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DIMITRI FROM PARIS
A DJ Who Appreciates Life's Little Luxuries.
21/08/2002 -
Few electro stars have played up the champagne-quaffing, luxury lifestyle French clichés as cleverly as Dimitri From Paris – which is perhaps why Yves Saint-Laurent chose the elegantly-dressed DJ to model in one of his latest perfume ads! Dimitri exploded onto the club scene in 1996, spearheading the arrival of the "French Touch" movement with a successful debut album entitled Sacrebleu. Fans are still awaiting the follow-up as Dimitri rushes from pillar to mixing post fulfilling his packed schedule as one of Paris's most sought-after DJs.
Now, following the success of his first compilation mix A Night at the Playboy Mansion - which has sold over 230,000 copies worldwide and earned him his first gold disc in Australia – the former FM DJ is back in the news with a hip and happening soul/jazz/house/disco sequel entitled After the Playboy Mansion. RFI/Musique caught up with him in Paris:
Why did you decide to make After the Playboy Mansion a double album?
Well, basically the idea was to bring out a sequel to the first album which I originally dreamt up as a soundtrack for an imaginary night at the Playboy Mansion (the legendary villa belonging to Playboy founder Hugh Heffner). When I was working on the first album I drew a lot of inspiration from the film Boogie Nights as far as the disco ambience was concerned. But this time round I knew I didn't want to just roll out the same old concept, then sit back and make stacks more money from it. I wanted to invent something new and original – and, after playing around with a few different ideas, I decided to follow on and bring things to their logical conclusion and work on a chronological sequel and have a bit of fun imagining what happened next. It's like after the famous night at the Playboy Mansion, there'd obviously have been an after. The party would have gone on somehow. Everyone's got their own vision of what an after-club party is – for some people it's a question of carrying on the night in a different club at an organised after, while others carry on the party at home at a friend's house or create their own special "after-party" with the person they've just picked up at the club. And I started fantasising about the last category of "after-party" really, imagining a CD which would be more sexy and downtempo. People don't generally associate me with that kind of sound, but the truth is I often mix sexy, downtempo stuff as a warm-up when I kick off things at the start of a club night… 
But let's face it, when people invite Dimitri From Paris to mix in a club, it's to have you up on the turntables at 3 in the morning – when things really get going during club "rush hour"…
But the thing is, since I brought out the first Night at the Playboy Mansion compilation, I've increasingly been asking club organisers to let me start mixing right from the beginning of the night. I love putting records on before anyone's actually arrived and getting my own special ambience up and running before the first clubbers arrive on the dancefloor. It's pretty exciting after that when you see the first people coming in in little groups and starting to pick up on the music. Anyway, this time round I decided on putting together a special 'after' compilation. But when I actually took a close look at the selection I'd put together I decided there was something missing. The sequel wasn't as lively and happening as the first volume. And that's when I decided the answer was to make a sequel to the sequel. You know how it is, after having spent the night at your own private "after" at your friends' house or with your girl, you want to go back to listening to something a bit more energetic and clubby. And that's the idea behind the second CD in the compilation. The title says it all really - An Uplifting Sélection features the sort of music that makes you want to wake up and start all over again. So the end result is that I made a trilogy that starts with a night at the Playboy Mansion, and then you get the after-club party and the day after. We loop the loop and go full circle in the end.
I really had to stick my neck out and fight to bring out a double CD. I was absolutely inflexible from the word go – I imposed the fact this was a double album as a sine qua non condition right from the beginning. You know, when it comes down to it Playboy was really a pretext to promote the kind of music you don't actually hear much of in clubs. And the fact we decided to stick the Playboy bunny logo on the cover opened a lot of doors to me and meant the album ended up getting played worldwide. When you listen to the album you realise that the music on it is actually just about as removed from the techno scene as you can go. The first Playboy compilation features a lot of traditional stuff where you've got the whole verse and chorus thing.
