You will find in this category each week, an interview or a biograhpy of a Dj or artist which is breaking the news. All styles are on the “menu” of this category: minimal, house, electro, techno or even trance in some cases.
The topic will be supplemented by other Djs following the latest electronic music news.
Make The Girl Dance is a group of pop/electro, consisting of Campana (Greg Kozo) and a former TV host, Pierre Mathieu alia Perrin. They became very famous with their first music video "Baby, Baby, Baby" which buzzed very quickly on the web, with nearly 15 million views on Youtube, in 2 weeks. It featured some lovely ladies naked, rue Montorgueil in Paris during a normal day. Today, it is with great pleasure that we publish this exclusive interview, 3 years after we did it with them. This interview follows notably the ones of other duos like Hauk N’ Baum, M.A.N.D.Y., Catz N Dogz or Aly and Fila. First, I wanted to thank Pierre and Greg who answered our questions.
"Hi Pierre, hi Greg,
A few weeks ago you played at the Social Club (December 2010). More recently, you’ve released your third single: "Wall Of Death" featuring Solange La Frange, with a clip that is debatable. It is a little bit different from your first two tracks, less pop, more punk and more structured like a standard of grunge music. The single has been notably remixed by the Cyberpunkers, StereoHeroes and the Killer Rabbits. Could you please explain us how did you make this track?
> The idea of this track is born of a desire to settle a bit with our two previous singles, actually very pop. Many people who come to see us live, were amazed that we were playing music harder than "Baby" or "Kill Me". We love composing electro pop, but the essence of the group is a little harder than that. We had to set the tone by providing a single harder than before, illustrating what we play usually when we're in clubs. So we made this track "rougher", not really for the mainstream audience but for the people who come to see us for our lives. It is a single made for the image of our band. A single important, because it has been done in collaboration with Solange la Frange, the Swiss group that according to us, will explode in the 2 upcoming years. As for the clip, we did not want to create the buzz. The idea was just to make an anecdotal clip. Anyway, in the end, we produce something dirty. It must be second nature!
This track announces the final stretch before the release of your album schedule for the beginning of 2011. Can you give us more info on this release? What can we expect? Any surprise?
> In fact, there is a change. We will not release an album this year a priori. For several reasons. First, we believe that the album is now more an ego trip than something very useful for a career in the electro world. In addition, more than elsewhere the electro trends and desires change very quickly. 6 months ago, we loved the electro very "noisy" and today we compose different things. We realized that when we will finish 12 tracks, half of them will be outdated. This is why few artists release electro albums. And then, there's also the fact that we are too slow to produce. Instead, we decided to speed up the releases of singles and EPs. Now, our goal is to release a new piece every 3 months.
After this short musical introduction, we would like to go back to your origins. Could please tell us briefly how did you two become DJs and producers?
> Pierre: well, I was a DJ in the early 90s, at the beginning of house music. It was my summer job when I was a student. Then, I decided to have a real job that got me some money. But I always kept an eye and a foot in the music. Including rock. Later, I returned to my first love being Selector DJ for some parties. One evening I met Greg, he was playing electro. I wanted to make a track for fun, mixing electro and rock. He offered the possibility to do something with him in his studio. We made love and some tracks.
> Greg: I started music at the age of 15, playing bass in rock bands. I studied bass at the Jazz School in Paris. I found exciting to produce alone an entire song, with a computer and synths. And I began to produce tracks, around 10 years ago.
At the beginning did your family understand what you wanted to do with your life? And now are they proud of what you achieved along your career?
> Pierre: my family paid me long studies. I've been through. Then I had the chance to decide what I wanted. After shames everyone around me being on TV, the next logical step was to humiliate them by making the music for addicts!
> Greg: unlike Pierre my education was very poor. First, my family was very worried. They are rather proud today that I do not become a bum or an offender possessing some sharp weapons in the pockets of his baggy.
And besides all of that, how did you two meet?
> Pierre: we met each other in a small Parisian club. It was l’Alternative (now Le Tigre). I was playing before him. Then, he played electronic music with his midi controller. I found him fun as well as his physique. We made jokes, we discussed and we hit it off. Then, a few months after, Greg asked me to play for an event he organized. There, we talked about working together more seriously.
Working together is not always easy, we can imagine. What is the role of each one in the process of composing a track? How do you produce together?
