- Hi Christophe, welcome to DrownedMadonna. How did you start your career as an artist? Hi! I started by doing house and techno tracks and remixes for various French and British labels during the nineties. I had different bands and monikers: Discotique, Nature, Impulsion, The Eurostars and The Micronauts. - When did you grow up and study? What is your background? I’m born in Paris but I spent my childhood and adolescence in the Parisian communist suburb, during the seventies. I studied economics then art at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne during the eighties. My family is mostly made of left-wing teachers. - What kind of experience did you develop in your career as an artist? Could you please be more specific? - What were your initial influences and interests? I had my first aesthetic shock at nursery school, when I was four, by listening to Stravinsky’s “The Firebird”. The urge to become a musician slowly grew from that. The second shock was to listen to a Chicago acid house compilation in 1988. Stravinsky and acid house are my initial influences and interests. - What was your first release? My first release was a techno 12” on the first French techno label, Rave Age Records. It’s called “Sexe” and the band is called Discotique. - Has your production style changed much from then? Yes a lot. Today I’ve got a much better mastery of electronic instruments and programming. It means more freedom. - When did you introduce software sequencers and virtual instruments into your studio? Quite early, even before starting my career, I was using the Steinberg Pro 24 software sequencer with an Atari computer. And I started using virtual instruments when they became good and reliable enough to be played creatively. - What sound softwares do you use? I mostly use Cubase VST, Logic Audio, SoundHack, TimeFactory, sonicWORX PowerBundle, ReCycle, thOnk_0+2, Real-Time Granular Synth, ReBirth, TraktorDJStudio2, and a lot of plugins, like the Destroy FX, the Digitalfishphones, the GRM Tools, the Pluggo and the Wave series, and Junglist, KTGranulator, Ambience, Auto-Tune etc. - Do you build your own instruments or do you mainly use the presets? I rarely use the presets. - Do the new softwares affect your creativity and the way you make music? Yes definitely. Composers has always been dependent on the sounds made available to them by the instrument makers. Today, hardware and software instruments are made that give much more controls over the sounds than in the past. I’m using these new options because it’s fun and I enjoy it. - Can you tell us the way you write, record and produce new tunes? There is no rules. Sometimes I build over a synth loop, or a 4 on the floor bass drum, or a vocal bit, it depends. - What are your all time favourite tunes? That’s very hard to answer; they’re too numerous to mention! An arbitrary choice would be: Marshall Jefferson “Move Your Body”, Phuture “Acid Tracks”, Rhythim Is Rhythim “Strings Of Life”, Arnold Jarvis “Take Some Time Out”.

- What about your own favourite track? I often change my mind about my own tracks. Today I would say: the last one I’ve done, “I’m Missing”, for singer Laurence Ashley. And also Impulsion “Rock That House Musiq” (featured on the British movie “It’s All Gone Pete Tong”), The Micronauts “High Rise” (A side from the first Micronautics 12”, released last year), The Micronauts “The Jag” (maybe you’ve seen the video done by American director Gregg Araki; it’s a bunch of people in a grocery who start to dance and to undress), and The Micronauts “Baby Wants To Bleep” (first track from the “Bleep To Bleep” LP released in 2000 on Virgin). - Christophe, you met Mirwais many years ago in Paris because his studio was in the same street as yours. Is it right? Yes it is right. It was 10 years ago. We were hanging around in the same bars, with the same people. - Please, tell us more about these days... It was an exciting moment, at the very beginning of the French touch emergence. Patrick Vidal, the singer and DJ with who I was doing Discotique, was preparing an album with his new band Sutra. He needed a producer and a programmer, and I was took up by my other projects, Impulsion and The Micronauts, which had a lot of interest from UK. So I introduced Mirwais to Patrick and he ended up producing the album. - Have you have worked with him in some unreleased projects? Remixes apart, all the tracks we worked on together are from these Sutra sessions. In the end they have all been released. They’re hard to find though. There is one track on the Rocker’s Delight “The Rock Sound Of Darkest Paris” compilation released in 2002 on the Belgian label Quatermass (a Sub Rosa ofshoot). Another one is featured on the Sutra’s album “Suicide Sutra”, released in 1998 by the English label Other. The same track is on compilations “Mo’ DJs Under A Groove #3” (What’s Up/Mix It, F 1997) and “Other Stuff” (Other, UK 1997). - Then you remixed Mirwais’ “Miss You”... Tell us more about this topic... He asked me to do a club remix of the “Miss You” cover he did with singer Craig Wedren. This remix has been released on the British label Echo, and is now available on the 2CD reissue of Mirwais’ album «Production». - What do you think of Mirwais? He’s a great guy, honest, talented, really passionate about his music, and he’s a friend. During the eighties, I was already a fan of his rock bands, Taxi Girl and Juliette Et Les Indépendants. - In 2003 you had the chance to remix Madonna’s “Hollywood” track. What your opinion regarding this song? It’s a very good electro pop song, very catchy and well produced. - How did you first get in touch with Madonna? Thanks to Mirwais? Yes, Madonna asked Mirwais a list of potential remixers and he put me on. - Have you ever met her personally? No. - Had Madonna listen to some of your work beforehand? I don’t know. She may have heard my music in clubs or on TV. - What have you been asked to do for “Hollywood”? Have you been free to create whatever you wanted? I just have been asked to do a remix, with no further instructions. So in a way I was totally free. Of course the remix had to please her! - Did Madonna or Mirwais give you some input? No. DROWNED MADONNA 09 10 2005

