Aslove

Here is a young French DJ/producer you should pay attention to. One year ago, Aslove came to light thanks to his irresistible cover of Corinne Bailey Rae’s 'Put Your Records On'. He turned the sweet ballad into a blazing anthem and thousands of listeners fell for it. Since then, Guillaume Banet is creating his own path onto the industry with some original tracks such as the catchy 'So High' or the more recently released 'Good Ideas'. Telling us about his debut as well as his plans for the future, this rock-lover -whose stage name comes from a Jimi Hendrix’s record- underlines how emotions and contrasts are important in his vision of electro. A refreshing talk!

On The Move: Hi Aslove! The public is getting familiar with your tracks but doesn’t know your story that well. How did you start in music?

Aslove: At the beginning, I started playing drums and other instruments because I had them at home. Then, I created some bands and did a bit of live shows. But one day, I discovered electronic music through the band Justice. They opened the doors of producing and DJing for me, but in a live way, not only with DJ sets. I really appreciated it because it stuck with what I was doing before while broadening my horizons with new sonorities. Justice, they also got this rock side, even in their style, with their leather jackets. It was a perfect transition between what my life was before and what I wanted it to be. When I started listening to them and producing my own sound with my computer, I really wanted to mix live. I didn’t know how to use a record deck, I only had a small controller and a software bought on the internet, but I eventually met the boss of a nightclub in my area. They proposed me to do a test for one night. I tried but it didn’t go really well. But weeks after weeks, I came back. I was under age but they didn’t really seem to care (laughs). I learnt how to mix with the resident DJ and I eventually mixed more and more until I did it for a full night. Then, I was myself a resident there until I was 18. After I graduated, I wanted to do something music-related. I went to Lyon to integrate a school for DJs which is called 'UCPA - Ecole des DJ'. It delivers an actual diploma so my parents were cool with it too (laughs) I was there for two years, part-time at school, part-time working in a night-club, until I was 21. Then, I met Universal Music’s team and I got signed.

On The Move: You started posting tracks online way before getting signed, right?

Aslove: I have always done music for myself. I started doing covers in 2015. Not remixes, but actual covers. For example, I thought "I like 'Miss You' by The Rolling Stones, let’s do it entirely my way". I had so much fun collaborating with friends for the vocals and doing it all from scratch. I posted the first one in January 2015. But it wasn’t until a blogger reposted it that I had a great number of views. It helped so much and gave me a great visibility. It went a bit viral and I started posting more every month. My community grew exponentially. It hit a peak with my cover of 'Put Your Records On', originally by Corinne Bailey Rae. It was first available on Soundcloud and then it became my first actual single.

On The Move: You remixed tracks from Katy Perry, Jacob Banks, Carla Bruni, Portugal. The Man… These artists and songs can be very far from the EDM area. Which are the elements that particularly catch your attention and make you want to remix a song?

Aslove: It’s always a feeling but what matters most to me when I listen to a track is to know exactly what I am going to do with it. It’s not about doing "better" than the original -which would be a bit pretentiousbut proposing a version that could also be the original! That’s how I work. Sometimes, I just want to do a remix to integrate to my DJ sets because I know it would be a banger. But, for Carla Bruni’s song, for example, I didn’t tell myself I wanted to have a club version, I only really was interested in changing those instruments, those harmonies. Switching the original chords and putting something brand new in it to bring a different emotion. Sometimes, if you change what’s behind a certain melody, you can drive it in a completely different place. Is it joyful? Well, I can make it darker. Or the other way around. Only by changing the chords while staying in the same scale. That’s what I prefer: confusing people, making themselves ask which song is the original.

On The Move: We talk a lot about your covers and remixes but you also have your own original tracks. You recently unveiled your single 'Good Ideas'. What was your creation process for it?

