If this is the first time you’ve heard the name Modisound, I guarantee you it won’t be the last. The Canadian duo of Mark Hewitt and Francis Arseneau are making some of the funkiest, upbeat electronic disco out right now. The lead single off their debut EP Yellow To Purple has created quite a bit of buzz and I think it’s a great place for any new Modisound listener to start getting familiar with their awesome tunes. Check out the groovy piano driven house tune below… You’ll love the exotic vocals from Maryse Bernard.
“Let Your Hair Down” should be enough to sell anyone on these guys, but if not, I encourage you to take it one step further and push play on “Champagne” below. It’s too damn funky. And quite appropriately, some of the biggest disco-house producers out there are rocking this one out. This includes none other than the titan himself, Treasure Fingers, who just dropped the track in his recent mix for Dim Mak. Go.
You can stream the rest of Modisound’s fantastic Yellow To Purple EP by clicking here, but let’s get into the interview. Had a blast chatting with these dudes. Check it out below!
M: We’re both originally from Vancouver but Francis lives in Montreal and Mark is still puttering around in our hometown.
So how did Modisound come about?
F: Mark and I first met when we were like 8 or 9 through my neighbour, whose name also happens to be Mark (we’ll call him Big Mark).
M: When we were in high school, we always used to hang out in this old gazebo in Big Mark’s backyard and play cards or whatever and I was the DJ of the crew, playing tunes off my iPod all the time.
F: Mark pretty much introduced me to electronic music, and we’d always exchange songs from time to time, but then I left to go to school in Montreal after graduating and nothing ever really came of it.
M: Then around year later Francis was home for the summer and we bumped into each other at the gym. He told me he had started messing around with Ableton, which is something I had been doing for a while too. We decided to meet up and jam afterwards and I guess the rest is history.
That’s dope. Well I love your sound. The sort of edgier, funky disco shit is what got me into dance music in the first place. Who are your biggest influences – why did you go this route, sound-wise?
F: Before Mark got me into electronic music, I listened to classic older stuff like Bowie, The Eagles, Zeppelin, etc. I think my first foray into funky electronic stuff was Calvin Harris’ first album, which is still one of my favourites. As for why we went down this route with the EP, I think theres a lot of influences at play there. While we were making the EP I couldn’t stop listening to Kavinsky and Frank Ocean, and I think Mark was hooked on The M-Machine and Bag Raiders… We’re pretty all over the place.
M: My biggest influences stem from some pretty typical artists in the genre you’d expect… Guy’s like Justice and the Ed Banger crew, Boys Noize, and I’ve always been a huge fan of Gorillaz. The songs that really turned me on to electronic music were ‘19-2000’ off the Gorillaz first self-titled album, and ‘Aerodynamic’ by Daft Punk. CLASSIC.
Hell yeah. We’re into all these guys over here… So what are your musical backgrounds?
F: I started playing piano when I was 5 or 6 years old and have been playing almost every day since then. I’ve been classically trained, but I dabble in jazz and other stuff from time to time. I taught myself to play guitar in high school, but I’m still not that great… The highlight of my career as a guitarist is probably playing on Let Your Hair Down. I play sax, which we’re hoping to incorporate on one of our songs. I also play clarinet, which we are not hoping to incorporate in any of our songs.
M: I picked up playing alto sax when I was about 10 years old, and took private lessons for a few years after. In high school I rocked out in a jazz band and played in some other bands. More recently I’ve been getting into production and I’m developing my piano/keyboard playing skillz, but Francis is still the piano man in my books.
Cool… Tell us a little bit about ‘Yellow To Purple’ and what’s next for you guys.
M: We pretty much wrote and recorded everything from Y2P over the summer, but we never really had the intention of making an EP. We ended up handpicking some of our favourite tracks that we had made, which we thought displayed a pretty wide range of styles across a broad funky genre. The EP sorta goes from brighter upbeat dancy stuff to the darker heavier stuff.
We’re currently working on a couple singles we want to put out, and we want to finish up a couple remixes before we start work on our next project. Not much to say yet about the next project, but it’ll be an ambitious project that might encompass a few releases.
Excellent! Can’t wait to hear those!… OK. If you could collaborate with anyone right now, who would it be?
M: We came sooooo close to getting a Robotaki remix of Let Your Hair Down on our EP, but the timing wasn’t right. We would love to get a chance to work with him again. We can’t wait to work with Mister Gavin again too, his remix was just phenomenal.
F: I’ve also had this fantasy of one day getting the a capella of “Brother Down” by Sam Roberts. I’d love to do a remix of that song.
