WiseSound - Playlist Series, Live Reviews + Albums of the Month [INTERVIEW]

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Hello! When did you start WiseSound? How did you get the idea?

Hello Whyd! Before I was in the habit of sending a bunch of MP3s of new discoveries in electro-pop, rock, or techno-house in monthly emails to about 50 of my friends, along with a list of concerts coming up that month with the question: “who’s coming with me?” Basically it was to share my new favorites and have some company when I went to see their shows… The lists got longer and longer and a few people recommended that I put it online. WiseSound has existed since January 2014. It’s our first birthday! 

You do a lot of live reviews on WiseSound. What are the fundamental parts of a good live review? Do you ever give bad live reviews?

To give a great show, you need emotion. Whether it’s the crazy jumps of Birth of Joy or the crystal voice of Goldfrapp with a classical orchestra, the performance must be felt like a trance that connects the group to their audience. I try not to be objective, that’s not the goal, but to be faithful to what I’m witnessing in that moment. I even admit sometimes to shedding a tear, completely transported. 

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I also write when I am disappointed about shows, when I was bored with the nonchalance of The Drums or the last sloppy performance of WhoMadeWho who seemed like they preferred to have fun rather than playing their tracks properly. I describe the scene but also the audience, and in doing that there are also a couple of fun bits that come out of it all. 

For festivals, I would like to do more video reports like for the Plages Electroniques but I don’t have a good camera yet! Check this out! 

How do you pick which album of the month to review? 

Now that is purely subjective. The album of the month is supposed to be the album where I appreciate every track without skipping any of them. For example I didn’t find an album like this between the new Black Strobe in October and the Ghost Culture album in January, so I didn’t do the feature. 

Sometimes, I feature an album that’s not very recent, like PVT's album from 2013 for example, where I just absolutely had to talk about it, so much had I listened to it enthusiastically on repeat. Taking a step back, I realize that these are usually very rich albums presenting sonic research or unexpected rhythms, and an explosive mix of multiple genres. The group must not close itself into producing the same pop track from 1 to 12, that's boring as hell. So that's why I love groups like Bot’Ox, those who touch everything and with verve! Everything that stays in my electro-pop, rock, and techno-house head, of course. 

How do you select tracks for your playlist series WiseList? Who should listen to these playlists? 

Everyday, I listen to the latest releases and the small lines in festival line ups to find new tracks, I also keep up to date with magazine, blogs, and other publications. And as soon as one resonates with me, hop! I add it to Whyd. Then I go through those tracks every two weeks cutting out everything except for 20 straight up bombs. 

Who should listen to WiseLists? Well everyone in the world, of course! The alternative rock barflies, just like the dancers at electro parties, or people let down by what’s on FM wavelengths. Maybe even people with a penchant for underground or those who are sick of commercial dance and R&B.

From the synth-pop to the house-techno passing by rock, the specter is rather large to please everyone. Dare to discover something else: very talented artists who need you to hear them or simply to continue to create!

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Do you have any plans for 2015 and beyond?  

For the moment the project is still small and new but ideas are coming together. Maybe starting to build a voluntary team, constructing partnerships around events, finding a webmaster to improve the site and propose different interactions between visitors, bring in video formats for interviews. I’ve received a few propositions, need to consider them… In any case, I will continue to promote people that deserve it and I will try to bring more and more people with me to concerts using contests with free places to win! 

Milky Chance Interview: Passion, Spontaneity, and Creating “Sadnecessary”

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You know their song “Stolen Dance,” you know how well it rhymes with their name, but what else do you know about Milky Chance? The German duo answers your questions in this Whyd interview:  

Your humble beginnings are well-documented. When you were in your home-made studio cutting “Sadnecessary" what were your realistic expectations?

We did not have any expectations. We just enjoyed the time making music and producing. There was nothing special we wanted to achieve. Music was just always our passion! 

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How long had you been writing the songs on “Sadnecessary?” The depth of the lyrics implies that they are polished, or were those songs more spontaneous?

