This time our special is with my dear friend Jerry Bouthier. For those who still don't know he's half of JBAG (Jerry Bouthier + Andrea Gorgerino), so is responsible for make you dance at the sound of some of finest remixes in last years, he's also the man behind Continental Records family and just released the second Kitsuné Soleil compilation with Gildas Loaec.
We made a nice interview and he's giving you an exclusive edit, check it out and have fun!
- How was the beginning? and what are your tips for the beginners?
“We’re still beginners as far as we’re concerned. You never stop learning and fine tune what you’re about. Our tip for beginners would be: favour emotion rather than trends, cultivate your difference and be patient, it takes a lifetime to master the different aspects of music writing and production.”
- Which are your biggest influences?
“Musically? There are so many… it’s impossible to answer. We’re into all kinds of musicians, as long as they have passion, attitude and generosity. We like so much, from The Doors to The Clash, Factory records to Def Jam, Nile Rodgers to Johnny Marr, Air to Phoenix, Mozart to Vangelis, The XX to Ladyhawke… you know it’s about picking up what you like, we’ try to be open-minded… For fashion shows where there’s no limits, you can mix anything you like, it’s such a thrill… I’m trying to bring that feel in my ‘ Heart & Soul ’ mixtapes (https://soundcloud.com/jerrybouthier/heart-soul-jerry-bouthier), throw in all kind of tracks and try make it work. Break boundaries and fly to the moon…”
- How do you think the place you live in has influenced in your music? Do you feel bigger France or UK influence?
“Naturally both Paris and London have had huge influence on me, i’m pretty much 50/50 these days. Gives me a peculiar outlook I suppose. Andrea’s almost there, I’ve witnessed him turn into proper Londoner.”
- How does your creative process work?
“We lay melodic foundations we like, chord progressions that make you feel warm inside and that you haven’t heard a million time before, and then organize them in dj-friendly structure. Andrea’s exceptional with harmony, and second to none in the studio, top ears. Me? I’m good with editing and vibes, the dj and the punter, not as skilled for sure (although I used to program and engineer too)… but it’s more complicated than that really. We try a lot of stuff together, go through every little detail, it takes a while to get it right. That’s why we don’t do so many, we really get into it and don’t let go until it’s there.”
- How do you define your music?
“We don’t think about it too much, we do what feels natural to us. We don’t have a plan, we like to make music together, we understand, respect and bounce off each other, we’re lucky to have that musician bond between us where everything else is secondary. Then again we’ve been a studio couple for a long time, although we have an open relationship, we’ve kept coming back to each other, just like brothers really… Guess we don’t make it easy for ourselves by not strictly sticking to one sound. We like rockin’ and funkin’. It’s It’s gotta have a bit of black and a bit of white. Only one or the other isn’t as much fun we find. We’re influenced by many things: pop, rock, funk, disco, house, italo, punk-funk, euro, electro, soul, bits of hip-hop… and what have you. Is that balearic? I reckon it is, that’s how I remember Ibiza when I first discovered it almost by luck. An eclectic mix of good stuff played by music lovers in clubs and bars… Why should it be any different? It just seems alien to us to be stuck in one genre anyway, as djs… and producers. That’s what we love most about 2 Many DJs, their audacity at mixing genres and for doing it with humour too. For sure we don’t live in the past, we always look forward to new music and get a lot of energy from the new stuff around.”
- What are your dreams? Your motivation ?
“Living off music is the best dream of all - whether you make a lot of cash or not. Now we’re quite selfish too, it’s only finished when we’re happy with it.”
- What do you use to make your tracks? What is your favourite set-up to make your DJ sets ?
“Tools are important but no more than imagination. It’s like the old debate, vinyl vs cds. Is it any good? That’s the real question… We use a combination of analog and digital machines, guitars, gadgets, percussion… anything that can work really. But you know you can get any sound you can think of in a computer now, so you’re basically free to try out anything you fancy. The results are essentially going to be down to your ideas and creativity, not so much what equipment you use.”
- Which are your favourite places to play?
“Any night with a crowd into music is a pleasure to play to… Could be Japan, Beirut, Singapore, Paris, London, Buenos Aires… It’s an universal feeling that needs no words to express itself. We’re looking forward to visit South America cos you guys have the funk! ”
- You spend many hours at airports, what do you do to spend time while wait your flights?
“Sober up on a jug of English breakfast tea, read the papers and if i’m sitting down get the lappy out and re-edit tracks for my sets, my fave hobby… Andrea loves nothing more than learning stuff, he’s always reading few books and manuals at once.”
- What were the weirdest and the funniest things that ever happened on a gig?
