Hello Nicolas! Wonderful to have you with us at this exciting moment for you. Before we get into the album, how are you and whereabouts are you speaking to us from right now?
Hello. I am really good so far, right now I just came back from Chile, where I played for Luciano’s festival called Magik Garden. I am home for one night and tomorrow I fly over to Tashkent in Ouzbékistan for a party there …
What does a normal day look like for you at the moment?
On the days when I am not traveling, I try to take care of my son as much as I can. However, when he is at school, my time oscillates between the studio, as I am preparing few new collaborations for next year and golf – I really like this sport …it relaxes my brain.
So, as we speak we are approaching the release of ‘Endless’, your first album in almost a decade, and it is arriving via Marc Romboy’s renowned Systematic imprint. When did the idea to create this album first arise and what were the initial inspirations?
I started to work on Endless a bit before lockdown, and it was hard at this time to find time for me to finish it … so at least the Covid situation gave me free time to make music. Regarding inspiration, I wanted to create an album only with few synths and keep the logic on each track.
How did the album come to find its home on Systematic? Was it made and then delivered to the label, or did you and the label set out to create it together?
No when I finished the album, I spoke with my manager Jan Langer, and we started to make a list of labels where we could send it. One day I was speaking with Marc, and he asked me to send him the tracks … and he came back to me … and manifested his desire to release it on his label.
Is there a particular track on the album that is most special to you?
I would say there is few tracks which are really special for me. However, let’s say PRESENT with KITTIN because Caroline is one of my best friends, and it’s always a pleasure for me to work with her. But I will also say that ENDLESS, HANDA and QUANTIC SONAR are so special to me … I define those tracks as timeless for me … and they really turned out how I imagined.
How did you approach the album sequencing? For instance, with ‘Present’ featuring Kittin that opens the album beautifully, did you set out to create an opening track, or was it selected to be the opener afterwards?
Album sequencing was really simple, I made a few tracks, even more than the ones selected for Endless…and made a selection. When it was time to think about the tracklist, it was logical to have Present as an album opener …
Could you talk us through any of the key bits of equipment/software that played a part in the album’s creation?
So as I said the album was made with few synths … like Dave Smith Ob-6, Moog sub 37, Prophet 12 or Matrix Brute as the main ones. Dependent on the tracks, some were produced with Logic and some others with Ableton Live… and mainly all the bits came out from Native Instruments Battery or Mashine… with a collection I made over the years sampling my own old machine drums.
After not releasing an album for around a decade, how does it feel to now step back and view the finished work of ‘Endless’?
Honestly time flies, I didn‘t really realise how long it had been. In my head The Motherland was made few years before…but not 11years…I did it simply, I had no intention to re invent techno, or whatever, I just made a new vision 10 years later of the music I like to produce, tried to make the tracks contemporary. I am happy to share this work with music lovers, and I am also super happy to have my brother involved in this project, as the album artwork was inspired by his own art …
Thank you for your time today Nicolas, and congratulations on the release. To round things off, do you have a final word on the album for our readers before they get their ears on it?
Thank you for your questions, and words, I would say that the main idea with Endless was to fix the time, and souvenirs… each track has his own story in my own world… so listen to it carefully, because some nice remixes are coming next year !!!