Stolen Dance took two and half years to write! We had some parts very early but the rest came to us very late. But there were other songs who came into existence in the studio within 15 minutes. In whole the album took us about two years… in any case, sometimes there are these strong feelings that make you write a song in a very short time. 

You probably get asked this all the time, but where does the name Milky Chance come from?

There is no story behind the name but there are often days when we ask ourselves how we came up with this stupid name :)

It was just that we had always several bands where we played, and we had written down some potential names and there came the day we had to choose one - we decided spontaneously! 

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What was the best concert you have ever attend?

One of the best we’ve been to was the concert of James Blake, last December. 

What was it like to perform at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC?

It was our first gig in the USA, so a very big step for us! 

Collective Soul: Playlist of Reference

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Another week, another installment in our new series delivering you trendy subgenre Playlist of References curated with love and attention from our community of music lovers. But it’s not enough just to accept the music, we also want the story behind the curation. This week it’s Collective Soul curated by the creator of Underground Playlist, Sal Cannata.  

When did you start listening to Collective Soul?

Collective Soul is a recent addition to my playlist catalogue on Whyd. Soul music has always been one of my favorite genres and I have seen a big change in how it has been implemented in music the past several years. Generally when one thinks of Soul they tie it in with R&B but with all the cross-genre experimenting going on, a lot of Soul-based music has translated into a unique style of Indie music that touches the boundaries of other genres. Despite the different genre influences of these particular songs they all sound so right when placed next to each other. I thought it would be great to put together a sample of this kind of music that we feature on Underground Playlist and showcase a new wave of Soul music to the Whyd community.

Did you ever have a moment when you felt like Collective Soul started speaking to you?

Totally. I live for this kind of music. Soul singers bring a lot of passion to each lyric. The artists in these songs have a great way of conveying emotion and I connect with that a lot. It seems like whether these particular songs contain certain elements of Pop, Rock, R&B, or Electronic, the aspect of Soul brings everything together and connects with me in a big way.

What are some example situations when you would listen to this playlist yourself?

I find that the overall tone of this playlist centers around relaxation. That could be useful in pretty much any situation except for maybe the dance club. For me, I’ve found this playlist to be a great listen towards the end of the day as things wind down. Everyone listens to music differently so this playlist can be used for all sorts of things like during work, cooking dinner, lounging with your friends, the list goes on!

If you had to choose just one track from this playlist, which one would be your favorite?

It’s hard to choose just one track out of the 80+ in the playlist. From a Whyd experience the Robin Schulz remix of “Waves” is one of my favorite finds on Whyd. I remember just browsing around and clicking on the song to see what it was about and instantly became a fan. I love how a bootleg can turn into a mainstream hit a year or so later. It’s rare and awesome that I was able to witness that journey early in the game. When I would hear the song on the radio in front of my friends I’d make sure to let them know how long ago I first heard this song and where I found it. Thanks for the bragging rights Whyd! :)

From a more musical standpoint, Ben Howard’s cover of Keisza’s song “Hideaway” blows me away every time. I love how an artist can flip a song and give it a brand new feel. A few others that never get old to me are Jordan Bratton - “The Grey,” Harper - “Animal,” Shy Girls - “Renegade,” Ari Lennox - “Bound,” The Prince Fox remix of Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me,” and the newly added Kevin Garrett - “Coloring.” There are so many that I love but those are some standouts in this playlist. Stay tuned as I plan to update Collective Soul with new additions as time goes on!   

Thanks Underground Playlist! Check out the personal account of the creator of Underground Playlist, Sal Cannata for more Indie Soul and extra tracks! 

Selecterz: Playlists by Artists You Love

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Hey Pierre! How’s it going? Can you tell us about the main goal of Selecterz?

Hello Whyd! Everything is really good. The year started strong with the launch of the new version of Selecterz. The idea is simple: artists that I like make selections to share so I can discover new music. The site also proposes playlists, music videos, a focus on record labels, music channels, magazines. The goal: offer the best of what’s being made today, without being limited to style, and to guide music lovers through the vast desert that is the internet. 