- Tell us more about the creative process of your remix... I chose a few vocal bits and a guitar loop from the original version, and then I started to build a new instrumental over it, programming jungle and 303 bass lines, a synth melody and a swing rhythm track. I wanted something different than the regular 4/4 house beat. Then I put the vocal and the guitar into various FX algorithms until I found the right ones. I played the FX a few times and recorded the MIDI automation. I did the structure at the end, as I perfected the balance. It asked me two full weeks of work. - How many different remixes did you do of this track? Only this one. I think she liked it straight off, so she didn’t ask me to revise it. - Did you remix other Madonna’s tracks? No. - Have you ever listened to the other official remixes of “Hollywood”? Do you like them? Yes I bought all the versions of the CD single I found with my remix on, so I heard the ones which were on the same CDs. I like the Stuart Price/Jacques Lu Cont remix, but all in all I prefer the original version. - What do you expect from Madonna’s upcoming album? I expected her to mix her electro dance sound from the last two albums with rock guitars and with neo eighties synths. But apparently that’s not what she has done. - Have you heard some rumours about it? Yes I’ve heard it will be a euro dance album, mostly produced by Stuart Price. Mirwais has composed two songs on it. - Have you been asked to remix the first single? No. - What does it feel like working with Madonna? It was a thrill. - Would you like to remix more tracks for her? Yes definitely. - And what about producing and writing brand new tunes with her? Yes, it would be very challenging. - Are you a fan of her? I’m a fan of my daughter. - What do you like best in her 20-year production? And what do you like least? I like best her work with Mirwais. I haven’t remembered what I like the least. - Do you prefer remixing or creating your own music? I prefer creating my own music. - What are the differences? When you do a remix, you’re despoiled of your composer and performer rights. It’s the sole true difference I can see.

- What does a city like Paris offer a young person who dreams of a career like yours? And what are the dangers one might come across? French people can’t handle novelty, are jealous of and hate their compatriots who differentiate and invent. French society is very castrating, the media and the show biz included. So for a person who dreams of bringing something new and personal to the music, Paris is a very harsh city. Mirwais is taken seriously in France because of Madonna. I’m taken seriously in France because I won acclaim in the UK. We had no choice but to look outside. The same could be said for many other French musicians. The danger is to submit and become an imitator. - French artists have been so important for the dance ground in the latest years. What is the main reason? Because of what I have just explained, French popular music used to be bad and laughable, a few personalities apart. The proudest from the French musicians had a revenge to take. And dance and electronic music was the perfect vehicle for that because first, there is no language barrier, you can do instrumentals or use vocal samples, and second, you don’t need nobody to produce it, you can record it at home, with a light set-up, then take advantage of an international network and scene. - How would you describe the French sound? It used to be made of funk samples and filtered disco loops. Now it’s much more electronic, and eighties influenced. - What are you working right now? I’ve got a lot of work as a DJ at the moment. And I’m working on the next Micronauts 12” to be released on my own label, Micronautics. I’m also the musical supervisor of an arty and sexually explicit movie to be available on DVD only. The film will be shot soon by young French photographer and director Danakil. Last but not least, I’ve just finished the production of an electro house track, called “I’m Missing”, for singer Laurence Ashley. It’s probably my most accessible work to date, with a strong pop dance element. I’m starting to look for labels throughout the world. You can hear an extract here. Tell me what you think! - And what are your plans for the future? To have other children. - What are your goals today? To find a new distributor for Micronautics. The current one is closing down. - Are there any artists out there you’d like to remix or work with? Yes many. - Thanks for taking the time to do an interview with us. Thanks for asking me. It was a real pleasure. - What would you say to Madonna’s fans? Be happy here and now; after is too late. Giampiero Fiorelli & Vincent Ruocco 27/07/2005-09/10/2005

- How many remixes have you done? About twenty. - What’s your favourite? I can’t decide between the ones I did of Madonna’s “Hollywood”, Mirwais’ “Miss You”, OMD’s “Electricity”, Underworld’s “Bruce Lee” and The Chemical Brothers’ “Block Rockin’ Beats”. - Are you always satisfied with your work? No! But I am satisfied with some of my work. - Let’s talk about live gigs... I did many live gigs with my band Impulsion during the nineties, even a UK tour in 1999 with Stuart Price’s band Les Rythmes Digitales. I hated it: it was exhausting, time consuming, and really boring being bound to play more or less the same tracks every night. I way prefer DJing.

http://the-micronauts.com

DROWNED MADONNA 09 10 2005