“I guess one of the weirdest was probably me and my late brother Tom (bless him) deejaying before David Guetta (!) at Manumission, Privilege, in Ibiza. Although by then we were used to play to UK crowds, 7,000 people embracing your music felt quite impressive but Tom did great and rocked it solid with our party signature set. That was sadly to be our last ever gig together and that’s what makes it a little spooky in retrospect… well, at least those aren’t memories of some toilet in the middle of nowhere but of the biggest club in Ibiza if not the world, a place we partied in only a few years earlier and which meant so much to us… Now the funniest has to be going on a day trip to Brighton (on the beach) for a Family gig (our club before BoomBox and Ponystep) with a coach of trannies and club kids. Most of it couldn’t even be printed, hilarious.”
- What's the biggest difference that you feel playing on fashion event and on a club?
“It is different, fashion parties are a bit random, people are invited for free drinks you know. So sometime they’re crap, sometime they’re amazing cos they can gather some fun, creative people and suddenly it goes off. Difficult to tell in advance. Clubs are more predictable, but that’s usually in a good way. In good places, people come to hear (your) music… so as long as you deliver an entertaining set that you’re into, you’ll have a good time and they’ll have a good time.”
- I know you're a music lover. What do you know about Brazilian music ? When will you come to Brazil?
“Soon hopefully. We love baile funk, which we’ve used a few times for Vivienne Westwood shows, some of these bootlegs are funny man. And the romantic 70s folky stuff our mums used to listen to… Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento, Jorge Ben… how can you resist it? Particularly as a child :-) ”
- What do you think about the future of music?
“It’s not looking great to be honest, at least in the charts. Machines and softwares have replaced performances and emotions. Musicians are badly needed back in studios to bring some feeling… just djs and computer programmers won’t be enough to keep music meaningful. In our opinion electronic musicians should have more band mentalities and stop isolating themselves. It’s the interaction of several good writers/musicians that makes the best tunes. Not everyone is a genius like Prince, union is strength. It’s so easy to get stuck on your own in front of a computer and believe you can cater for everything… It’s good to have different sensibilities cohabiting in the same tune, it’s often a little crazier, less expected or simply more pleasing melodically. People should see music as scents of beauty which make you feel good and alive, not an axis to become rich and famous. Celebrity culture’s killing people’s sensitivity.”
- Continental is a digital label, why? Do you have plans to release vinyls in the future?
“Not in the short term. People can hardly be bothered to spend 1$ on an mp3 these days, so trying to get them to spend 10 or 12$ on a 12” vinyl seems very optimistic. You have to embrace the new age and go along with it. There’s no point resisting technology, it’s here to stay.”
- As label owner what do you think about music industry piracy?
“Music isn’t free. It’s like books or films. Many professions live off those art forms, and if these people don’t get paid anymore, you won’t get art for much longer, all that’ll be left will be consumer products. For sure the record business got greedy and shot itself in the foot when it repackaged lps as cds and sold them with a 90% profit margin or so. No wonder people don’t want to spend money anymore… Now it does feel wrong to have those shops in Sri-Lanka or else selling exclusively bootlegs of cds and dvds. I exchange music with other djs, occasionally burn stuff for friends, that kind of thing, to me that’s ok, it’s my job to spread the word. I see it as supporting bands by attracting people’s attention to what they do, so that more and more play and listen to interesting music rather than the same old chart pap… Obviously Continental is a business, but it’s really all about the music. I’m lucky to have a very efficient team around me who gets a lot less out of it than it gives, but thanks to their talent and trust we’re building a little family and taking each step at a time. It feels nice you know, music mates, people you like the work of, encouraging the younger ones and giving full artistic control to the more experienced ones. It’s a real honour, we hope Continental can help them develop into consistent long-term artists while doing great singles with us.”
- Do you think that services like Deezer, Spotify and Google Play Music can kill the habit of buy music?
“I’d say yes to a certain extent. But at least royalties are being paid to artists now, 80% like iTunes I hear… so it is yet another mutation that seems to be working… I don’t really use it personally cos u know i’ve got so much stuff to listen to all the time, between what I get given and what I buy… but it’s great idea to be able to discover stuff like if you walked in a public library.”
- After working with amazing labels like Kitsuné, Gomma… why have you decided to create your own label (Continental Records) ?
“So I could complain about music and show how it’s got to be done in my opinion haha.”
- Continental is a new label but already released tracks by amazing artists like Reflex, Shindu, Fancy, Rüfüs and of course JBAG. What's next?
“Lots of stuff, honestly it’s not like there aren’t great musicians out there. We have more singles coming from France, SE Asia, Berlin, Sydney, London, Belgium… The way the charts are going we believe underground pop has sunny days ahead. People need to feel stuff you know, music is about emotion… I witness it at most of my gigs. Djs should give crowds more credit, not everybody likes boring s**t.”
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