Sound Pellegrino

Yes, yes, ladies and gentlemen, we here at electroTO are proud to announce a new segment set to grace our space, and we honestly believe that it will offer insights into the electronic music industry that can seldom be found anywhere else. Most of us are well aware of the talent that comes through our beloved city, but our InTORview segment will provide an exclusive, deeply personal look at the top DJ/Producer talents that descend upon our borough. And our inaugural edition, really couldn’t be much bigger. Here is our sit-down with Louis Brodinski:

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So how has your latest trip to North America been? Work or play?

It’s been pretty good. It was not really a tour. It was like three weeks in LA for work, but after that, my agent found some gigs, and said you have your friend from Philly who wants you to play, your friend Ryne in Toronto who wants you to play, as well as a gig in Montreal. So I said, okay I’ll take it. I’m coming back in March in Miami, with Erol, Boys Noize, DJ Mehdi, Aeroplane. Yeaaa… it’s going to be good.

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In playing your style of techno, how do you find the difference in crowd response from Europe to North America?

The club couture in North America is totally different, but it’s a really good thing for us too. In Europe it’s a real business. Every club, I come, I open as the invite DJ, and every weekend it’s a good party; the crowd is really into it. But here, we need to work, like, we need to come, and come back, and come back, and come back again. You know? Even for me it’s really difficult because I have no album or nothing like that, like Boys Noize for example. For Alex, it’s pretty good because he has his image, his label, his project, his albums, he has two albums right now, and he’s come here, and people go to see him. One, because he’s a good DJ, and two,  you can hear tracks from an album. You know what I mean? Like only the geeks and the nerd can know everything that I play [...] But it’s cool (haha).

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People know you for your close friendship and production relationship with Yuksek. Can you speak about your relationship with him, and are you two still as close in the studio?

I think we are the exact same today. When we can work together, we do. But for example, I have a mixtape to do, I have a CD to do, I have a remix to do for Miami. I’m in North America right now, coming back for only two days in France, play, and then go off to Japan after having only one week off. Then after it’s Maimi… like wow. It’s a lot.

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We heard about a collaboration with You, Djedjotronic, Noob and Harvard Bass. Tell us!

Yes, we do a track with Noob, Djedjotronic, Harvard Bass and me. Yea but, like now it’s close to the end, with Noob and Djedjo. But we will definitely be doing something for Miami, I think.

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You just named a couple of your close DJ friends. Who’s the craziest? Who parties hardest?

Ohh no Victor (Harvard Bass). Victor is the craziest. He’s so funny. Even Noob and Djedjo too, but they are very clever. They work a lot. Yea but like, all good guys.

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From other interviews we’ve heard that you’ve been getting better at doing your own production. Do you ever see yourself producing on your own, without a collaborator?

No. It’s just like I’m not a big fan of being in the studio and working on my own song. But when I’m with somebody, it’s really funny, and we can do something different. [...] If I’m working on something I really like, I need to be in the studio for like a week, working on like exactly the same track. I need to be with somebody in the studio. After two years of working with somebody, I’m just seeing. I know what I’m seeing. I totally understand it. I need some more time, but I think it’s going to be good.

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It’s clear that you’re a huge fan of hip-hop, as depicted in your blog SmokeMachine. Are you doing anything to pursue that, or is it just a personal hobby?

I think the real problem with hip-hop… when you want to be a hip-hop producer, you need to produce like 25 beats a day. And we produce a track every 4 months, so like, it’s difficult. The rap business is totally different from the electronic business. But yea it’s interesting, like I will do some stuff. Some people are interested in it. I’m doing a rap mixtape, just for myself, just so I can say, at this time, I listened to this music. I don’t care what people think. I just do it for me. [...] In Canada and US, hip-hop is big. Half of the tracks I put on my blog, everybody knows. In Europe, it’s like nobody cares about hip-hop music.

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When it comes to producing techno, who would be the one producer you would want to see yourself working with?

I would say Yuksek is the best for that. Yea, for me, because, he’s an engineer and a friend. And working with a friend is just the best for me. [What about Soulwax?] Yeaa, Soulwax are good, but they’re really busy too, you know?

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You appeared on Teki and Orgasmic’s ‘Sound Pellegrino’ label last year, any chance you appear on some other emerging labels, like Mowgli’s ‘Deadfish’, or the like?

I like Deadfish. I think it’s a really good label. We just decide… For example, Mowgli asked me, “Do You want to work with Camel? I think it’s gonna be a good idea for him.” And, I think it’s gonna be a good idea for him too, and I like what Camel is doing at the moment, he is really on fire. So I said, ahh, why not!? And it’s a project, between another one. It’s just like, cool… But for Teki, he approach me maybe a year and a half ago, and said “Listen man, I maybe want to do a label, have you got something?” And I said, yea I got something, and it was the track ‘Boogieman’, an old one, really. Then I told my friend Guilliam (The Shoes) that I wanted to do something, and we did ‘Sha Shtil’, and ‘Casablanco’ was like two weeks after. And it was with Yuksek too, yea. It was pretty good. It was good for me. People liked it, people reacted pretty well.

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In previous interviews you mentioned that The Shoes and Monsieur Monsieur are big acts to look out for. Anyone else that you have your eye on in 2010?

Hmm. I think a little guy from Belgium, named Highbloo. He send me just all his stuff, and the last two is just… (gesture suggesting craziness). Yea, yea he’s really good. And he’s a nice guy. He send me all his stuff and says “okay what you think, what do you think?”. I just want to see what’s next for him. He’s a French guy from Belgium. You know how they have two parts in Belgium? But yea he’s really good, I really like his stuff. And another guy, a French guy called French Fries [Ohh yes the Arma EP]. Yeaaa, that’s really good. The BeatauCue remix is the best, and even the original too. And the sound, I think it’s really good today. It’s like that minimal kind of dutch house. It works really well… I remember end of January of 2009, I was so excited about music, with the ‘Spraycan EP’, ‘Nadastrom’, and stuff like that. And today, I’m listening to some different stuff. Like this Dutch guy named Oliver Twizt, sent some stuff to Mad Decent. I was in LA, with Diplo, and I was listening to that, and it’s going to be really big.

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As far as your new releases for this year, you have Arnold Classics coming out, and…?

Yes, Arnold Classics is coming out on Sinden’s new label called ‘Grizzly’. Yea, Sinden ask me from long time ago, “He says ya ya. I’m doing a label. Give me a track or something.” So I give him this one, and I said find some remixers. I think one is from Toronto? Egyptrixx? He’s really good. And he just did a remix for a band called Cubic Zirconia, and it’s an amazing remix. I just said to Sinden, let’s ask him to do it.

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You’re a wristwatch guy, how many watches do you have?

I have 25 watches, but I only wear 25. I have many more than that. [Do you have a favorite?] I don’t have any favorites. It’s exactly like music, I change all the time.

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As far as DJs you look up to, who are the best you’ve seen lately?

Mehdi is amazing. Who I’ve seen recently… Jack Beats is really good. He’s a party DJ. Diplo is amazing, as always. Who else… [Alex, obviously?] Yea, but, pfff, he’s already a king, you don’t have to (haha). Everybody plays different stuff now. I cannot wait to see the Hard party. Between Aeroplane, Erol, Busy P… and, oh man.

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Last question, you play a lot of material from cutting edge artists, would you consider yourself to be a musical trendsetter?

Umm, I think a test-maker. I hope to be one. I hope to be one for everybody, not just for those who read the blog and forum! (haha)

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Thanks for your time Louis!

BONUS: Edu K – Flutesnoot (Brodinski’s B-Live Mix)

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