Monday 25 January 2010

Look Who I Got To Talk To...

Sheesh, some people are so hard to get a hold of. I mean, really, who does this guy think he is? Oh, he's DJ Mehdi? Acceptable. Wait...DJ FUCKING MEHDI?! Yep. And here's a 4.7MB image which is totally going to raise my hosting prices and clog up my bandwidth, but I don't care. It's a new image of a music god.

Look at him. Just... just look at him. (Click for full size)
First, let me say it is an honor to even be speaking to you right now. I've been a fan of yours for years and your music - along with other tracks from Ed Banger Records - truly got me listening to dance music (other than Daft Punk) and consequently led to the start of my blog. So thank you.
Well, pleasure is mine, thank you too.

Cuteness aside, let's start with some background info. Tell us about yourself, including the origin of that name.
My name is Mehdi Faveris-Essadi. I'm a DJ and producer from Paris, France. I've been working on various Hip-Hop and Electronic Music projects since 1995. A while ago, when I was a fresh and new beat-maker for french Rap bands, friend of mine wrote 'Produced by DJ Mehdi' in the credits of a song I did, and it just sticked. I am also one of the original artists from the Ed Banger Records label for which I released one LP (Lucky Boy 2006), three EP's (I am Somebody 06, Lucky Girl/Signatune 07 and Pocket Piano 08), and a remix compilation called 'Red Black and Blue' (2009). I love art, food and sex.

What got you involved in that electro/dance music scene? Who are your inspirations?
Meeting people got me into this. Glib'R from Versatile was the first DJ to play some Chicago and Detroit classic tunes for me, around 1993/1994. He was running programs at this radio station named NOVA here in Paris, and they were playing Hip-Hop, Electro and World Music all the time, all mixed, which was quite unusual at the time. Pioneering. Then I met the guys from La Funk Mob and Motorbass in 1996, on the production of MC Solaar's third album. Those guys opened a whole new world for me with their instrumental EP's. Later, they became very popular as CASSIUS. Last but not least, I met Busy P and the Daft Punk crew in 97, right after the release of 'Homework'. P and I became good friends, and when he left Daft to set up his management company called HEADBANGERS in 2001, I immediately jumped-in. All these people were, and still are, my main inspirations when it comes to evolving and growing in the music field without losing my particularities and background culture.

What was your first track? And under what name did you create that track?
I can't remember the first thing I ever composed. I used to experiment a lot with my parents stereo equipment as a kid and I 've been composing or sampling music since 1990 (I was 13 years old). The first thing I 'recorded' was a rap demo with my cousins. I used to rap, too. In 1994, my band IDEAL J participated in the soundtrack music to a french movie called "RAI". The movie was a flop, but they still released a CD of the music. That was the first music I ever got published. As a solo artist, I used to print instrumental EP's on my own label called ESPIONNAGE, in 1998, under the names CAMBRIDGE CIRCUS, ESPION or ESPIONNAGE SOUND SYSTEM. That was before Ed Banger, but Busy P and Feadz were already in the team.

If you could sum up your music in 4 words or less, what would you say?
If Kraftwerk were African.

How is life working with the Ed Rec crew? Is this the life you expected as a child?
Life is good, thanks. It's all about making music and having fun. Exactly what I hoped it to be as a teenager.

What are some other talents you have? And when/how did you discover these?
I'm an amazing jamaican Dancehall dancer, along with Gaspard from Justice. We practice all the time. We won contests and stuff. I also cook. If I could open a place where you could eat a Mehdi dish, and dagger to the latest dub-plate, now that would be my ultimate goal.

What equipment do you use?
Bongos, mainly. And a cowbell, sometimes.

What is your favorite aspect of being a musician?
I really like that Platinum frequent flyer miles card that I got from Air France. It gives me that 'upper-class' feeling that I always strived for. I still get the 'arab-looking-suspicious' search at security though, but I also kinda like it. I keep it real, if you may.

What is your favorite song right now?
Right now, 'Man Of The Year' by DRAKE.

From the fans...
Hey guys, to quote Mariah Carey: "I love my fans".

What is your next big project with Ed Banger?
Working on a new haircut right now. Trust me, it ain't easy.

Where do you think electro is headed?
To the East brother, to the East.

Favorite VST Plugin?
Spankwire, hands down. Note: That's porn. lol. --Prez

Thanks so much DJ Mehdi, I look forward to hearing back from you soon, Prez
Thank you Prez, my pleasure--- Mehdi. Rock your blogging DJ's http://djmehdi.coolcats.fr/
I've never laughed so hard. Touche Mehdi... touche. Well, we couldn't milk any secrets out of him, but hey, I made en effort! It was an honor, it really was, to just talk to him. Makes me feel so accomplished. *tear* Alright, now some party favors. Here's DJ Mehdi's spin on Busy P's To Protect and Entertain. It's good, it's some of the best Hip Hop I've ever heard, actually. I frequently blast this stuff (along with the rest of Pedrophilia - EP when I'm driving.



And... a nice mp3 players chock full of Mehdi's new "Red Black & Blue," courtesy of his manager.





Enjoy, I know I did. Prez PS - Can I let out a scream of excitement now? Yes? AAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

14 comments:

Gymtonic said...

wow, well done guys! enjoyed the interview :D

Jordan S said...

Hope you enjoy the new interview layout. I hope it's a bit cleaner and easier to read than previous interviews.

Magna said...

This is so epic, I dont even care it pushed my post off the homepage!

Attack Yourself! said...

way to kiss mehdi's ass prez haha :)

Jordan S said...

I'm only human

Alex said...

Wow.

That is all.

Korbi said...

envy... pure ENVY!!! xD just kiddin' ... and the picture is godlike xD

Nite said...

totally irritated at taking my interview dream but very epic post

Adam said...

Wow nice job guys...Ive been an avid reader of the blog since it was just prez man has this site grown! I think this is a huuuge milestone! Congrats guys!

Champiness said...

DJ MEHDI???
It's like I was a curse on this blog or something.
At least it lifted...

Ed Banger Kids said...

incroyable. bien fait prez

Phil said...

Way to play it cool, haha.

Good going though.

B DIGiTAL said...

GREAT STUFF! KEEP IT UP!

khyati said...

I really enjoyed this post, especially the “examples in this post” portion which made it really easy for me to SEE what you were talking about without even having to leave the article. Thanks
and looking forward to get more of buy musical instrumnets