Perhaps it is our well-documented mutual antipathy, or maybe it is our well-
documented ignorance, but Britain’s perception of French music is plain
wrong. On the surface, it is indeed the land that listens to Europap and
still loves to jive badly to La Bamba ‘ but scratch beneath the surface and
you’ll find a wealth of talent gasping for air. It has a long and noble
tradition of fine singers, musicians and producers, from y y to Guy Cuevas,
from Jacques Dutronc to the Saintly Serge Gainsbourg and Jean-Claude
Vannier; from Ze Records to Africanism! and from Cerrone to, yes, Martin
Solveig. Martin Solveig has been involved in music since he was knee-high.
As a boy, he studied classical music. By age 13 he had acquired his pair of
decks and began DJing, although it wasn’t until 1992 that he discovered
electronic music. His schooling came courtesy of a sales job at the vaunted
Parisian record store Champs Disques on Champs Elyses. Martin’s big break,
at the tender age of 18 and thanks to the encouragement and support of
mentor Claude Monnet, came when he landed the residency at prestigious
Parisian nightspot Le Palace. A move to Les Bains Douches, a legendary club
in the city, and then Solveig’s own Pure parties at Queen cemented his
growing reputation as one to watch. But simply being a DJ has never been
enough for Martin Solveig and his production ideas soon began to filter out
on to vinyl, as he always knew they would. If Heart Of Africa, on his own
Mixture label, drew admiring glances, it was his contribution to the
Africanism series (with Bob Sinclar and DJ Gregory), the stunning Edony,
which turned heads. Originally intended purely as a club track, Edony shot
to the top of club charts and from there launched itself into mainstream
arenas. Martin’s debut album, Sur La Terre, was the work of a young man
bursting with ideas, styles, and experiments. Over the next few years
Solveig hit hard with one killer cut after another, abetted by some frankly
brilliant mixes by the likes of Pete Heller and Mousse T. Rocking Music,
with its echoes of Prince and Michael Jackson, was an instant anthem
wherever it was played and transferred from underground floors to Radio 1
playlists with consummate ease. The follow-up, I’m A Good Man, voiced by
legendary growler Lee Fields, was a plaintive cry from a wronged man and in
Mousse T’s Breakbeat Mix brought a taste of Noo Orleans funk to modern
electronic dancefloors. ‘The new album probably has a slight flavour of the
’60s and ’70s, which have always embodied a certain freedom for me, being a
child of the 80s, the economic crisis, the condom generation?! Then I’m
into wine, parties and low necklines, so I feel quite in tune with the
title.’ So says Martin of his latest album, Hedonism, which amply showed
the maturation of his productions, moving effortlessly from the familiar
terrain of four-to-the-floor rhythms, to take in the sub-R&B of Black
Voices or the audacious modern reading of Requiem Pour Un Con. ‘Serge
Gainsbourg is a master and I wanted to pay humble tribute,’ says Martin.
‘The song provides a little break in the album’s progress, as well as a
French touch that I’m attached to. I think the best songs are made to last
and be covered. New versions always have something new to add, even if they
never achieve the magic of the original. ‘This cover version, defiantly
electronic, compared to the sparse and organic original, ably demonstrates
the Solveig modus operandi, producing music that is simultaneously
synthetic and natural, warm and glacial. ‘I use both electronics and live
musicians, sometimes with classical instruments like keyboards, horns and
any piano instruments,’ explains Solveig. ‘Most of my drums are programmed,
but what I really love is using classical instruments with an electronic
device. For example I used a big B3 Hammond organ, recorded a whole session
with a musician and then took bits from it and made it sound almost like an
electronic sample. You still have the good quality of the instrument, but
with the ability to make it a bit faster or more repetitive or whatever.
That’s what I like ‘ to get inside an organic sound and make it
electronic.’ Martin Solveig is not prolific, but everything he makes is
worth waiting for. He has always eschewed the remix treadmill, not because
he disapproves of it, but it is simply not his path. Solveig’s destiny lies
elsewhere. His life is good. Fulfilled. ‘Even if I sometimes grumble a bit
from tiredness, I’m a child blessed by fortune and very happy in his
everyday life,’ chuckles Martin. ‘I should quote Karl Lagerfeld: ‘Holidays
are for people who work’.’ And all work and no play would make Martin a
very dull boy indeed.
complete
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