minutes. The mic clicks on. 

This interview is translated from French. Tony Hymes for Whyd in bold. All photos, (except the selfie!) courtesy The Avener’s Facebook page.   

In your new album there are a lot of reworks. When you create a remix do you try to break something down, or do you try to build something on top of what exists? 

Tristan: That depends on the song that I use to do my rework. Sometimes I have to do a lot more, to change a lot of the arrangements, and sometimes just adding a bit of salt and pepper is all it takes to season the plate! So it depends, for example sometimes I’ll use a dozen or so tracks, and there are other times where I will use more than 50 tracks! 

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Let’s use your new remix of Rodriguez as an example. 

Tristan: Rodriguez’s (“Hate Street Dialogue”) was a song that was rather easy to create because the heart was already there. All I wanted to do was amplify the rock aspect and make it more appropriate for the club. For that one I used about a dozen tracks to modify it. 

How do you choose the songs that you remix?

Tristan: It’s really just music I like from my years as a DJ. With my DJ background I’ve played a lot of music, from funk to soul to house, and there are tracks that I can’t really play sometimes, because if I did it would empty the dance floor! So I tried to modify the tracks that I wanted to play, but wasn’t able to, and that’s how this album was born. 

You have a classic music formation, notably the piano, but it’s not something that we take from your latest album. So does that serve something for you?

Tristan: Classical music helps me with music in general, with the notes, understanding, and writing sheet music. For this album it helped from a technical standpoint, and didn’t really serve as a source of inspiration. Having a classical background is a big advantage to make music, but orchestrally speaking it’s difficult to bring that into this type of music. 

What do the artists that you remixed think of your remixes? Phoebe Killdeer (“Fade Out Lines”) for example? 

Tristan: She was the first test. Phoebe Killdeer loved the track, but at the beginning she didn’t want to have her name attached to it, because it wasn’t in her overall artistic direction. She was, however, really happy with it. For the other artists, some of whom were collaborators, like Rodriguez, they love it, so it’s a huge joy for me. 

Who are your influences? Who do you look up to? 

Tristan: My music comes from different places. I listen to a lot of music, I’m very eclectic, at home or when I’m DJing. There are a lot of artists that influence me. It’s true that I spent 10 years in classical music so I have a lasting adoration for Beethoven, and Bach, they are THE composers, and no one from today will arrive at their level, they have so much unique musicality. They are still my favorites to this day. 

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Are there artists that you don’t like? Maybe not artists, that might burn some bridges, but are there styles of music that you don’t like? 

Tristan: There are some genres that I appreciate a little bit less. But I am still a student of music, so when there is a style that I don’t like, I try to figure out what the artist was trying to do. I never say “that doesn’t sound good.” There are always good songs in every style of music, you just have to find them. 

You’re labelled as being deep house, but on the new album there is a lot more. Are there other styles that you are moving closer towards? A bit of folk maybe? 

Tristan: Yes! This album is sort of a voyage between different epochs and different styles. And finally I can re-vindicate my eclecticism because it’s not easy for an artist to be so diverse with their music to say “I make all music.” It’s complicated to say that. This album is about sharing, it’s surrounded by my influences, so it’s a journey among lot of different points.

Would you classify your music as being French? 

Tristan: I would like that! I definitely like the “French Touch” period, which had a big influence on me. But now do I bring anything new to this “French Touch” compared to other artists? I hope to have that energy. 

Now I have fans that come from all over the world, not just in France, like Germany, Switzerland, Australia, South Korea, there are lots of people that loved the first single, and that makes me happy! 

When you are aren’t making music, what do you do for fun?

Tristan: When I don’t make music I play music! :) 

I have a second passion, aviation, so I’m in the process of getting my private pilot’s license. 

Awesome! At least you’ll have a great soundtrack to fly to! 

Tristan: Voilà! 

Chinese Man: The Whyd Interview [in English & French]

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This interview was originally in French and translated into English. Pour la version originale en français, scrollez en bas! All photos courtesy of Chinese Man. 

Hello! You are three people in the group Chinese Man: Zé Mateo, SLY, and High Ku. About 10 years ago you started making music together, how? Was there ever a moment when you realized, “shit, we can really do this!”?

We started to make music together around 2003/04 but all three of us already had experience in the domains of Hip Hop and Electronic music. Our first project was the “Pandi Groove EP” (Buy it here) which came out on 500 copies mainly directed towards DJs and people in our entourage.

Then we composed the track “I’ve got that tune” that worked really well and let us launch the group Chinese Man and the label Chinese Man Records.

