A Modern Disco Man: An Interview with Dimitri from Paris

April 28, 2008 6:53 PM
by Marcos Colón [email]

There's nothing more important than having a strong stage name. Whether it's 50 Cent, Prince or even Meatloaf, these names seem to have a catchy nostalgic feeling to them that are only intensified by the artists themselves.

How about a name that indicates where you're from, but has no relevance as to what you play? Take Dimitri from Paris as an example. The man is French, but he's not associated with the Ed Banger or Bob Sinclar types that the country has recently spawned. This guys takes it back, way back. With his new release, Return to the Playboy Mansion, the Frenchman mixes classics into two CD's that can accommodate polar moods, Partytime, and Sexytime. With classics by some of the greatest including Berry White and Teddy Pendergrass, the album's a definite hit already.

CoolJunkie caught up with Dimitri before his first appearance in Coachella and chatted about the release of his new album, his disco influences and America's community of a music scene.

CoolJunkie: Approaching this album, when you went into the studio, what were your initial thoughts? Did you already have a concept in mind?

Dimitri from Paris: Yea, well the thing is that the concept actually started in 2000 with the first CD that featured the Playboy brand, A Night at the Playboy Mansion, which turned out to be one of my most successful CD’s. The concept of the album was to recreated or reenact the vibe of what the Playboy mansion was. The second album, Sexytime, was really my first mix of ballads. Those are proper love songs. I starting putting together the tracks for this album pretty much about a year ago.

CJ: What would you say are some of the similarities between the Playboy albums?

DfP: I think that they all have the same concept. You have different series and episodes. This album is a more refined version of the other ones.

CJ: So you already had in mind what songs you wanted to include into each CD?

DfP: Well, when I decided to take on the project I started thinking about what I was going to do, so the double CD, Partytime, Sexytime, was the first two that came up. Then I started making lists. I starting making a list of what songs could fit the concepts. I had about 50 songs per CD and then I narrowed the list down, went to get all the songs from my library, started listening to them and then tried to get songs that would make sense together from a lyrical and a title point of view. From those that would fit lyrically, then I would need them to fit musically. So every time, I would have to narrow them down to the next set. Some wouldn’t work because musically or lyrically they wouldn’t work. It’s a fairly lengthy process for me, but it’s what I like doing the most. It takes a lot of time, but eventually, when I get all of the track lists cleared and in the right order, then I can go and mix it. Putting together a mixed program is something that I love more than since I was a working DJ.

CJ: So, speaking about before you were a DJ, how did you get into music?

DfP: I’ve loved music forever. When I was young there used to be this crazy radio show when I was a teenager that was done by this crazy guy who would mix disco records together. That was back in the late 70’s. I was really amazed by how he could just mesh two different records together and it was something that really caught my ear. Then I started buying disco records and I didn’t even know you needed two turntables for it! (laughs) Gradually I figured out how it was done and I actually borrowed the turntable from my parent’s stereo and got my own little mixer, and I just figured out how to do it and started learning about the whole DJ culture. I think that what I liked the most was that music was something that you could listen to passively, but also actively interact with it. I never thought that I was going to be a DJ, I just picked it up as a hobby, but then things picked up and it became my job.

CJ: I know that you talked about disco being one of your musical influences, but do you have any others?

DfP: Well I have a lot. In terms of dance music, I think that disco is the mother of all dance music. Any dance record that you hear in the club today borrows from 10% to 80% from disco. All those elements come from disco, and what I like from disco is that it’s very rich musically. It uses a lot of instruments and acoustics. In terms of stature and harmony it’s the richest dance music you can find and I realize that people like it. They really don’t have that much exposure to disco. They respond to it the same way that they respond to something that could have been produced two days ago.

CJ: I noticed that you were playing Coachella this weekend. Are you approaching the festival with the same mentality as any other gig or do you have a different approach for it?

DfP: Well I usually don’t do much festival because I feel that it’s not the best place for the kind of music that I do. Which is fit for more of an indoor type of place. I think since festivals are a very, very big thing, you have to play louder to reach very last line of people that are watching. I’ve heard so many good things about Coachella and they’ve been asking me for the past three or four years that I’ve decided to try it and see what happens. It is going to be a different approach, but since I didn’t really prepare for it in specific, I won’t have a ‘Coachella’ set. I have been thinking about what records would work there. It is a lot of pressure for me because I don’t know what’s going to be awaiting me but it is an exciting challenge.

CJ: It should be something fresh and a different change of pace for the crowd out there.

DfP: Well everybody tells me that it's very laid back and friendly, which is something that made me say ‘yes’. I’m not a big fan of raves or crazy festivals, but I don’t think it’s something like that. In any case, I’m excited for it and I’ve heard that the location is very beautiful and it should make for a lot of interesting points for me to go and see.

CJ: So what are your thoughts on the music scene in America compared to that of Europe today?

DfP: The things with America is that the internet exploded very early on here and a lot of connected people connected with each other and the dots were scattered around the country, because it’s such a big country. There’s a very strong community stacked around the music and a lot of those people talk and occasionally get together for places like Coachella. So it’s a very interesting country because you know that every time you go somewhere you’re bound to find someone that supports your music. All of these communities got together because of blogs and chat rooms.

CJ: Do you think there are any other DJ’s out there that can compare to your style?

DfP: I don’t know. I think that everyone’s unique. There are a lot of people that kind of sound the same, and that’s just the DJ’s that play the same records over that they buy. But then there are those guys that stick out, but they usually have a different sound. I think I’m in the family of the old school disco DJ’s. A lot of them came out of New York.

CJ: Where do you get the most response here in the states?

DfP: I would have to say Chicago. I think that every time I’ve played there I’ve gotten an incredible response. It’s the motherland of house music. We should never forget that. There wouldn’t be house music if Chicago wasn’t there to take all of those disco records and loop them in a quirky way, to make what we call house music today. I think the culture is there, like Detroit and how it created techno. You can really feel that a lot of older people have passed it on to younger kids.

CJ: Would you say that Chicago is also the most musically conscious city?

DfP: Well, I’ve only been to the major cities in America, but I would say that Detroit and Chicago are the most musically conscious.

CJ: How was your time here during conference?

DfP: Conference really drifted away from being an industry and music focused event to just a big one week party. I thought as far as what I know, it lost what was interesting to me which was the exchange of music and of hearing new songs. Now it’s become a place to get drunk and have a party, which works for some people, but it’s not where I would go if I wanted to have a good time. I liked the fact that it was a DJ thing before, but now it’s just an excuse to throw a party.

CJ: So what are your plans for the remainder of the year?

DfP: We’ll I’ve got this tour finishing with Coachella this Sunday, then I’m off to Japan for a mini tour. I have a lot of gigs until the beginning of fall and the end of the summer.

Click here to hear more from Dimitri from Paris.