I can’t imagine you guys NOT working with Robotaki at some point!… Alright. My favorite question of all… What’s the craziest party, event, concert, festival you’ve been to? Tell us some outrageous stories.
M: My favourite story is about when we went to a Dada Life show in Vancouver. Before it started, Francis somehow waltzed past security and walked into the secret room where they kept all the Dada Life bananas that they give out at shows. He ended up running into Olle and having a good ol’ chat with him. Nothing too crazy though.
F: Yea we’re not the wildest guys.
I can dig it… If you had to pick one song, could be any song in the world, that you had to play at every single one of your sets, what would it be?
F: Paris (Aeroplane Remix) – Friendly Fires.
M: Cut Dick – Mr. Oizo.
Nice! So you said you’re in different places currently. How do you guys work on tracks if you live in different cities?
M: Generally one of us will write up the basic framework for a song, with some chords, riffs, drums and then put the project file in our DropBox. We kinda send stuff back and forth and inspire each other to make small changes until the tracks are done the way we like. It can be tedious, especially since we’re both in school full time, but we like it.
Right on… Who do you guys think are some solid underrated or up-and-coming artists that deserve more attention?
Siriusmo is without a doubt is one of our favourite producers. Robotaki is super great and so are Mister Gavin and Mille. There’s also this one guy named Muffin. He put out an amazing remix of “Fair Warning” by Penguin Prison and a couple great mixes but then dropped off the face of the earth. He’s so underground I don’t even think he has a SoundCloud anymore.
In case you missed the robots on Pete Tong’s BBC Radio 1 show this afternoon, the stream’s below. They mostly talk about making the record they’ve always wanted to make. We’ve only heard “Get Lucky” and it’s already so apparent. Enjoy.
Another good interview with Case & Point today. We introduced them back in July with their lavish Icona Pop and Radiohead remixes and cool original “Razor“. Check here. And more recently we showcased their bootleg of Miike Snow‘s collab with Lykke Li, here. Now, check out their latest take on The XX‘s “Angels” before we start talking.
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DE (HOUDINI): Tell us about Case & Point the project and who you are as individuals. What’s a day in the life like?
Case & Point: Case & Point is a Duo of TJ and Casey. We’ve been friends for a while and originally threw parties/shows throughout Boston.
We both have deep roots in the electronic music scene here and have solid appreciations for all types of electronic dance music. However, we did realize how much we loved djing and writing ‘Big Room’ house tracks that had elements of Progressive House and Electro House. We are suckers for huge ‘hands in the air’ synths that drop down to grimy bass-lines and heavy drops. It allows you to bring that emotional element to tracks, while still keeping them danceable and fun.
As far as daily life, we definitely spend a ridiculous amount of time working on our tracks. We love writing music and typically spend every waking minute thinking about music, writing tracks, engineering tracks, making mixes, or finding new music. We both have pretty good work ethics and we often end up spurring ourselves on and later realizing that we had stayed up till the wee morning hours, lost in a Case & Point project.
Who are your biggest influences as an artist?
As artists we find its important to get influences from music outside of the genres that we write in. While we definitely are influenced by artists in our genre such as Dada Life, Kaskade, Wolfgang Gartner, etc., we still find a lot of our other influences include artists ranging from Radiohead to M83. We’ve also been getting in the habit of remixing influential tracks from favorite artists of ours including Icona Pop, Miike Snow and The xx. There is so much creativity coming out daily, within and also outside of Electronic Dance Music as a whole, it’s hard to pinpoint what we draw from the most.
What’s it like being musicians on the grind in Boston?
Boston is definitely an interesting city to be a musician/dj in. We feel that each scene here is for the most part super tight knit. There are also a ton of creative artists and musicians coming up from Boston. It definitely is exciting for us to see other acts and artists constantly innovate and evolve their sounds, which definitely has helped keep us on our toes through the years.
What’s the next step for you? More releases? Touring? Videos?
Currently we have a lot of material on deck including more remixes and bootlegs, and a bunch of original tracks as well. We love giving these remixes out for free to everyone and have a few to look out for in the future. We just wrapped up a remix of Angels by The xx which we are really proud of.
As far as official releases, we can’t officially say about any yet – but we can say that we’ve been collaborating with some extremely talented vocalists and these originals that we are finishing up are pretty awesome and we can’t wait for everyone to hear them.
What’s the craziest show you’ve played? Tell us about some of the weirdest, coolest, funniest things you’ve seen in the business.
We haven’t started touring yet as Case & Point because we have been so focused on production but we tend to get a bit wild while performing so I’m sure we will have many stories to update you with in the future.
