Interview by Dan Prince
With over 15 years of music industry experience, the French house music pioneer continues to be one of the biggest stars of the dance music stage. The Grammy winning, multi-platinum selling artist this month launches a new label with Armada and brings us an absolute gem of a tune. We check in…
Cedric a big welcome back to DMCWORLD towers. Where in the world are you today?
Hi Dan, I’m in Miami in my studio writing new material for my label Delecta Records.
Let’s kick off with Miami Music Week where you had a blast in your home city. Tell us about…
– Your Delecta Records launch, we heard some superstars dropped by?
The launch party was incredible, Nervo played with me and Afrojack came down to join us, we played b2b for 30 minutes. It was really great to have the support from so many of my peers. The show went so great and I enjoyed playing some of the new material forthcoming on the label.
– The Sirius XM Launch
The Sirius party changed its location for the first time in a while, and the new stage created an amazing atmosphere and it really felt more like a party, and I had great fun catching up with all the guys there and met so many people.
– Ultra!!!!!
Ultra, which is one of the best dance music festivals in the world, lived up to its expectations. I was so pleased to see so many people in the audience reacting to the music, especially the new music, and I was really fortunate that my friend Borgore agreed to come and perform at my set. I had only actually asked him 30 minutes before playing if he would do it, so he’s a great sport for joining me and I think everyone had a lot of fun.
What were some of the big new tunes of the week?
For me it was my new single With You feat. Jack Wilby. I also loved Sigala’s track Sweet Lovin’, and a new track I did called Like This killed it too.
https://DTR001.lnk.to/WY
Miami Music Week always comes in for criticism, usually from people are too old! How did this year’s event rate in your opinion?
I had a blast at the parties I attended, everyone was having fun, Ultra was sold out, as was my show at LIV. From my perspective I had as much fun as any other year.
So we just mentioned Delecta, the new label set up with the mighty Armada. What is the idea behind the imprint…
I’ve been writing so much music recently that I wanted to have a platform to release the music I wanted to release. I wanted to be able to A&R it the way I want, and I wanted to be able to sign new artists to my label that didn’t have an opportunity to release their music otherwise.
Please talk us through the sound and history of your first release ‘With You’ feat. Jack Wilby. …
We wrote a really beautiful song based around the piano and then reached out to jack because we’d heard of him and loved his voice. He’s based in England so we sent him the track and he really vibed with it. Essentially recorded in a week and sent it back. Once we had the vocal we then added layers to the track and turned it into what it is now.
Tell us about the next single…’Make Me Feel’
This is something that Willy Monfret had started and played me, and I loved it immediately and knew exactly what to do with it. This may be a little more house-y than what I’ve put out lately, but I really love the vibe, it’s all about the bass and the saxophone for me. I’m excited to release it and I’m hoping it’s going to be a big track for DJs across the world this summer.
And there’s rumours about a track with Moby for a book he is doing? What’s the story there?
I’ve admired Moby for many years and particularly love the album Play he released in the 90s. We were approached about working on a track from that album to commemorate its release with the forthcoming book that Moby is releasing. When we spoke with them we told them about my new label and suggested if I were to do a remix in my style that it might make sense to release on my label, to specifically connect with my audience, and so we could promote it in the way I’d promote a normal club record. Those guys were and are amazing to work with and they understood that seeing this as a collaboration and releasing it through my channels would hopefully be the best way to connect to a dance audience. So I’m super honored and excited to be able to release this.
How is the dance music scene / clubland in the States in 2016?
Evolving and changing, bubbling and hustling as it always has.
The 3 big new tunes in your box this weekend…
Adam Rickfors – Keep On Moving – always huge in my sets
My new remix of Sweet Lovin’ – this is a heavy hitter that gets everyone crazy every time
Dirty Ducks – D.A.N.C.E – an epic take on a classic track
“I haven’t done much collaboration, I would love to do some stuff with other people” – a big quote from you. Who would you love to hook up with?
I’d love to work with Adele for obvious reasons. I recently met with Paloma Faith and we’re talking, that would be an unusual and unique and exciting project to work on.
And finally, some big dates in your diary this summer you cannot wait for…
I’m excited about all the upcoming shows, my Vegas residency, my Miami residency and I’m also playing Dance Valley in the Netherlands for the first time.
www.cedricgervais.com
www.armadamusic.com