How do you choose the artists that make playlists for you?

It’s just the artists that I like. There is no logical choice. The feeling that leads to it cannot be described. It comes from everyone. It’s also the feeling that makes me want to share. Know who listens to what. Smile when listening to certain tracks. Realize that an artist will be able to add tracks to their playlist that are completely separated from their universe. I tend to say that we are what we listen to, and I want to share these “stolen” moments, where we can get into the artist’s head for a few seconds. These playlist are also the best way to discover new tracks. 

Tell us about the new design for the site!

The new version is more user-friendly. You can finally search for the artists and playlists by style, shuffling from one style to another, learn about an artist, listen to their tracks on Soundcloud, YouTube, Deezer, and Spotify, and share them on Whyd! I wanted to make the site more visual, more attractive, and offer fast access to music without having to search. 

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What are your objectives for 2015?

Keep evolving the site, developing new functionalities, welcoming new collaborators, and continued to make people discover new music from the ears of the artists. 

Follow Selecterz on Whyd and Like Selecterz on Facebook. 

After Being Separated From His Homeland By War, Batida Finds His Link Back To Angolan Afrobeat [LONG FORM INTERVIEW]

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In a small restaurant tucked behind République, the Melotron radio is stationed. There are tables, small and square, and the typical chairs that stud brasseries across this country. Colorful macaroons wait atop the bar. The kitchen is still cleaning the remnants from the lunch hour. Team Melotron is setting up the gopro to stream the upcoming set. Featured today: Batida, an Angolan-Portuguese musician whose energy is as apparent in his music as it is in his manner. 

Few interviews flow so naturally. He starts talking, a running stream of autobiographical information, Angolan history, and of course, music: both the music he makes and the music he loves. We start at the very beginning.

Tony Hymes for Whyd in bold, all photos property of Whyd.  

I grew up in Lisbon, but I’m from Angola. Because of the war my family went to Portugal or Brazil. The war was supposed to last a few years, but it started before I was born, and it ended 30 years after. That marks my growth. It’s reflected in how I deal with everything. You are in a different place, but the people around you all came from Angola. You keep listening to all of these stories, the music, the food, it’s all different at home vs. everywhere else. So it’s kind of growing into different realities. When you get to a teenage age you want to be involved in the place you are, you don’t connect with your parents stories anymore, now your friends are from here. Why should you keep listening to their old music when people are listening to new music?

When the war ended I had the chance to go back to Angola, almost in the same year and then I could understand a lot of things that I had in me that I was trying to avoid, or overlook, but it was impossible, certain sounds of guitars melodies, still today if I’m not aware it makes me creep. 

It’s like your mother’s music, something you dont want to listen to it, but after all this time I’m happy to listen to this music. 

Did you recognize a lot of it when you went back? 

Yeah, certain songs are historical, when you are a kid you don’t get the lyrics. A pop record from the 70s I listened to a lot as a kid, the lyrics were about going back, tomorrow we will go back. This is one of the most listened to songs at my house, I thought it was fun, Brazilian style from Angola, and one of the artists was a friend of the family. But now when I listen to the track I can understand what it’s takling about, going back to specific situations that people relate to. It’s very human, talks about very specific things. It has to do with the warmth of people, the look in the eye, the fact that people touch a lot, the hugs, social dancing. 

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Does that warmth get into your latest album?

Definitely I try to get close to the people I work with, I try not to work with people that I don’t know only if I’m as close in other terms like with Fránçois and the Atlas Mountains. I didn’t know them but I got so involved with the record that when I finished the song I felt it was something special, and I met them afterwards, and played with them, and it made sense since they are so sweet, especially Fránçois. 

For the first track I found this old afro beat from Angola. When people think of afro beat they dont think of Angola. They think of Nigeria and I heard this vinyl from the 70s, an afro beat without drums, but it is afro beat. And I felt so happy because its something I’ve been tracing back to the 70s in Luanda, when it was a modern, cosmopolitan city, aiming for social and culture revolution, you can find a lot of modern things that I feel proud of there. 

