Todays guest in our podcast series plumbs the deeper ends of house and has turned in some serious tackle for Kolour, Whiskey Disco and Masterworks over the past while. We love his almost underwater disco and the state of hypnosis we find ourselves under when we listen to his productions. Frenchman ‘Closed Paradise’ not his real name surprisingly, has turned in a vinyl only mix leaning on his classic house influences and it’s a breath of fresh air to say the least. That ‘Precious Little Diamond’ Remix…….you’ll see.

Listen to this mix on Soundcloud here

 

 

INTERVIEW:

Can you tell us a little bit about your influences?

At the beginning i was Influenced by Techno from Detroit/Chicago but also by dance music from the 90’s. After that by the french touch at the dawn of the new millennium with producers like Dax Riders, Benjamin Diammond and Trouble Men. Nowadays I spend a lot of time listening to house music with influences from soul, funk & disco from 70’s/80’s!

What was the first CD you ever owned?

I discovered CDs at an early age! My two older brothers had a big CD collection with all the big hits like “What is Love”, “Freed From Desire”. Well, all the Dance Machine compilations! I loved them and i have to say thanks to my two brothers for introducing me to electronic music! I can remember the first record i bought when i started Djing was “Dj Jean – The Launch”.

You started Djing when you were 15…..how did that come about?

At 15 years old, i did street rollerskating in a competition and had a serious motorised scooter accident which meant i could not practice anymore. After few days one of my friends, my neighbour, had bought 2 turntables with a mixer for a really cheap price..I tried it, i loved! As a result, i sold my roller-skates to buy some equipment + my first records. It was my intro to the DJing world!

Who’s the best Dj you have ever seen in the flesh?

Without hesitation Derrick May is for me the best dj in the world so far!
I had the pleasure of meeting him a few times.. His charisma, his energy but above his approach of the mix!! I learned a lot from him! But there’s so many good DJs around.. Some other favourites are Joe Claussel, Moodymann and Akufen.

If you could play one party anywhere from anytime, where would it be?

Asia attracts me and Australia too. I haven’t explored that part of the world yet. I;d also like to play some killer clubs like Panorama Berlin, Rex Club Paris, Love NYC. etc And in my wildest dreams at the bottom of the ocean in a submarine !! Crazy no?

Whats coming up for Closed Paradise?

I hope the best ahah!!! More concretely some new releases and a few remixes- vinyl as well! My new EP is out this week on a lovely 10″inch. It’s called “The Masters Series Vol.1” by a UK label “Masterworks Music”. A tour in Mexico later this year, some gigs around europe and here in the south of france where i’m based! Video clip always and recently an opening with the cinema with “Closed Paradise Films” (But i still have a lot of work before making my first feature length film)

Are you afraid of anything?

That’s a hard question. I would say yes i’m afraid of music sometime’s – I mean easy music, commercial.. There’s so many good Dj/producers everywhere! I’m afraid of bad music. Well, bad for me, good for others!