Adam Scrimshire
(Interview by Nicolas Ragonneau, for Paris DJs - February 2012)

Maybe you're not familiar with the name of Scrimshire. No, it's not the name of a hidden british county (even if it could have been), but a new and young talented multi-instrumentalist from Rugby, England. Adam Scrimshire released a first and advisable record in 2009, Along Came The Devil One Night (Wah Wah 45s). A cliché says that a second album is dicey, but Scrimshire has transformed this so-called trap in a superb achievement with The Hollow. We can understand, at a glance to the gorgeous art cover and perfect typography, that he is a man of great taste, a craftsman who loves working detail in every aspect. The record starts with A Promise Is All It Was, a virtual one-man-band track where Scrimshire plays and sings every single note, and it ends without him: on the eponymous and final track, he's vanished and leaved harpist Rachael Gladwin (Matt Halsall and Nat Birchall's longtime collaborator) alone. She draws indeed a moving epilogue and makes us think that maybe The Hollow is a metaphor of disappearance and vanishing souvenir itself. This is one of the surprises of a subtile and mutiple record that welcomes folk, soul, spiritual jazz, afrobeat, malian splinters and fine electronica in one single flow, with a predilection for the female voices (Heidi Vogel and her Nina Simonesque tone, the warm gospel of Stac...). Fans of The Cinematic Orchestra, Nostalgia 77 or José James will love the exquisite fusion delicacy of The Hollow for sure. Adam tells us how he imagined it and, as one of the Wah Wah 45s' label owners, evokes the label's latest news and the music industry.

Miles Newbold / The Natural Yogurt Band
(Interview by Nicolas Ragonneau, for Paris DJs - May 2011)

Everything began three years ago at the Music Library down to my house. There I met Gerald André, The Norvins’ drummer. “Hey Nicolas, you should listen to this, man. It’s very good and I think it’s really your stuff” he said, picking a CD from a shelf. On the sleeve were two men dressed like Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson on a Victorian-like black and white photo. The name of the artist was The Natural Yogurt Band, the album was called Away with Melancholy and it was filed in the acid-jazz section.

Will Bernard
(Interview by Nicolas Ragonneau for Paris Djs, january 2012)

Guitarist Will Bernard has just released an excellent new record (read Outdoor Living's review here). This album comes in an already brilliant and immaculate discography where jazz (Stanton Moore Trio), funk and soul meets reggae (Rockamovya) and… french bal musette (Baguette Quartette). The common denominator is a great sense of groove. Will Bernard is, even if he finds his own color, in the tradition of guitar legends such as Grant Green. This 100% californian now lives in NYC. He tells us about his new Big Apple life, his guitar style, his taste for french popular répertoire and his upcoming projects.

Stephen Coates (The Real Tuesday Weld)
(Interview by Nicolas Ragonneau for Paris Djs, january 2012)

Stephen Coates is a man of many masks, illusions and smoke-and-mirrors. Under his weird female pseudonym The Real Tuesday Weld he’s released impossible-to-classify records since the end of the Twentieth Century. I, Lucifer (2004), The London Book Of the Dead (2007) and The End of The World (2008) were major achievements. Stephen's baroque and romantic world is tinged with bittersweet melancholy. London is its sole setting, and the Clerkenwell Kid (one of his other aliases) a recurring character. Long before the electro-swing fashion, blending early jazz, cabaret, easy-listening and electro, he invented a genre of his own called ‘antique beat’. His new album Songs for The Last Werewolf (Crammed Records/Europe, Six Degrees Records/USA) is released on Tuesday (coincidence?) 16th of January and it’s the OST of the eponymous - and critically acclaimed - book by Glen Duncan (The Last Werewolf, Canongate Books, 2011). His side-project, the psychedelic garage-blues band Lazarus and The Crash Plane (read the review here), has also released its first record on his Antique Beat label. Stephen talks about the beginning of The Real Tuesday Weld, the way he uses dreams in his life, his love for London… just before releasing the nice mix he’s cooked for us, scheduled for January 17th on Paris DJs.