The image that most people have of African cities is mostly crime, messy, or they aim for the ethnic or exotic look, it’s not something that’s very well promoted: sophistication. A city is a city, new things happen, a new synthesis happens, and in Angola specifically there is a new energy, the fact that the city was more modern, more modern even than Lisbon, makes me inspired. Like pretending to go back before the war started, how would you do it differently? Let’s go back and do it the right way, one people one nation, but there were lots of things that were missed, especially in music.

Instead of embracing the influences, the ruling parties nominated Simba as the national music, and lots of people were killed. I like to go back and find that moment, so I found that record, I played around with some beats, and I got to know the author of the sample. I am very happy when I am able to hug the sample, to play that song for a person, and to see their reaction, if it’s something he can feel passionate about too. 

Mataditi heard the first seconds and he said I thought there is a technical problem, and I said it was like that, and he made a strange face, and the music starts and he starts dancing, and he calls his wife and she comes and starts dancing, and they start laughing with each other, happy that something new was created with his music. 

When I was a kid and my family would get together, I would get all the kids and put on shows with choreography and I’ve done that for 20 years, it was something passionate about that. When I see a small child I pay a lot of attention because I think that most of our personality and character are already there, your ambition, the most important things are there. Then sometimes life pulls you in different ways. It happened like that for me, I was not growing up in my context, I was a bit mixed. But I’m happy it happened that way because I can relate to people in Lisbon, in Luanda, in Paris. So it’s great. Sometimes I feel like I have the ability to translate everyone to everyone. That’s what I try to do naturally. 

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I think your music appeals more widely than music that’s more focused on a specific genre. You have this big world sound, to take the “batida,” which is Brazilian Portuguse for the drink meaning “shake,” it’s a big world sound, does that come from the name batida?

The name has to do with this imaginary growing up, hearing about adults talking about something else, that you don’t connect to, you can’t know what they are talking about so you imagine. It’s like when it’s winter and rains, but in a place where when it rains it’s fantastic, and people don’t know what that means. There is a dark side of that too before the independence. 

The planet is not on the same level around the world, but you have a lot of apartheids still going, and people just over look it. It’s related to those memories, but it’s also that batida is the name that everyone gives to a compilation. People’s favorite mixes that are sold on the street. You would put your own track on the batidas to get to the masses. Musicians going to curators and saying, “put me on the next pirate tape!” 

I said if I did something it would be to showcase others, and also if no label appears I will do it anyway. That was the main inspiration for the beginning of the project. It started as a radio show, let’s make a track, let’s promote artists. But then it evolved to music. I used the same software, Ableton Live, to make the radio show and I make music with it. 

I used to make radio shows since I was 16 and that was what has occupied my life. My stepfather was a jazz musician. I listened to music everyday, people playing bass in the living room. But since my relationship wtih him was not positive I stayed away from music, but eventually I couldn’t stay away. 

I started experimenting mixing things, sounds, then mixing tracks, and eventually there was a track Bazooka that came out of those experiments and the feedback was so great that maybe the way would be showcasing music of others or provoking producers with my other attempts to do things in a different way. 

I relate a lot to that more organic approach. Organic is a very strange word, but people said organic is like, an egg. When I say organic it’s more about looking for the life inside of that record or person. I could trace that in some productions but the majority was going after the world to conquer it, something that will never happen. 

Has the reception been notably different in Angola than Europe? How do Angolans view you? As a native son or foreign? 

I was worried about that actually, I show these tracks to friends and the biggest compliments I have were from the people where this music was produced and they didn’t believe me that I made the track, and I had to show them, and in the end they say “wow this guy actually did it!” And I feel organically related with everyone, to the place I was born, it’s not an album I made, this is something that only an Angolan could have made. Angolans pick out these little moments and it’s a bit sad because it sounds nationalistic but I like that I can push some of their buttons and relate personally to them. I like to do that in Angola, but I like to do that in Paris too, it’s about bringing people together, not separating people. 

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What are your expectations from your latest album? Is this a step in the process of making more albums? 

