The Terrace Ringleader: An Interview with Cedric Gervais

March 7, 2008 7:03 PM
by Marcos Colón [email]

Cedric Gervais is easy to hate on. He’s French, looks incredibly cool in sunglasses, is resident DJ at one of the top clubs in the world, has hit dance records, has worked with several major rock stars, and is followed by a clique of unnaturally good looking female fans known as “The Gervettes”. There is, however, more to the Marseilles native than meets the eye or the ear. Recent years have seen the Miami DJ/Producer catapult into the ranks of electronic music stardom. His snowballing success and rock star persona is as intriguing as it is evident. In a time when its normal to speculate about the artistic validity of artists that have “the look”, Cedric boldly accepts that he’s a product and demonstrates that he’s got the substance to back up the style. Just ask Deep Dish or Lenny Kravitz what they think of him and his music. From his famed days at Crobar to becoming the new governor of the Space terrace, it’s all been a thrill ride for Cedric Gervais. We discovered the working life of a successful DJ is by no means easy, however it sure does look fun. In order to to dig a little deeper into the story of the French kid who made it big on South Beach, we decided to take up an invitation into Gervais’ Downtown Miami recording studio.

CoolJunkie: So how did it all start off for you?

Cedric Gervais: My stepfather is a musician, and he’s the one who got me into the guitar and drums. But my father owns a club, and the way it happened was that I was playing at his club in St. Tropez and at the time there was a Queen party. The people from Queen in Paris came down and they did their summer party there. I opened for the DJ that day and the general manager of Queen said “Man, this guy’s rockin’. We have to bring him to Paris.” I was 15 years old at the time and they gave me a residency. But what happened at the time was, as soon as I got my residency, which I think I wasn’t ready for because I was too young, all the clubs in Paris shut down because of drugs. So I had no more work. A friend of mine at the time said to go with him to Miami because he had a place there at the time. When I came here I fell in love with Miami and I decided no more Paris, no more France, I’m staying in Miami.

CJ: What was going through your head at the time? You were only 15.

CG: I remember I was at the Grand in Downtown Miami at the time I made my decision to stay here. I was looking at the view of the whole city and that was the first time that I felt homesick. I didn’t speak a word of English. I only knew one other French guy here. That was it. But, I remember looking at the city and thinking, “I’m not scared and I’m going to make it in this city.” Now here I am, 13 years later.

CJ: What was the next big thing for you after you landed in Miami?

CG: When I was here I started playing house parties for friends of a friend who had a lot of money. The Living Room was the hot club at the time and every time we used to go to there it would be empty because everyone would go to the house parties that I would spin at. So, Frances Milon wanted me to start playing for him in the Living Room and that’s how it started. And then from the Living Room I went to Chaos and from there to Bar Room and then Crobar followed. I met with Kenny and Carl and they decided to give me a chance. I think that was my big break. Nikki Beach was also a big party on Sundays so I was doing both Nikki Beach and Crobar at the same time.

CJ: Crobar really catapulted you into another tier.

CG: It was the first real club that I played. They invested a lot in me as a resident. They were a big part of my success. That was the sickest room. I still love the room. It was the new thing in Miami at the time. The energy, the lighting, everything was on point. For me it was the first real big club in Miami.

CJ: Did you return to France at all during that time to play?

CG: No. During that time I closed the page for Europe. I knew that I had to make it here in order for me to go back to Europe and play there.

CJ: Would you say that Miami made you who you are?

CG: Yes it did. Everywhere I go, it doesn’t matter where I go I feel like I’m representing Miami. Every single flyer, I can’t even control this, says something like “The King of Miami.” But at the end of the day it is what it is. I’m from Miami, I represent Miami and I’m proud of it. Miami is definitely my home.

CJ: How did you start getting involved with Space?

CG: At the time Crobar started changing management and I didn’t agree with the direction in which they were heading. So, I sat down with Luis at the time and we decided to make the move to the main room with Oscar G. Meeting with Luis was intimidating at the time. More importantly, the first record I ever bought was a Murk record, “Reach For Me.” At the end of the day for me to share the main room with Oscar G, it was major.

CJ: How did you grow into becoming comfortable at Space?

CG: I was playing in the main room but I understood that it was more of Oscar G’s room. I felt like I wanted to find my niche at Space. That’s when I told Luis that I didn’t want to do the main room and I wanted to do the Terrace and he freaked out and said I that I had to play the main room. But he finally gave me a chance and I rocked it. Then a lot of things happened. Roland left, Ivano had his thing, and then I found my home on the Terrace.

