A few years back DJ Mehdi, the French producer responsible for the hit that is ‘Pocket Piano’, joined forces with Busy P the owner of Ed Banger records and producers Zdar and Xavier of Cassius and Justice fame and put together a party that is now legendary due to its diversity. Today five years down the line the same team reunites for a Parisian night called ‘Club 75’. Ozon met up with Mehdi just prior to his set at Reworks festival and found out more about the project.
How easy is it to have all those big names playing at the same party?
It’s not easy at all, Zdar is a really hard person to have to play after and Xavier will not get off the decks once he’s up there.
Many will agree that the Greek scene is not renowned for any dancing. What’s the crowd like when you play in Paris and the rest of France?
It’s strange because people in Paris attend parties to be seen, they prefer to show off their clothes and have a drink, to dancing. In that respect it’s similar to Greece I guess.
Why do you prefer DJing to producing?
That’s not actually the case; I like doing both as long as I’m having fun with them. The ideal scenario would be to be a producer in the week and a DJ at the weekend!
Your latest remixes move away from that banging sound and seem to be more radio friendly (your mix on Miike Snow’s ‘Burial’ being a good example). Are you consciously trying to make your sound more accessible?
I never have a set plan when I’m producing; I go for what appeals to me. As for remixes, they’re hard to play on the radio.
The French Electro scene has changed over the years and some people would go as far as to say that it appears to be dying out; what’s the next step?
It has been around for some time that’s true and the scene seems to be taking a new direction especially when it comes to producers based outside of France like Boyz Noize. The latest productions by Mr. Oizo and SebastiAn are also a testament to that.
If you got up one morning and realized that everybody had turned into a zombie what would you do?
I would probably take a big rifle and a big dog and pretend to be Will Smith in ‘I Am Legend’.
