Last night we caught up with French club king Feadz and discussed the worst day of his life, Uffie’s new album, the Ed Banger family and his Lost Valentinos bromance.
P: Do you dread interviews?
F: I’m passionate about music so I like to talk about music but sometimes there are questions that dog me. Some questions without straight answers that aren’t so interesting . So sometimes I can’t be bothered. But I’m not saying that about you, I’m in a good mood today and it’s gonna be fine.
P: Whoa what a way to start, let’s hope so. What are your impressions of Australia?
F: I really like it here and I’m always glad to visit Australia. The people here always respond to the music which is great. It’s a big thing to cross the world and stay only for a short time. But I’ve gotten to know some people and make friends, mostly with other bands and DJ’s.
P: Cool. Like who?
F: The guys from Lost Valentinos, those guys are very nice, we played together on my very first tour and I keep in contact with them and chat online. Most of my other friends are in Sydney so I am going to see them soon…
P: What’s it like being the Ed Banger family?
F: It’s great obviously, getting paid to make music with friends is a dream and they’re all talented Producers.
P: This is probably a stupid question but who’s the Dad of the family?
F: (Laughs) Of course it would be Pedro. He’s the only link in the label because it’s completely different musicians and styles under one banner.
P: Who’s the baby then?
F: The baby would be Uffie because we have to take care her. Something like this, you know?
P: What was the first record that blew your mind?
F: Let me think…Probably Public Enemy or maybe Prince.
P: Have you seen Public Enemy live?
F: No, never. And it’s too late now I think.
P: YeahI know what you mean. I saw them live last year and Chuck D was good but Flav looked about one hundred years old.
F: (Laughs) Yeah he must have lived a crazy life that guy.
P: Have you seen his reality television show?
F: Yeah, yeah I’ve seen it. Like I said crazy life. I think it’s pretty funny.
P: Any touring horror stories?
F: Yeah the last time I was in Australia. It was a long tour and I was so tired at the end, I had to take a lot of planes home and they were all fine and on time. And on the last day we were sitting in Bangkok, I don’t know if you remember, but that day they changed all the flights in Asia and it was just a nightmare to come back home. I had to switch tickets then buy a new ticket, wait for hours and hours at the airport then get board a really bad British Airways plane to Singapore. Then I had to wait a few more hours to catch a plane to London the same thing again to Paris. It was a real nightmare. Really, it was one of the worst days of my life.
P: That’s annoying. How do you cope with all the travelling?
F: Books, music, whiskey and sleeping pills.
P: Sounds like a good formula. Are you going to release an album soon?
F: It’s funny you should say that because I started making music just for fun and releasing records whenever I felt like it. Mostly to promote myself as a DJ but never really as a Producer or else I would have done an album a long time ago – it’s been almost ten year that I’ve been doing records. But I think with the extinction of vinyl, I’ll have to do an album soon. And when I get home after Australia I’ll get more serious about that.
P: And what’s the songwriting process like?
F: Well it has changed all my life. I started with an MPC, then got some synths, then got a computer, then explored using samples and twisting them. I don’t really have a method that’s why I’m not an organized Producer. I think I’m an organized DJ – I do my job. I keep looking for tracks and I make sure I don’t play the same records too often. But as a Producer I always start from scratch. Today it’s going to be a sample that inspires me, tomorrow it’s going to be more technical stuff like the reverb on a kick. Experimentation has always been the key though there is not one track that I calculated from the beginning to end. I rely a lot on accidents.
P: What does a typical day entail for you back home.
F: Back home? It’s kind of sad man. I’ll work this weekend and travel then I have to go home to my music and my computer. If I’m in a good mood I’ll take the time out and only do music at night or whenever I want. But most of the time I’ll force myself to work on music. Like the rest of the world I’m in front of a computer all day and it’s not so fun.
P: So what do you miss most about home when you’re away?
F: My speakers (laughs). If I’ve got time to kill here I can work on my laptop. But I don’t have my big screen and mostly I don’t have my speaker so you really never know what anything sounds like unless it’s in your house.
P: So if your house was on fire you’d have your studio monitors under each arm.
F: (Laughs) If my house was on fire I’d have my studio monitors under each arm.
P: What was clubbing like growing in France? Was there a moment when you decided ‘Yeah, I want to be part of this’.
F: Not really actually. I wanted to be part of music and bring something to DJing because I always thought it was great. But I started out with scratch so it wasn’t a club DJ thing. And Paris has always had a small scene for clubs compared to cities like Berlin – it’ ridiculous. Now it’s getting better and better but rap was always the most important music in France and there was always trouble at the rap parties. So Paris wasn’t really a clubbing city when I grew up.
P: Just finally, the Uffie album which is set to drop on Ed Banger soon how is that shaping up?
F: Yeah good. I produced a lot of tracks for it and worked on a lot of tracks that I didn’t Produce too. But after that Uffie met some new Producer which is good for her to bring new colour to the album. So I had a few tracks taken off to leave room for the other Producer which is completely fine and the album is going to drop in February.
Check out Feadz at the following dates:
Perth – Villa w Boy 8-Bit 23-Oct-09
Wollongong – The Grand Hotel 24-Oct-09
Brisbane – Lick It 3rd Birthday @ Empire Hotel 30-Oct-09
Sydney – The Club Club @ Chinese Laundry 31-Oct-09
Newcastle – Sundae Fundaze @ The Clarendon Hotel 1-Nov-09
Melbourne – Strobe @ Billboard w Boy 8-Bit 2-Nov-09
Auckland – Ink Bar & Coherent w Boy 8-Bit 6-Nov-09
Adelaide – Garage 7-Nov-09
