MICHEL CLEIS

by the partae

How did you start?

I Started collecting records before my eighteen , more than 31 years ago…,and when  i played my vinyl the first time  i was around 22 . It was in a club called Dolce Vita in Lausanne , at the time for me dance music was about jazz, funk, soul , disco and also some brazilian and latin jazz vibes from time to time .

Where are you based?

I move between Lugano, Munich and Ibiza. Lugano is a beautiful summer place and it s the place where I grew up, I love it more now than ever before.

Munich is a nice city with a great airport and a lot of green, not so far away from my lovely Switzerland and not only for thé green .

Ibiza is almost too much in some occasions but It s still unique and unpredictable , i have a lot of friends living there and that’s a réal deal.

Please give an example of your music creative process?

I first work on a idea , a loop a feeling, a color and then I try to follow and develope it. Most of the time I loose the idea I had at the start and sometimes I have to step back , listening to older bounces that allow me to feel the original taste again and to understand that the choices i made put me in a different and maybe better or not  universe . I work a lot on thé mixes and balances between éléments , especially  bass frequencies ,  sometimes  even too much,  loosing my focus on feelings .

For this reason i try to work on different projects at the same Time , this allows me to breath And not get tired about my music too fast.

What are you working on right now?

I just finished an Ep for Rebirth,and Im working on some music for Cadenza and Crosstown Rebels new compilation.

What is your gear setup?

At the start  use Logic with live working in a slave mode. Than i work on arrangements with  Protools .

My beautiful Focal ‘ twin 6 ‘speakers .

An Emu 6400, a Moog Voyager  an original vintage Moog , Juno 106, Jupiter 6 ( lend by my lovely friend Giuseppe ) , Nordlead 2 , DrumTrack ….And some other Nice stuff

What do you like to do outside of music and does it affect your music?

 I essentially take care of my daughter , for sure this powerful experience has a positive  influence on what I do in my Studio , she is pure love .

I read  a lot and I watch films , I try to explore other worlds  to refresh my mind, to discover and to feel are part of what happen next in a studio for me.

I really like to travel and meet people , that brings new colors in my life , I suppose it has an impact on my music too as to me music is also about to share something with someone.

How would you describe your music genre?

Percussive , groovy and drivy  music for dancers or not !

Do you know any music theory?

At home we had a piano . I started taking piano lessons when I was 10 years old .During 4 years,every Wednesday afternoon ,when I was free  from school and my friends were enjoying themselves in town , eating fries and doing nothing. I somehow felt disappointed not to be part of this exciting gang life and I definitely stopped piano lessons when i really started to get interested in girls.

What are your plans for the future?

My priority is to be a good father for my daughter . But also like to think to continue having  pleasure and fun with what I m doing. A kind of staying alive musically speaking , create new and interesting stuff , exploring  other universes and have beautiful meetings with interesting and cool people.

How did you get into music?

At the start I was listening , dancing and collecting music. Than I was strangely surrounded by musicians and passionated people in music business .

Later I had a basketball accident and I decided to authorise myself to catch a sampler  .

12 years and a few Ep  later came * La mezcla*  and my life was going to change .

10 years later i m still in this trippy improbable dream-escape.

What are you listening to at the moment?

I m coming back to one of my first big loves which is jazz . I listen a lot of music in my car where i have an old CD player which allows me to put 6 CDs in rotation. These days  , i listen to one of the first Stanley Turrentine  s album ,on Impulse . I do not remember the LP s name but in it there are almost jazz standards played with rare energy ..a must !

 Miles Davis end seventies stuff is playing too , also an experimental John Coltrane (on Impulse too ), and Roy Ayers – Ubiquity album or  Quincy Jones orchestra  , Hancock and Corea piano s Live and some other classic .

I just received  a jazz music collection from one of my best friends.

Who are your top 5 influences and icons?  

My parents first!

And 5 is not enough …

I do not really have ‘top’ influences , but influences from  people -artists that touched me , i prefere to mention  about  them without ranking  …..Miles Davis,Marvin Gaye,The Beatles, Kraftwerk ,The Beach Boys ,Hermeto Pascoal , Federico Fellini, Stanley Kubrick , Lucio Battisti , Maurice Ravel, Quincy Jones,Depeche  Mode , MAW, Tony Humphries…And many many many more!

When are you playing next?

Today ,Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

My next Ep Obsoleto Lerobo is going to be released in July or september on Rebirth.

http://www.twitter.com/MichelCleis

http://www.facebook.com/MichelCleisOfficial/

 

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