It was that moment when we said: “shit, we can really do this! We can live off of our music!”

Your track “I’ve Got That Tune” came out seven years ago, and we get the impression that a lot of artists are trying to imitate it right now. How did you create such a unique sound back then? 

The magic of creation. When we produced that track, we were trying to redo the paint at our studio in Ardèche. Sly unfortunately caused the ladder to fall, which hit the turntable that was playing the original of “I’ve Got That Tune.” The record went to 45 speed and we had the revelation. Incredible. We couldn’t get enough of it! 

It’s the same with your original verses, rapped in English! For a group from France, why English? Did Molière already use all of the good rhymes? 

It’s true that Molière wrote some great punchlines in French! But the reasons are much more simple: our primary musical influence is anglo-saxon music and mostly 90’s Hip Hop from the US so it seemed logical to us to collaborate with MCs that expressed themselves in English. And that language sticks better to our music, quite simply! 

You are on the third volume of the “Groove Sessions,” a series that began in 2007. How have the sessions evolved since the beginning? How do you approach these records?

The Groove Sessions project is a series of compilations from the artists on Chinese Man Records, the goal is to present the label’s work from one or more years. So it’s a series that lets out different groups on Chinese Man Records to experiment and express themselves differently from other albums. 

The main evolution of Groove Sessions comes from the number of artists present since 2007, adding Deluxe, Taiwan MC, LeYan or Skoob le Roi to the label. 

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What can we look forward to from Chinese Man in 2015? 

Right now we are working on a new EP that should come out in spring featuring new compositions and remixes from other French artists (High Tone, Al'Tarba…). 

We will be touring in France and abroad with our latest show too. There will also be a lot of news from the label in 2015 with the new record of the group Deluxe, Taiwan MC’s project, and a lot of other surprises! 

Thanks guys! 

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Bonjour! Vous êtes 3 dans le groupe Chinese Man, Zé Mateo, SLY et High Ku. Il y a 10 ans, comment est-ce que vous avez commencé de créer la musique ensemble? Est-ce que il y avait un moment ou vous avez rendu compte que “putain, on peut vraiment faire ça!!”? 

On a commencé à faire de la musique ensemble vers 2003-2004 mais si on avait tout les 3 de l'experience dans le domaine du Hip Hop et de la musique électronique. Notre premier projet a été le “Pandi Groove EP” sortit à 500 copies et principalement destinés au DJs et aux amis de notre entourage.

Puis on a composé le morceau “I’ve got that tune” qui a bien marché et qui nous a permis de lance le groupe Chinese Man et le label Chinese Man records. C'est à ce moment là qu'on s'est dit: “putain, on peut vraiment faire ça, on peut vivre de notre musique!”

Votre track “I’ve Got That Tune” a sorti il y a 7 ans maintenant, et on a l'impression que beaucoup des artistes essaient de lui imiter en ce moment. Comment est-ce que vous avez créé ce son atypique à l'époque? 

La magie de la création. Au moment de produire ce titre, nous étions en train de refaire les peintures de notre studio en Ardèche. Sly a malheureusement fait tomber l'échelle, un coup sur la platine qui était en train de jouer l'original de I’ve got that tune. Le disque est passé en 45 tours et nous avons eu la révélation. Incroyable. Nous avons tous repris des lasagnes ce soir là… 

C'est pareil avec les verses rappé en anglais! Pour une groupe avec ses origins en France, pourquoi l'anglais? Molière avait-il pris déjà toutes les bonnes rimes? ;) 

C'est vrai que Molière a écrit quelques bonne punchlines en français! Mais les raisons sont plus simple: notre influence musicale principale est la musique anglo-saxonne et plus principalement le Hip Hop US des 90’s donc il nous semble logique de collaborer avec des MC qui s'expriment en anglais. Et puis cette langue colle mieux à notre musique, tout simplement!

Vous êtes sur número 3 des “The Groove Sessions,” une series qui a commencé en 2007. Comment les sessions ont évolué depuis son début? Comment vous approchez ces disques? 

Le projet des Groove Sessions est série de compilations des artistes du label Chinese Man records, le but est de presenter le travail du label sur une ou plusieurs années. C'est donc une série qui permet aux différents groupes de Chinese Man records d'expérimenter et de s'exprimer différemment d'un album.

La principale evolution des Groove Sessions se situe au nombre d'artistes présent puisque depuis 2007, Deluxe, Taiwan MC, LeYan ou Skoob le Roi on rejoint le label.

