World renowned DJ Sebastien Leger is the complete anti-thesis to the dime-a-dozen beats of fellow Frenchman David Guetta. Classically trained from a young age and working in French clubs from his early teens, Leger mines a different sound to his counterparts, meshing the funk sensibilities of Detroit and Chicago's musical histories with a proudly European edge and a cool determination.
In addition to his knob-twiddling and remixing (including artists such as Justin Timberlake, Kylie Minogue and Armand van Helden), his DJing duties keep him busy, travelling around the world and staying at the forefront of electronic dance music. In Australia on his Mistakes Music Tour, Sebastien took time to speak with me on a little bit of everything. And yes, it was inevitable that the 'G' word would pop up…
That ever elusive new album
‘I closed the last interview with that question. It seems that every year I’m saying the same thing. ‘Yes I’m working on an album’ and then the next year I’m saying again ‘Yes I’m working on it’ and four years later I’m saying ‘Yes, I’m still working on it’ [laughs]. So, no I’m not working on an album, well not anymore. Sometimes I’m working on new material, other times it’s more of a random process. You’ll feel like doing it, you’ll finish a track and then you’ll get it sent back to you and you don’t like it anymore’
Releasing music from his own record label
'In short, I wanted full control of my music. The design, the release, everything. With a major label, you lose control of your own work. They could release a track of yours 5 years after you made it if they wanted to, they could design an album cover or direct a music video that you hate.'
The story behind the name, Mistakes Music
‘It’s the way I work in general! Well, in the studio at least. It can be full of random processes, full of mistakes and some happy accidents and you’ll be left with something amazing that you could never do again. It’s not quite the same if you try to make these ‘accidents’ happen on purpose. If you plan too much, you’ll make work that isn’t spontaneous. And I like to be spontaneous, I like to be a bit on the fly, play around in the studio. You can’t just say ‘I have this melody in my head and I’m going to reproduce it’; because it’s never going to sound the way you imagined it anyway. Just go with the flow.'
The changing scene in dance music
'It’s a big changing process. Music changes a lot. I try to stay up-to-date with trends and what’s popular today while still trying to stay faithful to what I like. There’s obviously been a huge shift from my first release to what I’m doing today, but there’s always a funky element to all of the tracks.'
Being his own biggest critic
'I prefer tracks by other artists to the tracks I make myself, funnily enough. It’s a matter of taste, not everyone is going to like the work you put out all the time. Some people prefer my remixes of popular artists; some people may prefer the mostly underground kind of work, or the kind of music I made fifteen years ago.'
Dance music = everywhere
'It's all thanks to one man, David Guetta. He’s the main reason why it’s bigger than ever. Which is both a good thing and a bad thing. Obviously it’s good because you can make work that people are somewhat familiar with; you can make a song that someone may not have liked 2 years ago but now they do because they’ve grown up with a new genre of music and have come to appreciate it. It’s a good thing that it’s so big right now because a lot of people can hear this music they wouldn’t normally hear. But for me it doesn’t change anything, it’s not a trend or a phase. This is the music I’ve always made.'
The upcoming live show
'I love touring as DJ. It’s much more in your face and more spontaneous. It’s a wait and see situation, I guess!'
DJ vs producer
'I’m definitely a DJ. Some people may say I’m more of a producer because they’ll hear my original work and then go to see perform live as DJ because of it, but I’ve been working as a DJ since 1993. I’m so much more comfortable and happy behind the decks. I prefer that to being in a studio. And sometimes it’s the opposite and I really enjoy being in the studio, but I definitely see myself more as a DJ.'
Sebastien Leger plays Apple Bar on Thursday, November 17
5-9 Synagogue Place, Adelaide
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