Interview with Adrian Quesada
(Interview by Nicolas Ragonneau - April 2011)

Adrian Quesada, one of the most interesting modern guitarists from funk afro/latino's Austin scene (Grupo Fantasma, Ocote Soul Sounds, Brownout) answers a few questions about his new project The Echocentrics.
We've done a mix about Adrian Quesada that you can download here, we also have a photo shooting session by Jean Saint Jean of this summer's Grupo Fantasma show in Paris to publish, along with a mix from Adrian to be aired soon in our World People series... so stay connected people!

Interview with Tommaso Colliva (Calibro 35)
(Interview by Nicolas Ragonneau for Paris DJs - november 2011)

Calibro 35 is an italian four-piece band (Luca Cavina on bass, Enrico Gabrielli on keyboards, Massimo Martellotta on guitars, Fabio Rondanini on drums) created in Milan by mastermind Tommaso Colliva. A great fan of 60s and early 70s italian soundtracks (polizieschi - the italian thrillers - and gialli), Tommaso noticed that everybody pretends to know italian soundtrack, but no one really plays nor document this music anymore. Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai excepted, who else than diehard collectors remember Gianni Ferrio, Stelvio Cipriani or Gianni Mazza? Most of the time polizieschi or gialli were minor movies, but the music indeed was major (A-music for B-movies!). Here comes Calibro 35, playing this repertoire the hard and funky way, and composing new material in the manner of the forgotten masters of the genre, recording three albums so far (Calibro 35, Ritornano Quelli di... and RARE), released in Europe by Ghost Records and Nublu in the US by. Besides, they've just collaborated on Adrian Younge's new project Something About April performed by Venice Dawn (Wax Poetics Records).
In addition to the italian soundtrack killer mix he's just cooked for us, Tommaso talks about his longtime research, Calibro 35 creation and musicians, the next Calibro album and being a 30-years-old sound engineer for MUSE or Afterhours.

Adrian Younge
(Interview by Nicolas Ragonneau for Paris DJs - november 2011)

Black Dynamite composer and multi-instrumentalist Adrian Younge gives us an exclusive interview while he releases his new project 'Something About April' performed by Venice Dawn (Wax Poetics Records). On this record one can listen to sheer never-heard-before sounds. Why? The answer is the Selene, a very special lo-fidelity weapon and new keyboard Adrian has invented with friends, and he's got the only copy worldwide.

Paul Frick (from Brandt Brauer & Frick)
(Interview by Nicolas Ragonneau - october 2010)

No-computer electro German trio Brandt Brauer & Frick has released a new album (Mr. Machine, !K7 Records), just one year after their debut record You Make Me Real, and this follow-up is a must-have for both hypnotic groove addicts and sophisticated experimental music lovers. Our fellow interviewer Nicolas Ragonneau is an early fan of the band since he made this interview of Paul Frick in October last year.

Joe Henry
(Interview by Nicolas Ragonneau, for Paris DJs - october 2011)

Only a few artists deserve the title of "living legends" but Joe Henry is, without any possible doubt, one of those. He ties together two great talents, the skill of a much sought-after producer (Allen Toussaint, Solomon Burke, Aaron Neville, Jim White, Ani Di Franco, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Hugh Laurie...) and the skill of a unique songwriter. As a singer and for more than ten years Joe Henry has released several masterpieces with incredible guests such as Ornette Coleman, Brad Melhdau, Jason Moran and many more. This autumn he's back with Reverie (Anti Records), an amazing all-acoustic album. He tells us about the aesthetics of this new record and, because of his longtime love for art, poetry and cinema, he was an obvious choice to answer our Questionnaire de Proust. Oh, by the way, we'll be releasing an exclusive Paris DJs mix celebrating Joe Henry on November, 5th.

The Greg Foat Group
(Interview by Nicolas Ragonneau, for Paris DJs - september 2011)

This spring Jazzman Records unveiled a new sensation with The Greg Foat Group's Dark Is The Sun, a fantastic jazz/soundtrack first album. Talented british pianist and composer Greg Foat was kind enough to allow us an exclusive interview : he tells us about being a child in the Isle of Wight, sci-fi novels, keyboards, analogic recording, a mysterious female French singer and being a DJ.

He's also prepared especially for Paris DJs an exclusive Greg Foat Sci-Fi Bugalu Mix, a fun party mix with a touch of sci-fi weirdness...