> Working as a pair slows down everything. Simply because it is necessary that we create something to please us, both. But it works pretty well. First, it’s all about fun and then we work. Regarding the composition itself, Greg is the real musician of the group. Impulsion and creation always start with him. Then, I try to think about his ideas and share some new stuffs like riffs by singing, because I sing really well! At the end, we move forward hands in hands, arranging both the sound.
When "Baby, baby, baby." was released, I went to your Myspace and discovered the excellent track entitled "South" that remains for me your best work. Is there a specific story behind it?
> This, this makes us very very happy. Because for us this is the best track we’ve produced so far with “Breezy”. These are the two "softer" tracks of our creation. This is perhaps what we make the best. "South" was inspired by the fabulous track of Phoenix called "North". We wanted to do a piece a little bit more "trippy". And it's funny that you mention it, because we are currently arranging it with an English engineering guitarist (Little Barrie). It will be mixed sonn and we intend to release it with a video clip before summer.
You have done more than a hundred dates this year (2010) in Asia, the U.S. or Europe. First in Paris, you burned the Showcase alongside Run DMC and Crystal Castle and then at Social Club or the Nouveau Casino with Toxic Avenger. You also went to the USA (like NYC, Miami, Austin, Washington...). What are your best memories? Is there any anecdote to share?
> The best memory was probably during a party in South Korea, in Busan. We played there for the first time in Asia, and we didn’t know at all what to expect. We arrived in a club where 1500 people were dancing. We just came on stage and people were screaming as if we were the Rolling Stones. We could not believe it. It was hysterical. People tried to remove our shoes to keep them as souvenirs. We are still wondering if there was not confusion. Maybe they thought we were Gaspard and Xavier from Justice.
How do you prepare a live? Do you know what you are going to play in advance? Do you have each one a predetermined role?
> Our set is actually quite structured, indeed. We have on our computer the skeleton of what we will play. We work before the set some loops, re-edits, remixes and we place them so as to standardize the set. Then, during the party, we adapt the set in real time. Greg is on stage the man who plays loops and Pierre is the one who mixes. And we both play with effects.
If I go back to "Baby, baby, baby", its undeniable success is notably due to the clip. What is the importance you give to images to go on with your sounds?
> We believe that if the sound should always be highlighted, today it is important to deal with all the artistic tools possible. Play with images is also part of what is interesting in music. Whether it’s the staging of the group itself or our video clips. Our group is the proof that a good idea can propel a career. We know that we owe everything to this clip. It was a real chance. And it is now part of the whole group's image.
And concerning the video shoot, how did you choose the actresses?
> We did not want some kind of plastic pornstars even if it was more convenient to hire three girls. We thought it would give a sexist side clip. We wanted "girls next door", normal. So, we put an ad on Facebook without believing some girls will join and request to play for the clip. At the end, we took the first 3 who wanted to do so. None was actress. They did it for fun.
Don’t you fear that the image of your first clip will stick to your skin for a long time, or do you think it is positive?
> This is a certainty. "Baby" is a bit our "Joe le Taxi" (at our scale of course). We know we are obliged to play it wherever we go. So playing it for 2 years now, sometimes it's boring. But at the same time it is the reason why everything is happening to us right now, so it’s all good.
Apart from music, what are your hobbies?
> Pierre: watching Dr. House.
> Greg: I am an amateur photographer, but very well equipped.
Pierre and Greg, before we conclude this interview, we still have a few questions for you. Sometimes one word is enough!
The track you advise us to listen to in your discography?
> South.
An artist you would like to work with one day?
> Alysson Mosshart from the Kills.
3 words to define your music?
> Dance, sweat, high heels.
MP3 or vinyl for your DJ sets?
> MP3.
The software you use to produce?
> Cubase.
A privilege your status of DJs gives you access too?
> Travelling for free and visiting beautiful monuments such as bars with sluts.
Did you use your aura of DJs and producers to go out with a girl? Did it work?
> We are both married with two very pretty girls. So we do not have the right to do that.
Your favorite track at the moment?
> "Sex and Cigarettes" of Aerotronic.
A few words about Actualites Electroniques, where the interview will be published?
> It's fucking great. This is our favorite website with Xhamster.
Make the Girl Dance, thank you very much for the time you devoted to Actualités Electroniques, and especially for this full and exclusive interview. We look forward to your next productions. A plus!”
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