I have a couple of other things I’m working on. I never thought to make just one album. I thought about doing two albums then do radio or documentaries, but the way that I’m able to do everything, docs, dances, radio, producing videos, I’m not just making records I’m doing everything.

I’m not subtracting but I’m adding forms of expression, so for me that’s fine, if I could keep doing everything that’s fine. For me everything is related, communicated, and in terms of music its about the rhythm and bringing people together to dance. 

And developing as a person, I’m not focused on commercial success, but the focus is to keep it going naturally, and in a way that’s possible, real, heartfelt. 

Do you have other hobbies? 

Helping other artists, helping on video shoots, photo shoots, to be involved but not on a professional level.

And the sea, I need to be near the sea.  

Buy Batida’s latest album on iTunes!

Indie Dance Playlist of Reference

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Continuing in our series of Playlists of References comes an epic banger from Switzerland: Indie Dance. Time to get out your flower crowns, clip on your suspenders, and prepare to Instagram. But first, let’s get the story behind this 400+ track playlist from its curator, Rainer Etzweiler of RCKSTR Mag

When did you start listening to Indie Dance? 

Around 2007/08 when I started DJing and producing music. 

Did you ever have a moment when you felt like Indie Dance started speaking to you? 

A lot, if you count the remixes of pop or indie songs. Almost none if you don’t, there are not too many disco songs with heart-touching/deeply moving lyrics. Disco music is mostly about the simple things and that’s a good thing. 

What are some example situations when you would listen to this playlist yourself? 

Usually when I’m out for a run or when I have friends over at my flat. Also before I do a new mixtape, it helps me to pick the right tracks. 

If you had to choose just one track from this playlist, which one would be your favorite? 

Uhhhhh, that’s not easy. Especially since there are so many. I would go with one of my latest favorites: RAC - “Cheap Sunglasses” feat. Matthew Koma - Viceroy Remix. 

And now, cut loose: 

Your Weekly High Five: 5 Quality Tracks Per Week [Donnemencinq Interview]

Bonjour! When did you create Donnemencinq (Give me five)? Where did the concept come from? Do you give a lot of high fives? 

Hello! Donnemencinq was born in October of last year. I had wanted to launch a cultural project for a long time and instead of launching something too complicated, I prefered to start off with a simple and attractive start: each Monday one playlist with quality musical discoveries. 

The idea comes from two big motivations: my desire to share and my love for music and new sounds. 

Have you ever noticed that you always feel better after a high five? For me, every Monday I give myself a big high five and that guarantees me a successful week! 

You suggest playlist with five tracks each week. Where do you find these tracks? Why only five? 

I follow a lot of artists and labels on Soundcloud and on other social networks. Since I started to use Whyd I also discover more and more tracks thanks to other users’ playlists. 

Only five tracks for a question of quality. If we succeed in publishing five tracks that really make an impression on our visitors then we are already really happy. At the beginning it was a question of selecting one track per work day (from Monday to Friday) and finally we said that it would be even nicer to have a full list from the first day of work. 

Who should listen to your playlists? Tell us about your style of music, is it the same overall or does it change from week to week? 

Our playlists are made for the widest audience possible. Our goal is to make people discover tracks that haven’t been listened to a lot but deserve to be. We also like to bring back a few classics that have been forgotten. It’s important to remain accessible, it has to be a moment of pleasure! 

On the style side, even if we like electro, we pay attention to bringing diversity in our selections. We can go from one style to another very rapidly but we try to keep a certain progression to the flow of the playlist. 

We can we look forward to you in 2015? Do you have plans for world domination?

The project is still very young but we already have a lot of ideas. The next steps are: 

- Go to meet artists that have impressed us and interview them

- Create artwork for each playlist from talented photographers and graphic designers

- Present the latest news from artists that we really appreciate

With that, we might not dominate the world, but I’m sure that the simplicity and quality of our site will have a nice place in it! 

So Whyd, give me five! 

Follow Georges from Donnemencinq on Whyd, Like them on Facebook, and check back weekly for their latest playlists!