Aslove: 'Good Ideas' was born more than six months ago. It was inspired by all those tracks that came out these past few months: from Calvin Harris, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars… These funky vibes! Especially Bruno Mars, I am a huge fan of him. I asked myself: "Do I want to do something original or do I want to do a second 'Put Your Records On' ?" In the end, I loved the vibes of those DJs so much that I wanted to do my own version of it. So, it was really more of a personal pleasure than any other thing. I wasn’t that sure it was going to be my next single because it was more about having fun with old vintage synths, 80’s beatboxes and stuff. There was no marketing scheme but it ended up being released because I met the right person at the right time. The right singer, the right rapper. We did something cool.

On The Move: Whether it was your previous single 'So High' with Norma Jean Martine or 'Good Ideas' with Tim Chou and Leroy Menace, the vocals really occupies a great place in your tracks. How do these collaborations happen?

Aslove: Even if I am a DJ, I am also a huge fan of pop music. In pop, vocals are really important. I particularly love American pop even if it does sound cliché. But when you analyze Katy Perry or Bruno Mars’s work for instance, you realize there are only a few elements in their music but each one is perfectly crafted. There is a huge effort put on vocals. There are multiple layers of voice in their tracks and that’s what I love. So, for «Good Ideas», I went for that. I searched for a pop singer and I really looked for him, I didn’t know him before. I stumbled upon Tim Chou while listening to Felix Jaehn’s album. They did a featuring together. I went on his profile and listened to his tracks. I thought it was the right person because he exactly got that type of «pop American voice» I was looking for. Regarding vocals, I usually start to write something, not in terms of words but in terms of melodies and then, we exchange ideas. But he wrote the lyrics entirely, because he is more fluent in English than I am. In « Good Ideas », I also had this idea of having a rap part in it. And I met Leroy Menace by chance, thanks to my editor. Initially, he does a darker, deeper rap. Not fun and light things à la Migos. It was a new experience for him but he got it so well, we built that very naturally. For « So High » my previous single, I had it all written and composed with my team, and we sent that to the singer, including the lyrics. So it was two very different processes.

On The Move: For 'So High', you unveiled a collection of remixes from HUGEL, LeMarquis and RetroVision. What does it feel like to have it all reverse and hear your own track remixed by others?

Aslove: It was funny and awesome because they explored styles I would never have been able to explore myself. RetroVision went very future house, future bass. And I loved it! The question is always to know whether you are going to like it, or not, when you receive it. But I liked it all so it was very interesting to pursue.

On The Move: In your opinion, what are the ingredients of a good DJ set?

Aslove: For me, the most important ingredient is contrast. Even I, as a DJ, can’t really stay for all whole night in front of a DJ mixing. Apart from clubs, where the vibes and surroundings are very specific. But live, if the DJ plays house music from 11 pm to 6 am without stopping, always at the same rhythm, without contrasts, then I’m not even having fun. So, yeah, it is my number one concern during a set. I like to alternate tracks with a slow tempo and tracks with faster ones. Trying to change styles, going for very different tunes in the same set. I like it eclectic, as some kind of open format. In the same place, you can have house, then all of a sudden, there is Michael Jackson popping! If the transition is good, then it’s okay. That’s what I love the most in a set: surprising people!

On The Move: What can we expect from Aslove for the future?

Aslove: New tracks! I really hope I’ll be able to release more. The fact is, when you are signed to a major label, you also have to play the game of promotion and I hope we are going to succeed in it to release more songs, bring more people into the Aslove community and give more and more material to the listeners. In 2015, I released one track a month. Now, I release about three a year so it is very different. And I also hope I’ll get to experiment more. Release unusual things, maybe far from the radio format, more underground stuff. Not necessarily clubbing, dancing things but tracks to really listen to.

On The Move: Is there any young artists you would like to draw our readers’ attention to?

Aslove: That’s a good question! I listen to a lot of different things and it can be difficult to draw one out of it but I recently discovered King Princess. She’s an American singer-songwriter and multiinstrumentalist signed to Mark Ronson’s label. He is my favourite producer, he built his own label and she is the first artist signed on it. I discovered her tunes in a Spotify playlist when she only got about 30 000 streams. Now, she’s got millions! She is really cool and interesting.

Interview by Coraline Blaise

Photos by Nazym Hermouche exclusively for On The Move