Cedric Gervais

Returns with his stunning remix of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Summertime Sadness’

Interview : Dan Prince

Cedric GervaisWelcome back to DMCWORLD young man, and what a 2013 you are having. Where in the world are you right now?

“Hey Dan, I’m at my house in Marseille in France taking some time out…”

Everyone is talking about and jumping around to your remix of Lana Del Ray’s ‘Summertime Sadness’ which is all over the national charts mingling with Avicii and er, One Direction! So tell us, when were you first approached about this project ?

“It was the beginning of the year so a few months back now, it’s been amazing to watch it grow to be honest.”

What did you think of Lana’s original, your brain must have been working ten to the dozen with possible avenues to take the song down?

“I’m her biggest fan Dan. I loved the original and I already knew how I wanted it to sound if I had the opportunity to work with it.”

When people do remixes 9 times out of 10 the producer never gets to hear any feedback from the artist, it’s just the record label that gives them the thumbs up. Have you heard Lana’s reaction to your quite simply brilliant  rework?

“She mentioned the remix  on stage the other night when she was performing so that’s obviously good to hear.

Where have been some of the major events you have been playing the record and where was the first time you spun it..?

“I first played it at Playhouse in LA but EDC Vegas was probably the biggest audience, 100,000 people!! I played both ‘Summertime Sadness’ and my forthcoming remix of ‘Young & Beautiful’ and both received amazing reactions, that was a BIG crowd.”

You have just returned from a fascinating tour of India taking in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. The country seems to be taking one step forward and two back with their attempt to scale planet dance music. Talk us through the trip and some of the highlights/lowlights…

“The trip was absolutely amazing. Amazing people, amazing food – although I was quite careful with what I ate, it was a total culture shock especially in the cities. So many people and the craziest drivers I’ve ever experienced. The clubs and audiences were amazing they were so into it, I had been told that dance music is growing over there but the passion in the crowds wasn’t something I was expecting. The low point would have been the homeless kids in the slums and on the streets I found, that very upsetting.”

Did you get a chance to hear any of the local DJs spin?

“TBH no not really. We had very little time to do anything. As I had been travelling from the US, my body clock  was all over the place and jet lag was beating my ass most days, I basically slept, ate, played and travelled…”

What was your biggest tune of the tour?

“The biggest cheers were for ‘Summertime Sadness’ and ‘Molly’ which was great. I didn’t know how much or how little they knew about me.”

There were a lot of disappointed people at Tomorrowland because you were not on the bill, next year huh – it sounded another monstrous party?

“Well they weren’t the only ones disappointed, I’d love to play Tomorrowland – who wouldn’t, the festival looked insane again.”

Where are some of the big shows you are looking forward to over the summer…does Ibiza figure?

“I’m playing at Space next Monday (12th) and have a few shows around Europe before going back to the US at the end of August where I’ve got my debut at Create in Los Angeles which is going to be a really big show for me.”

The last time we spoke you were thinking of maybe doing an outdoor Sh!tshow event, any developments?

“It’s still very much ‘watch this space’ but things have moved on and we’re talking about doing a 16+ show in my home town of Miami hopefully before Christmas.  We are also planning a special Sh!tshow which I’ll let you know about once its finalised.”

And finally, what is coming out next from you studio wise?

“I’ve got my forthcoming remix of Lana’s ‘Young & Beautiful’ but we’re not sure when this is going to be released (hopefully very soon) and I’m working very hard on my own productions and am looking forward to releasing some more underground club music as well as a couple of bigger commercial singles later this year.”

Soundcloud: http://snd.sc/Xkiw5i

Youtube: http://youtu.be/XPbN2pQXe1o

 

Lana Del Rey vs Cedric Gervais ‘Summertime Sadness’ is out August 12th