Deep House: Playlist of Reference

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We’re continuing our mission of providing you with incredible music to listen to, and we have tapped our top music lovers who are experts in certain subgenres of music to feature their playlists in our Playlist of Reference series. To fully appreciate the selection, here is the story behind the playlist, as told by the curator. 

Today we’re featuring the Deep playlist curated by Tis.

When did you start listening to Deep?

Most of my playlists are genre-related and I created Deep in April 2013, mostly to share deep house/deep techno tracks at the beginning by then it evolved to sharing also ambient, peaceful, and mental tracks without “musical genre barriers.”

Did you ever have a moment when you felt like Deep started speaking to you?

I guess that when you want to have a musical background that’s peaceful for the mind, it’s noticeable that after a few tracks you begin to really pay attention to the music and appreciate it.

What are some example situations when you would listen to this playlist yourself?

I mostly listen to this playlist at work, most of the songs don’t have lyrics and are relaxing, so it’s easier to focus.

If you had to choose just one track from this playlist, which one would be your favorite?

One song is hard to choose… let me give you 3!

FCL - “It’s you” (San Soda’s Panorama Bar Acca Version): a great cover of the classic Chicago house track from ESP (1989) and a big souvenir from Berlin afterclubbing.

Visonia - “Lunar Garden” an oniric techno track that I discovered this year, deeply mental. A great voyage for the mind.

Brian Eno: “An Ending (ascent)” because, Brian Eno.  

La Fine Équipe Answers Your Questions: Music as Food, The Process of Collaboration, and Being Connectors of Sound [LONG FORM INTERVIEW]

It’s a cold December evening near Père Lachaise as the door to The Bunker buzzes open. Up a concrete staircase that evokes thoughts of nuclear destruction, voices can be heard. Camera shutters are snapping. Moving up a level it’s clear that the bunker is alive. 

We’re at the studio of La Fine Équipe, winners of the 112th Whyd Track of the Weekend and a group that has started to lift off in the French music scene. Comprised of 4 producers, their styles are varied like gummies in a bag of Haribo. But put together, there is a sugary goodness that is undeniably addictive. And the world is starting to take note. 

Cameras are repacked, hands are shaken, and finally it’s time for the last interview of the day, with Whyd, before the guys can get back to their families and lives. In my hand are fresh questions that we crowd-sourced from the community, from the huge pool of fans that have added, liked and re-added the delicious tracks from “La Boulangerie 3” which came out at the beginning of December, boasting the likes of Fakear, 20syl, Souleance, and more.

Three out of the four of La Fine Équipe sit down in chairs in the studio, backed by monitors and keyboards, known on the stage as oOgo, Mr. Gib, and Chomskey. The fourth, Blanka, is not in town. Considering their busy schedules, it’s already a win to get three of them. They are casually dressed, more comfortable than hipster. The mic clicks on.

The following interview is translated from French, and their stage names dissolve into their real names: Hugo, Vincent, and Mathieu. All photos property of Whyd. Interviewer in BOLD

Your music is shared quite often by the Whyd community. I sent an email to the music lovers who have shared your tracks, asking them if they have questions for you. They got back to me with a few questions that I’m happy to ask you, so here we go! 

Your individual styles are rather different, who are your major influences? What about inspiration? Could be artists, moments, genres?   

Hugo: I’ve listened to a little bit of everything, and I was very quickly drawn towards soul and jazz, but what really gave me the desire to create music was hip hop, around 1996. The first track that I heard that really got me, as an adolescent on a high school trip, was by Cypress Hill. A friend had it on a cassette on the bus. 

Mathieu: It’s the same for me, hip hop, and DJ Crush and DJ Shadow. That was huge for me, incredible. I didn’t know all of the samples that they used, so it was really hip hop and then the sources of hip hop, I would go searching for vinyls, in antique markets, record shops, online, looking for the hard to find discs. We had a scratch group at the very beginning and afterwards we evolved into making our own music. 