Do you ever impose a certain quota of French productions when you're putting together your compilations?
No, absolutely not! It's the complete opposite, in fact – what I'm most interested in is bringing together tracks from the four corners of the world. That's why on my compilations you'll find everything from Japanese and Swedish productions to tracks made in the U.S., the U.K. and France… Besides, it's only natural that with all the travelling I do these days I meet producers from all over the world who give me copies of their latest work. There's a whole community of DJs out there, you know, exchanging EPs without going through the normal record company circuit! 
You were one of the first electronic producers to prove that you could make it abroad without giving up your roots. How do you see the future for "red-white-and-blue" electronica made in France?
Well, I have to say I'm really pleased with the way things are going right now! Four or five years ago when the buzz about the "French Touch" started people involved with the scene were expecting there would be a backlash in the British press. After all, everyone knows it's U.K. journalists who make and break the trends. And let's face it, it was the Brits who invented the term "French Touch" in the first place, you know. At the time the French media didn't even know we existed! But Cassius, DJ Cam – and especially Daft Punk who gave everyone a slap in the face and made the world sit up and take notice – not only put French electronica on the map, but proved they could make money from their records as well! And things have gone from strength to strength ever since. These days we're all part of the old guard. The scene's not only survived but there's a whole new generation emerging with brilliant new acts like Llorca, Alexkid and Télépopmusik. And the exciting thing is everyone's intent on developing their own distinctive sound. The "French Touch" label made it possible for a whole bunch of new artists to explode on the scene, but in reality none of them are producing the same sound. The frustrating thing about it all is though that our music still doesn't get exposure on French TV. And I really think that if the mainstream public has had such a problem understanding our music and our universe it's because they've never really been given access to it. French TV's been blocked up with the whole L5 and Star Academy (reality TV popstars) phenomena.
I think it's time French electronic producers stuck their necks out and reacted a bit more. We've got our own culture and it's up to us to try and pass it on to other people. Personally, I've always kept my media appearances to a strict minimum but I'm prepared to play the media's game to defend the music I love. The public isn't stupid, you know, if you get them to listen to quality stuff and make an attempt to explain things to them, they understand. It's no more difficult than educating kids to enjoy food, after all – it's a question of habit, education and training. Let's face it, if I'd never got on a plane and gone out to Australia to defend my musical vision on the club scene I'd never have got a gold disc out there! You have to be prepared to communicate and explain yourself. Personally, I think the problem is that there are way too many artists on the scene who refuse to do that for fear of compromising themselves. And that's a great pity!
Your last studio album Sacrebleu dates back to '96 - and fans have been waiting for the follow-up ever since! Is a second Dimitri From Paris album actually on the cards?
Yes, I'm putting the finishing touches to it right now, in fact. It's going to be a logical follow-on from Sacrebleu with a lot of vocals and stuff. It's not intended as an album for DJs but something people can slip onto the CD-player at home. And another thing is I've decided to drop the 'typical Frenchie' cliché this time round because I'm convinced a lot of people didn't realise that was all a bit of a joke!
Talking of which, are you still keen on maintaining your French jet-set image and your associations with the luxury champagne lifestyle?
That's not an image I've ever really set out to promote myself, you know – it's a label other people have stuck on me, even if I have to admit there's an element of truth in there somewhere. I don't actually drink champagne or wine and I've always refused to play in jet-set clubs because in my opinion the people who go there are idiots who think they know about music but don't actually know the first thing about it! But that image is true up to a point I suppose – people who invite me to mix at a club are getting a bit of "French luxury". And personally I've always appreciated luxury. I prefer sleeping in silk sheets rather than cotton ones. And let me just say that anyone who's actually tested both won't tell you anything different! But I'm not defined by a luxury lifestyle. I prefer to think I'm just a bit sophisticated – like my music, in fact!
Interview: Willy Richert
Translation: Julie Street
Respect is Burning presents: After the Playboy Mansion (Labels/Virgin)
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