Back with the Chi-town boy Kave today. If you remember he made that monster beat with Compact Disco that killed it… Check here. We got that young interview with the man, and some new tracks you probably haven’t heard yet. Let’s go.
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DE (HOUDINI): Tell us about Kave the project and who you are as an individual. What’s a day in the life like?
KAVE: Well I think that I in order too understand more about me and my music, its first important too learn a little about my past and what helped shape me into the person I am today. I grew up living in the not so greatest areas of Atlanta, and from a early age music was one of the only outlets I had. As a young boy, I studied classical music on a variety of instruments such as the piano, upright bass, and violin. As I got older, I got into other instruments like the guitar. I was lucky enough at that age too be trained by some really great musicians, some of now are worldwide famous, most notably Tosin Abasi of Animals As Leaders who taught me so much about the creation of music & the theory behind it. I really feel that this strong background in music & music theory helps me everyday in what I create, I mean sometimes if I don’t have my laptop handy and I have some wicked tune or chord progression in my head, I’ll literally get some paper, draw some staff bars, and score out the chords and notes. I try to compile all of myself into my music too really express not only my past, but also the present. Most of my music is a little on the darker side because, well, I’m just a little more of a cryptic individual, but I have received nothing but positive feedback, which I am eternally grateful for.
Who are your biggest influences as an artist?
Wow, now here’s a list that can go on forever! I mean, there are so many musicians that inspire & influence me from all over the grid, from electro, disco, funk, bass music, metal, and more. If I had too pick just a few, it would have too be artists like Justice, Daft Punk, New Order, Grum, Crystal Castles, Le Castle Vania, Madeon, Wolfgang Gartner, Nicky Romero, Phonat, PrototypeReactor, Mantis, Mord Fustang, Tommy Trash, Brodisnki, Hacker, Bloody Beetroots, & many many more! I’m also a huge fan of french electro/disco.
What’s it like being a musician on the grind in Chicago?
Chicago is absolutely a crazy city. Being the 3rd largest city in the nation, there’s definitely opportunity here. But with potential opportunity comes the drawback of increased competition. So you gotta work, work, work, work, work. The hardest part is actually getting in the scene and getting your name out there, but once people start realizing that your making quality music and your fans are actually interested in seeing you perform, then it becomes easier. Even so, there’s hundreds of other talented musicians trying too get their come up, so you can never really rest easy.
What’s the next step for you? More releases? Touring? Videos?
Definitely more releases coming soon! My new collab track with my good friends Compact Disco did pretty decent for its release. Next I will be releasing a new disco track along with a new electro track following that! And actually I am on tour now! I’m coming up on my break for that, so ill be heading back too Chicago for a week and then its off too San Francisco! Which I’m totally psyched about, I’ve never been too the west coast before!
What’s the craziest show you’ve played? Tell us about some of the weirdest, coolest, funniest things you’ve seen in the business.
I’d say that the craziest show I’ve ever played was last year at Halloween. We had all worked really hard on the promo too get this club packed, and boy did it!! Our venue capacity was like 350, and we hit that at 11:30 with a huge line around the door. And I mean seriously, some of the hottest girls I’ve ever laid eyes on were there that night. Dj’s were taking shots all night from opening till closing, and everybody had a blast. Definitely was one of the funniest nights in my life.
We’ve been supporting Don Winsley and his rise to the top for a while now. We first introduced his remixes, here, in anticipation of his debut full-length LP “Rise Of The Weasel King“, here. Today we’re back with some highlights off the record and interview. Let’s go.
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DE (HOUDINI): Tell us about Don Winsley the project and who you are as an individual. What’s a day in the life like?
Don Winsley: Don Winsley is the alias I have been making and releasing music under for the past two years. When Don Winsley plays live its as a two-piece with a drummer. We try to make our shows as visceral, and high energy as possible. People have said it feels at times like heavy metal with a dance beat, and I’m continually blown away by how overwhelmingly positive the response from the crowd seems to be. Although I feel like I dont get enough credit for having invented dubstep all those years ago under my other alias, benga.
As for a day in the life, I live in a big mansion with a bunch of bros. I sleep in the attic, but lately it seems like I’m away much more then I am. I guess im just your average Weasel-Core DJ when you get down to it.
Who are your biggest influences as an artist?
Food and small animals. Also 80′s movies and classical music.
What’s it like being a musician on the grind in North Carolina?
Its kind of weird being in a state where the electronic scene is still developing and not really established yet. Especially when the music you make doesn’t exactly conform to a specific genre. But it is what you make of it; I’ve met so many amazing people and artists here and I love the barbecue.
