Elestre is a French beatmaker who started on Fruity Loops around 1999, under the influence of Company Flow, Anti-pop Consortium, Massive Attack, Evidence… He has just released his 6th record project, "Aurore" an instrumental Lp. Interview with the beatmaker based in Britain.

A glass of?

Homemade cucumber water with ginger or bissap

What was your first experience with beatmaking?

My first experimentations were on Fruity Loops around 1999. I was under the influence of Company Flow, Anti-pop Consortium, Massive Attack, Evidence… It was very fun because I didn’t know a thing about music production, but FL was super intuitive and it was easy to do some beats with stock sounds and effects. I remember that once I’ve got a bunch of demos, I responded to an ad from some rappers from Caluire, I met them in an apartment and I had a mini disc with some beats so we listened and they kicked some beats. They found it very dope and wanted me to work with them, but I never did, certainly because of a terrible lack of confidence at the time that terrified me. I also remember that I forgot the mid disc there…

What was your first experience with Djing?

In 1998, I was in a very cool bar in Lyon called "Le Funambule", where a DJ was mixing some Trip Hop on 2 CD players. It was not really mixing but who cares ! The music was super dope. I said to myself : “Wait, it’s possible to play this kind of dark hazy music with no special technical skills in here ?” So I jumped on the boss and a few weeks later, I did my first show with one vinyl turntable and the CD player from my parents. I could at least beatmatch one in two transitions.

City or country?

I can’t choose either, both are very inspiring and fascinating. City for the records stores, the wandering in the streets especially at night and the easily improvised and magical meetings. Country for the silence, the wild side and the long walks.

Your top 3 favorite songs from 'Aurore' LP and why?

'La Nuit' because it was the first track I worked on and thought, I’ve achieved something that I looked for a while, something dark and sweet at the same time and very mysterious. Once I got a solid skeleton of this track, I decided I wanted to do an album.

 'Empire' because I never thought I was capable of doing such intense track. I really pushed my technical limits very far on this one, but not in a demonstrative way, I always use techniques to serve the emotions of my tracks, I don’t make music to impress but to travel. Everything flows seamlessly on this track and I love the dark jazz touch that I put in it.

'L’Oracle', this is a beautiful nostalgic track, the most luminous of the album. I used this bassline. I wanted to sample for a while but never achieved it before. I completely flipped it and I made it unrecognizable. This track is a tender journey into sweet memories. I tried to capture the magic of my travels in Greece, where I used to often visit and see family when I was a child. These trips were almost mystical through my child's eyes. The scents, the sounds, the language, the ruins, the faded facades of the buildings, the light.. it was a total immersion in an mysterious universe which was also my roots.

Can you explain the front artwork of 'Aurore' LP?

I wanted an artwork that reflected my music, something mysterious and very organic, dark and beautiful at the the same time. I wanted something that got an impact at first sight and that I could watch again and again, without getting tired of it. When you look at it, you don’t know if it’s aquatic or spatial, I like when art is enigmatic, it gives more place to imagination, it allows people to better appropriate the work, by projecting their own vision onto it.

The beatmaker that puts you crazy systematically?

By now, I really love everything that Axel Holy puts out.

To dress, a pair of?

Comfortable sneakers, right know, a pair of Flower Mountain.

What is your favorite hardware?

MPC X at the moment.

EQ or compression first ?

EQ, always, I need to clean up my tracks before everything else.

Your top 3 favorite venues in Saint-Malo ?

Le Point Zero, an ephemaral bar with an incredible view of the sea and the city, the staff is adorable.

The coastal path near my home, where I like to walk to take a breath.

The awesome new skatepark where I like to go riding with my daughter.

What job would you like to do if you weren’t a beatmaker?

Probably peasant, to work outside.

What comes to your mind if I tell you scratching?

My young age, when we where training all night long

with two friends.

7 ou 12 inch?

12 inch as I’m very attached to the narrative told by an album.

What will you dream of tomorrow?

The end of capitalism and oppression in all its forms.

Top 5 new releases?

. Geode & FLO  « Vega » Ep

. AK-One « Nothing Grows In A Straight Line »

. Marka San x Axel Holy « Hidden Knowledge » Ep

. The Gaslamp Killer meets The Heliocentrics « Legna »

. Aesop Rock « Integrated Tech Solutions »

Top 5 oldies?

. Alice Coltrane « Journey In Satchinananda »

. David Axelrod « Song Of Experience »

. Alain Goraguer « La Planète Sauvage »

. Nucleus « We’ll Talk About It Later »

. Funkadelic « Funkadelic »

 Interview by el tablist cosh... / Proof reading by lallY