A night with Yuksek

Where abouts are you now? Has anything exciting been happening with you lately?

I’m home in France having a bit of a break chilling with friends, good times taking it easy. Nothing really. Looking forward to the Australian tour, and then off to Japan, so going to get busy but just not yet.

What have been some of your major influences?

Not a lot. I’m not listening to too much electro but listening to more of a mix like Metromony and bands like that but a bit of pop hip hop rock and stuff like that, so I’m gaining a wider kind of influence, old music new music and stuff like that.

What is the biggest act that you believe has helped you along your way?

I don’t know about one act I’m not like too much a fan of one act but a lot of people that I think changed music like Bowie and thinking electro people like Aphex Twin or people like that. It's really interesting in ways of thinking the music. More recently Daft Punk because they bring a lot of new stuff, its cool, and it's not only the music its also about the show and the whole idea its really interesting.

So you’ve been working with Brodinski, how is that?

For three years now I have been producing all his tracks and remixes and now on top of it we are starting a project together called The Krays and we did a remix of Peaches and Ebony Bones. We are actually planning to make an EP soon. Brodinski is like my little brother we are from the same hometown and we know each other very well.

Who would you like to collaborate with in the future?

I really don’t know. It's like all the people I’ve worked with before are amazing people and I like having a good time with people I work with so I don’t really have a list of people I would like to work with I just want to meet some new and interesting people who I would love to make music and magic with and share ideas and our good times.

You've just released your new record ‘From the Sea’ how is that going?

It’s doing very well. It was released in France a few months ago and we have had a good response back. Just released in UK now and doing good and we got Japan – I actually just came back from Japan, which was cool. And we have some things coming in Australia of course. In a few days actually. Very happy with the album.

What were some of the challenges you faced with making the album?

I didn’t want to make it all the same or boring. I wanted to make it so you were able to listen to it from the beginning to the end and not get bored or something like that you know just wanting more complex arrangements and some stranger tracks, I wanted to make an album as in a journey which it takes you on from beginning to end.

You're playing Splendour In The Grass in July, how does playing a major festival compare to playing a more intimate gig like in a club?

Well actually I’m only doing a live show at festivals or concert halls and for clubs I do a dj set. So I really enjoy playing at festivals, usually the people are looking to hear some good bands they haven’t had a chance to hear on a big stage with good sound I really enjoy festivals.

Do you find there is a whole different atmosphere playing a festival than a club?

Yes. Because I think club nights some people come to listen to the artist while they are playing and some people come to just hang out and others are just looking for girls or whatever. I think that sometimes music is not the most important thing for people in clubs. That’s my opinion. In festivals and concerts people pay more attention to artists playing in particular cause they are there to see you.

What’s an unforgettable moment while playing a show?

Well actually I look back to Parklife in Australia and that was a really good line up and festival. It had, what I believe a really good line up like Soulwax, Diplo, Peaches. We all had a really fun time and the atmosphere was really cool, I love the place and really enjoy it.

What do you think about the music scene in Australia?

There are a lot of bands I really love from Australia like Midnight Juggernauts and Cut Copy and those kind of electro bands. Kind of Pop Electro bands, I’m really into it. I’m friends with a lot of electro bands from Australia and we have good times.

Some people believe that France is the epicentre of the electronic music scene. What are your thoughts on this?

I think that there are a lot of interesting acts from France like Daft Punk, Air, Justice, Busy P and all those guys so there are good things coming from France offcourse. But I think there are a lot of influential acts from the UK there’s a lot of stuff in the US. We have Diplo, and A-Trak and Chromeo I think there’s good bands everywhere. I find there’s a bit of a highlight on the French sound, which is a bit new and interesting.

Do you find you keep running into the same artists while touring around the world?

We have played a few shows with Midnight Juggernauts and we have fun times with them and yeah theres a lot actually, we find we keep running into and having good times with Soulwax - very fun people, and Surkin and Brodinski offcourse.

So that was it. Cool guy. What would a post be without a couple of tracks. Here are a couple from The Krays (Brodinski & Yuksek) and just a Yuksek remix.

Ebony Bones - The Muzik (The Krays Remix) (256)

Peaches - Lose You (The Krays Remix) (256)

Lady Gaga - Paparazzi (Yuksek Remix) (320)