CJ: You already have some history as a producer. When did you start making music?

CG: The first record we did was called ‘Burning.’ Steve Lawler was the one that put that record on the map. He got it and it started charting in every single magazine, so the record started blowing up. That’s the first record that I did for Ultra. After that they gave me an album deal.

CJ: Wait, off of one record you got offered an album deal?

CG: Yea. It was funny because it was the first track that I ever made and I gave it to David Waxman when I was at Crobar. The next day he calls me and says, “I want this record, I’m signing it, I’m signing you on the label as an artist.” I was all freaking out about this. To be honest with you it took me two years to do that album. I made one that was completely pop. After that happened, one night at Crobar one of the owners introduced Lenny Kravitz to me and told him that I made music. At one point all these security guards came to the DJ booth with Lenny and he said that I should come over to his house because he had an idea. I remember the following week we went to his house and his studio and played the song that we had for him and he freaked out. He said he didn’t know anything about house music, but that he was freaking out about the track.

CJ: How did you meet Dallas Austin?

CG: Well the hip-hop guys used to come in to Crobar and listen to dance music. One day I was in Miami and I get a phone call from Dallas Austin and he said that he was working on Duran Duran’s next album and that they wanted an electronic sound. He told me to pick up my ticket the next day and go to the studio.

CJ: So you worked on Duran Duran’s record?

CG: Yes. I didn’t want to go by myself so I flew with my friend Pedro because it was intimidating. They told me to bring the laptops and all of the sound, so I walk into the studio and Ciara, the R&B singer, was playing her new video. She hadn’t come out yet at the time, and she was playing the “Goodies” video for Dallas Austin, which is the first song she ever made. In another studio Janet Jackson was recording.

CJ: What was going through your head at the time? That must have been crazy.

CG: I was going nuts. It was overwhelming.

CJ: What began to happen after that, as far as producing music in your career goes?

CG: For my album I called Dallas Austin and told him I needed his help. But I went the wrong way, because I wanted to go pop. Basically what we did is get Kelis to do a song with us, and we got Janet Jackson to do a song with us. But then the problem was that I sat back and listened to the album and there was nothing to it. It was an electronic pop album and that wasn’t me. That was a year of work that I completely scrapped.

CJ: So on your own artist album you were going to feature Janet Jackson and Kelis, and you dumped that project?

CG: The entire thing. I couldn’t identify with it. I remember I even played the Kelis song for Danny T. and he said it was a great song but it was pop and that it wasn’t me.

CJ: Why did you title your first album ‘Experiment’?

CG: Because when I went through the other album I was trying to experiment a new sound and vibe. It was still house but it had some trance sounds and many other sounds. It was an experiment.

CJ: What other big productions have you had?

CG: After the album we did a remix with Queen’s ‘Another One Bites the Dust.’ We got together with the band and sat down and produced the whole record. There’s a video for it. It’s called Queen vs. Miami Project.

CJ: With the combination of you getting your album released and getting the support and endorsement from Deep Dish, you blew up after that. How did that register in your mind?

CG: After the first tour you do you realize the amount of fans that you have. It’s crazy. Every gig I would do people would ask me to play my songs and they would go crazy for it. I really realized it two months ago. Two years ago I played a club in Orlando and there were like 60 people. I went back two months ago and there were 2500 people there. In LA I do 3000 on my own. I’m realizing what’s happening and it’s amazing.

CJ: When was your first “Oh shit!” moment?

CG: Playing in front of 50,000 people in Dublin. It was this past summer playing the Oxygen Festival.

CJ: When did you start your label?

CG: Four years ago I started to get things going. We started the label going vinyl. Then it went a little down, so I dropped the label for a year. Then I signed with 24 Management in the UK and they started putting everything together and that’s when I started Sleaze again. I have two labels. I have Sleaze, which is the house stuff, and Sleaze tech, which is more of the minimal and techno stuff.

CJ: What’s your sound today and what should people expect out of a Cedric Gervais set?

CG: I go through phases. Right now I’m more into the tech house sound. I play what I feel at the moment. I like everything and I like to listen to everything. By working with Deep Dish and listening to those guys I learned a lot from them.

CJ: Do you consider yourself a product?

CG: I do. I think that I’m marketable but at the same time I back it up. There’s a lot of work behind it. This is important. Image is so important, it’s part of the job. At the end of the day you’re selling CD’s. I have a great chance for girls to like me. (laughs)