Qu'est qu'on peut attendre de Chinese Man dans 2015? 

Nous travaillons en ce moment sur un nouvel EP qui devrait sortir au printemps avec de nouvelles compositions et des remixes réalisés par d'autres artistes français (High Tone, Al'Tarba…). On sera également en tournée en France et à l'étranger avec notre dernier show.

L'actualité du label va aussi être assez riche en 2015 avec le nouveau disque du groupe Deluxe, le nouveau projet de Taiwan MC et plein d'autres surprises!

Cocktails, Parties, Concerts: Interview with Lyon CityCrunch

Hello! Can you introduce yourselves? Who are the people on the Lyon CityCrunch team? 

Hi! First of all, many thanks for giving us the opportunity to introduce ourselves! Lyon CityCrunch is a group of 10 dynamic and hedonistic bloggers who love their hometown and have shared its best features for quite a while - 8 years to be precise. Everyday at 5 PM, a brand new idea is published on our website: restaurants, bars, gigs, exhibitions, shops, etc. Although we are all genuine music lovers, we are specialized in trendy burger restaurants and cocktail bars! 

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Montmartre: Charm & Magic in Paris [INTERVIEW]

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Hello Montmartre! How are you guys? Why did you take the name of a historic Parisian neighborhood? Is it because your music sounds like Edith Piaf? 

Hello we’re doing well thanks! 

Montmartre is a charming neighborhood, fun and magic, and it’s where we established our studio, so that’s not bad! 

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8 August 2014 Playlists From Our Curators Around The World

Want to stay current with the sweetest tracks being shared across the world during the middle of the summer? Our community of music lovers has got you covered. Here are 8 playlists from August 2014 from our curators in Thailand, Japan, to France and a lot of places in between:

47 tracks from LR

91 tracks from Indie Music Choice

88 tracks from LilComa2Nana

35 tracks from We Provide Electronic Music

26 tracks from Romain Boissieres

19 tracks from Gilles Leveque

15 tracks from Zeckery David Wetson

14 tracks from Maytawee

Never stop jamming! 

The Charcuterie Musicale: Interview with DJ Halouf

1. Can you tell us about your musical personality? When the turntables are hot, what are you playing? 

My name is Omar and I am a Muslim but as I love irony my stage name is DJ Halouf (Halouf means pork in Arabic). 

I created The Charcuterie Musicale de DJ Halouf. It’s a blindtest activity that tours festivals, bars, or private parties. The idea is to go from funk to rock via world music and electro, etc. There are all the major titles that everyone has danced to and knows by heart. The atmosphere is very festive and convivial thanks to the proximity and back and forth between the players and the DJ. The level of difficulty is adapted to each party so that the players find the response (be it the title of the track, or the artist), then, it’s a question of speed! 

The same idea for the blindtest is to chop up the tracks, so I don’t wait for the end to switch to a completely different track. That’s why it’s called Charcuterie Musicale, plus it goes well with DJ Halouf! 

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Ohno? Oh Yes! Hip Hop Instrumentals & Samples From Angers

Hello! Tell us about yourself, where are you from and who is Ohno? 

Hey guys, I’m Louis, soon to be 21, currently living in Angers, France doing my studies in graphic design but I’m originally from Cholet (not too far away). Ohno is my musical alter-ego, a secret passion that caused me to start producing sounds about a year ago. Then I started meeting people in the Angers music scene, like Spectateur who pushed me to continue improving with his help, I also developed connections to the hip-hop collective Label Collection, and with Pepso Stavinsky, Remington group, Jay Bentham and another electro beat maker from Angers: Wander. 

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“Sweaty, Erotic, Electro” Krone Korp March 14th

Are you in Brittany? Or anywhere in western France and are looking for an awesome night out? Krone Korp are your guys. Created about a year ago in April, 2013 in Rennes, Krone is an association that brings together great music, culture, and fun people to its unique “sweaty, erotic, and electro” soirées. 

This time, it’s full techno, and the guys at Krone are bringing in some big residents the well-known Concrete soirées, famous in Paris’s electro scene. It’s all coming together at 1988 Live Club on Friday, March 14th, and Whyd is a sponsor of the event! 

Here’s the line up with links to their Soundcloud pages for your listening pleasure: 

FRANCOIS X (Paris - Concrete/Dement3d)

ANTIGONE (Paris - Concrete/Construct Reform)

THÉO MULLER (Rennes - Midi Deux) 

SEIMIANE & BLCKSMTH (Rennes - Krone Korp Records) 

Here is the official link, don’t miss it!