What’s the next step for you? More releases? Touring? Videos?
Oh man, there are so many things going on right now. First off im running for the position of Buncombe county district comptroller, we are also releasing the official remixes for Rise Of The Weasel King, and there is a new EP in the works.
Definitely trying to do some more video content, as well. I went to college for video/animation and somtimes I catch myself thinking of my music like a score for a movie.
What’s the craziest show you’ve played? Tell us about some of the weirdest, coolest, funniest things you’ve seen in the business.
One time, back before I was really taking this whole DJ thing very seriously, we broke into my friends neighborhood pool and threw a guerilla-style show. The cops came and we had to scramble over the fence. As far as legitimate shows go, we have had some really crazy shows in Asheville. The energy at our last show there was awesome; I’m a BIG fan of energetic crowds.
Ninetynine is the awesome French house producer from Canada we’ve featured a couple times recently. Check here for his full-length LP and here for his “Sweet Touch” EP. Today we’ve got an interview and a whole bunch of remixes, all of which are free downloads. Hallelujah. Let’s go.
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DE (HOUDINI): Tell us about Ninetynine the project and who you are as an individual. What’s a day in the life like?
Ninetynine: Ninetynine is a house project where in I channel a lot of my influences from back when I was a little dude. 1997 was a big year in music for me, and I just produce to recreate that feeling, and that intense sense of nostalgia. From that you could probably gather that I live in the past, and don’t really pay attention to what is going on now. Other than being crazy like that, a normal day of mine consists of the day job, then into the studio after work. It’s pretty basic, and pretty boring.
Who are your biggest influences as an artist?
My biggest influences are a couple of the usual suspects that I’m going to forego mentioning, because it just starts sounding cliche after a while. Some of the unusual suspects are Air, Phoenix, and Ryuichi Sakamoto. The songwriting skill of each of those acts inspires me to add some complexity to my stuff.
What’s it like being a musician on the grind in Canada (Seattle? Where you at?)?
Being a musician on the grind in Canada/USA-Seattle is pretty hilarious. Canada isn’t really known for having a bustling scene for electronic music, nor is Seattle. That notion plays in your favour, as well as against you. It’s cool to be somewhat isolated, to experiment with your own thoughts and not get caught up in a particular scene. The downside is that it can be a bitch to garner local support. Home-field advantage doesn’t really exist too much when it comes to being a producer in Canada.
What’s the next step for you? More releases? Touring? Videos?
I’ve got a couple of releases coming up on Close to Modern. All free. I am also now working on a collaboration project with Futurewife out of Seattle. It’s going to be some pretty interesting, raw bootyshakin jams. It’s actually really busy for me production wise, and you will all be seeing a lot of music coming from me in the upcoming months.
What’s the craziest show you’ve played? Tell us about some of the weirdest, coolest, funniest things you’ve seen in the business.
The craziest show I’ve played was NYE in Taiwan. Those people not only know how to host a crazy party, but how to treat an act well. It was just good to see a market that doesn’t get too much love from this kind of music, dancing their ass off to crazy bangers and french house rollers. Hope to go back soon.
The Australian tag-team Bombaclat is back with a brand new live mix using tons of their bootlegs and edits. It’s tight, you guys are gonna dig it. I also got the chance to ask them a few questions. Dudes are chill. Check it all out below.
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DE (HOUDINI): Tell us about Bombaclat the project and who you guys are as individuals. What’s a day in the life like?
Bombaclat: Bombaclat is a DJ/Producer duo of Addison Hamilton and Kane Hart. We had been good mates for a few years because we played football together, and after a few too many beers in town one night, we had the grand idea to team up together under the name Bombaclat. Best mistake we ever made. We usually make tracks on our own, and when we both have a day off work we smash down energy drinks and coffee, then finish off our tracks together.
Who are your biggest influences as an artist?
We both grew up on a range of bands and artists, such as Radiohead, Pearl Jam, Dandy Warhols, Faith No More, Jeff Buckley, Beastie Boys etc. When working on originals, these artists definitely influence our sound, so we want to try and merge genres and styles into a unique sound. EDM is always changing, so we are influenced by whoever is pushing the boundaries and developing a unique sound and style. But there are producers out there who have definitely inspired us, such as Tommy Trash, Boys Noize, Dada Life, Dyro, TJR, Pleasurekraft, Gesaffelstein, and Chemical Brothers to name a few.
What’s it like being a musician on the grind in Australia?