Vincent: My family was very into music. We were always listening to it, I started playing music with my brother and after that I met people who were playing hip hop and I loved it, so we started to make music together. I love cinematic music, soundtracks, the composers, there is a link to that and hip hop too: you can find everything in the libraries of film soundtracks. 

Yeah, I think that the theme to Jurassic Park is one of the best songs ever! 

Hugo: We play that when we play at festivals! 

Mathieu

If you had to choose a favorite contemporary artist, who would it be? 

Hugo: Every time we are asked this question it’s impossible to find one. It’s like restaurants. You know a ton of great places to eat, but when someone asks you, you can’t think of one! 

Maybe it doesn’t have to be from this moment. I just discovered Mel Tormé, who is nothing new, but he’s new to me and that’s what I’m listening to right now. 

Vincent: Serge Gainsbourg, he’s French and he truly knew how to make good songs. He was varied in his styles, and was so interesting for being able to recover classic melodies. 

Have you ever tried to remix him?

Vincent: Yes, of course, just for fun. He had a great sense of rhythm, a way of capturing music, he was really focused on the sound, not just making a song to say something quickly. 

Mathieu: Danger Mouse, just awesome. When he got together with Jack White and Norah Jones it was just super. I believe that when he does a project it’s really well done, even if artistically there might be others who can be stronger, he is extremely consistent.  

Have you ever tried to remix him?

Mathieu: No, but “Danger Doom” was absolutely something I put into my DJ sets. Scratching with it, but for pleasure, and fun. 

Hugo: I can’t really answer, there are so many artists in my head, but one that comes to mind without really thinking about it is Flying Lotus, very complete, an artist that pushes the envelope very far. You will always discover something new, he’s big right now. 

Hugo

For the creation of La Boulangerie 3, I noticed that each track was made by a different beatmaker. Do you work together or separately? 

Hugo: There are no rules, we compare it to making food. We invite a chef, a “cuisinier,” and we ask them to give us a recipe. Since we had already made La Boulangerie 1 and 2, they had an idea of what we were asking for. There were examples where someone takes the track from beginning to end almost completely by themselves. It’s the same with the artists, some of them gave us “ready to eat” plates, while others gave us just the ingredients. 

So you guys are really the connectors of sound, are there not rules about who adds what?

Vincent: We have habits about how we work, but we are all producers. 

Mathieu: We go back and forth a lot, we make everyone listen. 

Is there someone who gets their way more than the others in the La Fine Équipe? I mean, you have very different styles! Does anyone have the final word? 

Vincent: There has to be a “chef d’orchestre,” otherwise we couldn’t get things done, because we are also a label so there is marketing, etc. 

Hugo: We’ve been working together for a while rather easily, our decisions are generally taken together. We try to make good tracks, and since there are different styles, each person knows how to help in their regard. Sometimes there are tracks that are more electronic, or hip hop, so they fall under different members. There are so many tracks in this project because we want to include all aspects of everyone.  

So you focus on making a good track first, and then you rework it.

Hugo: Yeah exactly, we work on the train, during commutes, everywhere.

Vincent

You guys do interviews all the time now, you’ve been working together for a while, and you’ve gotten to this level now where you’re working with big acts. Do you think this style of production is sustainable? Is it an advantage? Meaning to make a track and try to classify it later? 

Hugo: Well, in any case it’s how we work. Do this, do that, we tried all those things, but we are not really careerists, we are in this for the music, we are lucky that it works, and we have the ability to be free. Our character is anti-rules.

Vincent: We are more from the Myspace generation. Today on Soundcloud there is so much music from new young producers, that people really want to wait until they have a great track to publish. 

Hugo: Yeah but there are people who post songs everyday too on Soundcloud. 

But it’s true, in the Myspace days, there was no Garageband, not everyone had Ableton. But now it’s a different thing. 

Vincent: Because there are so many songs, there isn’t a lot of quality, so instead of posting they hold off. It has to be perfect because they know that there is so much stuff. 

Mathieu: Since we are a bit older we also knew the idea of the album, to tell a story, like a filmmaker.  

