25/10/2000 -
Etienne De Crécy must be one of the most low-profile producers on the French electro scene and yet he wields enormous influence over the Paris 'techno tribe'. In fact, De Crécy's touch is evident everywhere you look. We're not just talking about the independent record label, Solid, that De Crécy set up with Alex Gopher - and which happens to be one of the most respected indie labels abroad! - but De Crécy's innovative take on electronica which means he's always one step ahead of his peers.
Back in the early days of electronica when techno beats were invading the French club scene, De Crécy was already out on a musical limb. While Daft Punk were rocketing up the charts with All Around The World, De Crécy was experimenting with a deeper, darker house sound on his Motorbass album (subsequently hailed as one of THE electro albums of the decade). Keeping one step ahead of the electro pack, De Crécy soon came storming back with Superdiscount, an album on which he teamed up with Air, Alex Gopher and other friends from his Versailles high school, and cooked up an infectious mix of dub, house, trip hop and pop. With this kind of track record behind him, it's easy to understand why De Crécy's new album, Tempovision, has been so eagerly awaited on the French music scene.
Those who want to get an idea of the latest De Crécy offering should ignore the last single release 3-Day Weekend (a funky-house anthem celebrating France's 35-hour working week) and take a listen to De Crécy's new single Out of My Hands. This soulful electro ballad, reminiscent of the Alex Gopher classic The Child, happens to be the first track composed by De Crécy himself. "It only took me two days to write, programme and record 'Out of My Hands',"De Crécy says, "It might sound elaborate on a first listen, but 'Out of My Hands' is actually really simple and direct. I'd already composed the music for the track and then I happened to come across this Esther Phillips song which fitted the electro ambience on the track perfectly. That kind of thing only happens once in a lifetime so I was like 'OK, let's get on with this, we'll worry about the copyright stuff later!' The mix of Phillips' vocals, so filled with emotion and pain, just sounded completely magical with the electro ambience. I still feel really proud of 'Out of My Hands' and, for me, the song came to be a model for all the other tracks on the album. What I was trying to do was capture a certain soul spirit beneath the layer of digital sound and give the track a retro-futurist feel. I don't mind people comparing 'Out of My Hands' to Alex Gopher's song 'The Child'. I don't have a problem with that - I mean our recording studios are right next door to one another. There's bound to be some kind of interference!"
De Crécy makes no bones about the intense bass on his new album either, claiming he recorded it with 205 GTI drivers in mind. "While I was in the studio I spent a lot of time listening to Brandy and Monica's hit 'The Boy Is Mine'," he says, "That song's got such an intense ambience. Besides, I think where sound engineers are really being creative right now is in the R'n'B field. What I was thinking of while I was recording my new album was people driving round listening to it at full blast. I pictured these people in flash cars with huge bass speakers booming in the back - I wanted them to be able to appreciate my sound to the full!"
Long Live Napster!
De Crécy remains unperturbed by the debate currently raging around Napster and other sites offering fans the chance to download music for free. While major labels in the U.S. have taken Napster to court and musicians are complaining bitterly about the loss of royalties, De Crécy has actually come out in defence of music for free. "Personally, I'm very much in favour of it," he says, "I built up my own musical culture making pirate cassettes off the radio. I used to spend my entire time recording stuff from the radio and then making copies for all my friends. It would have been impossible to acquire my musical culture any other way - let's face it, I couldn't afford to go out and buy everything that came out in the record stores! The way I see it, Napster is really a site for music fans and record collectors. Basically, it gives you the chance to go on-line, listen to a new album and download the tracks you like. And if you like what you hear, you'll end up buying the album. This kind of simple human exchange seems perfectly normal to me!"
De Crécy takes an equally firm stand on the thorny issue of royalties. "OK, so the big problem with sites like Napster is royalties," he says, "But when I see someone like Zazie whinging away at the "Victoires de la musique" awards, complaining about loss of earnings I can't help thinking she's not exactly about to starve, is she? Obviously, artists who sell a lot of records have the biggest problem with this kind of site, but you have to keep a sense of decency about the whole thing - I mean, the music world is swimming in money and the thing that really annoys me is it's always the richest people complaining the loudest! I've come up with my own solution to the whole thing now though. I've come to the conclusion that if I get to the stage where I'm not getting royalties from my music because of the Net, then I'll go out and get a sponsor. For instance, if I can prove that 200,000 people have downloaded one of my songs from the Net, then I'll go and talk to a coffee company and ask them if they'd like to put their logo on my next EP. What's more, I expect they'd be prepared to pay a lot more than I make in royalties! I think it's a really good idea for art to be sponsored. Mind you, having said that, I guess a lot of it is already!"
Don't get him wrong, though, De Crécy is not so much a Net liberal, more of a realistic label owner used to living on the edge - and, lest we forget, he points out that techno actually only started becoming profitable a few years ago! But, Net liberalism and record labels aside, first and foremost De Crécy will always be a genuinely independent artist intent on defying music trends and opportunism. And if you have even the slightest doubt about that, then sit down and take a listen to his brilliant new album Tempovision!
Willy Richert
Etienne de Crécy Tempovision 2000 Solid/Discograph