There are so many talented DJs and producers in Australia who deserve heaps of praise for what they are doing in the industry. So to be a big part of that culture and environment will be a massive challenge, but something we are definitely striving for. Addi is a member on ADJF (www.ausdjforums.com), and there is a lot of young underground DJs and producers on there who are killing it, but are also really helpful with advice for anything we need opinions on. I think one of our goals is to change the mindset of people locally who might not have been exposed to more then what they hear on the radio.
What’s the next step for you? More releases? Touring? Videos?
Releasing originals is definitely our priority in the next few months, whilst still working on mashups and bootlegs. We have some gigs lined up with some local clubs, but ideally we would love to break into the Sydney or Melbourne scene, where our genre and style of music is more suited. A trip to DJ at some clubs down the east coast in summer is in the process, which is gonna be f*ckin dope! In the meantime, we want to get a good social media following on Facebook, Soundcloud and Youtube.
What’s the craziest show you’ve played? Tell us about some of the weirdest, coolest, funniest things you’ve seen in the business.
House parties are definitely the loosest, no restriction on tracks to play and people just go wild. Addi had a pretty crap gig once at a local pub, got told to set up right next to a pool table, there were fights all night and people yelling at him for not playing country & western music… nek minut BOMBACLAT started!
Not too long ago we introduced Frederic De Carvalho, a great talent we believed to be a bit too under the radar. Check here if you missed it. Today we’ve got an interview with the man, but before we get into that, check out “Out Run” which came out yesterday on Beatport.
And lookout for this one come September 17th!
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DE (HOUDINI): Tell us about Frederic De Carvalho the project and who you are as an individual. What’s a day in the life like?
Frederic De Carvalho: I’m a 30-year-old guy, married, with a son, living near Paris. I’m passionate for electronic music and DJ since a long time. I launched my own label Absolut Freak Records in 2006, with now a fine catalogue of 26 references (lot of them released on vinyl) with music by great artists like Popof, Markus Lange, Play Paul, Daniel Dexter, Boris Dlugosch, Adam Sky, Zoo Brazil, John Dahlbäck, Tomas Andersson, David Carretta, Xinobi, Hostage, Malente & Slap In The Bass, Dirty Disco Youth, Schlachthofbronx…
In parallel of this great adventure, I also produce my own music, on Absolut Freak but also on other labels like Boxon Records, Coco Machete or Dusted Decks. I made some remixes for Fukkk Offf, Adam Sky, Laurent Garnier, and a successful one for Ostblockschlampen with 150.000 views on YouTube.
Who are your biggest influences as an artist?
Every sounds around me, from Detroit techno with Underground Resistance or Dopplereffekt, to MTV and the pop culture. About my heroes, I could say Michael Jackson, Kraftwerk, Serge Gainsbourg, Aphex Twin, Jeff Mills, Daft Punk, Nirvana, The Chemical Brothers, Prodigy, and Laurent Garnier for whom I did a remix released on my label in a limited vinyl edition. This is one of my proudest moments as a musician.
David Carretta also did a remix for me, which is quite crazy, as he was an idol for me.
What’s it like being a musician on the grind in Paris?
Nothing particular. I spend a lot of time behind my computer, as an artist and label manager of the 20th century. I’m not particulary famous in France, I think my sound fits more to the German scene for example, where I make some gigs.
What’s the next step for you? More releases? Touring? Videos?
I’ve got several releases coming soon:
- “Out Run” together with the french band WAT (ex We Are Terrorists), a romantic 80′s electro track coming on Kiez Beats Records in August 27.
- “Pod o logy”, a powerful project coming on Boxon Records in September 17, with great remixes by Polymorphic, Hostage, LaTourette, Stereofunk and Aerotronic.
- “Chicken Mastah”, an electro banger coming on Dusted Decks Records in October, with a massive remix by Gtronic.
Two release parties are planned in Leipzig / Germany (home base of Dusted Decks) and Bordeaux / France (Boxon).
And I hope to release a CD album next year, with the best of my hard drive.
What’s the craziest show you’ve played? Tell us about some of the weirdest, coolest, funniest things you’ve seen in the business.
I remember my first public performance was at the mythic Rex Club in 2001, the most reknowned club in France. It was a fucking dream come true. I also remember a great Absolut Freak Party that I organized at the Social Club Paris in 2008, with Tiga, Adam Sky, Tomas Andersson and Nicolas Chenard. More recently, I did a gig in Madagascar, a crazy cultural experience. The weirdest / coolest / funniest thing I lived is probably that I had to go to the toilets 5 minutes before a gig in front of 2.000 people. That was longer than expected, and the organizers was looking for me everywhere!