There might be a contradiction there. Since you say that you work on a track, trying just to make good tracks, but then you say that the album format is important, a story, like a film. But how can you make a film with 12 tracks created for their own individual sake? 

Mathieu: It’s not contradictory in the sense that you make tracks. It’s you who makes them, and over a period of time you are going to have consistency. Sure, you can have fun making little tracks, but the idea is that I want to make music, and today I’m trying to express this emotion, so I have a style that runs between. If you release 40 tracks in a year, I’m sure that you will have at least 20 that are actually telling the same story. And it’s in that form that you make an album. 

I understand, it’s the artist that comes out, even if we want to do 5 different things, we just end up doing the same thing 5 different ways. 

Mathieu: A painter who does pointillism, he is still going to want to do other things, but you are going to find coherent elements in his style. The “file conducteur.”

How did you have the idea of La Boulangerie? I’m sure it’s a question that you get often, but who chooses the names for the songs? Is it you or the artists?  

The first Boulangerie was an homage to J Dilla, the beatmaker from Detroit who released an album called “Donuts” shortly before he died. We would’ve called our album “Croissant” but Boulangerie was larger, it opens up more possibilities, from naming the tracks to graphics, etc. It was much more exciting. 

It’s true that it’s a warm image, going on Sunday morning to get your baguette, it’s welcoming. 

Hugo: We also think about consuming music like we consume food, and this concept was full of different morsels: sweets, salty, the pleasure of eating. 

Plus for French people you will find a lot of fans of the Boulangerie… Second to last question, when will you go to Tours? 

When you invite us! Plus we have some great friends there, Chill Bump for example, our friends that we go on tour with so yeah, with pleasure! 

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

Vincent: We work on the label.

Hugo: Go out, go to clubs, go to restaurants, eat, drink. 

Mathieu: I’m a sound engineer so I work on that, I’ve got my geek side. Plus my family. 

Hugo: Plus there is Blanka, who has a studio and spends a lot of time there, and he has a project called Jukebox Champions. They do hip hop instrumentals. 

Thanks guys! And a big thanks to every one from the Whyd community that sent in their questions for La Fine Équipe! Never stop jamming! 

Interview with Dear Joy: French Lifestyle Blogger

Hello Joy! When did you start to be a lifestyle blogger with DearJoy? Were you a writer before? 

Hello! I started to blog on DearJoy December 5th, 2012, today my blog is over two years old and I’m really proud of that! It’s true that I’ve always loved to write, one could say that I had a lot of imagination when I was doing my homework at school. I think that I prefer to read, so we could say that those two things come together perfectly. This blog lets me write, to share, and to follow other blogs that I really like to read. 

Who are your current readers? Who else should read your blog? 

My readers are everyone :) Basically my blog is aimed at a younger and more dynamic readership, creative and having the same centers of interest as I. But I think that everyone, regardless of age (in a moment of boredom) can stop by the blog that read what I wrote or at least look at the photos and videos. My blog should be read by those who want to read it, the door is always open. 

How do you integrate music into your blog? What are the genres of music that you like? Favorite artists? 

I integrate music into my blog thanks to Whyd, you guys know it? ;)

I don’t have predefined genres, and when it comes to music, I just follow what I like. When I like a song I don’t care about knowing the style, genre, etc. Just the fact that I like it is all that counts! So it’s really difficult to answer this questions when I like tons of artists, but I would say: OneRepublic, 2ne1, Tokio Hotel, Stromae, Kendji, Maroon 5, Major Lazer, Miley Cyrus, Macklemore, Gypsy Kings, Sia, Mika…

Do you have plans for 2015 and beyond? Ambitions for the development of DearJoy? 

For the moment no, I don’t have plans for 2015 or after, it’s day to day with my blog. Propositions can come today like in two weeks, it’s completely winging it. For the evolution, I am looking to go from the Blogger platform to Wordpress, which from everything I’ve heard would be better and more complete. 

Thanks Joy! Make sure to subscribe to Joy on Whyd, follow Joy on Twitter and like her Facebook page to keep up with her latest trends!