Interview: Vitalic

I had a chat with veteran French electro artist Vitalic, aka Pascal Arbez, to discuss the inspiration behind Vitalic, kitchen appliances, his latest album and his plans for the future.

So what are you working on now, do you have any plans for a new album?

I think it’s a bit early; I just released the previous one. I’m working on the shows, improving the shows. The last one was so recent, from about a year ago. I’m going around doing some shows for now and I’m not thinking about my next album yet. I’ve still got the previous album in my mind.

You play everywhere… Where have you been this year?

I’ve been around the world. I went to Europe first, then Japan and the USA. I think my favourite places to play are Spain, and France of course.

What are you listening to right now? Any up and coming artists you think we should all know about?

I recommend Funf, good rock music.

How did you feel about people’s reaction to your last album, ‘Rave Age’, were you happy with how it was received?

At first yeah. I mean I knew that I wanted to do something different to my last album and that I would lose some fans in the process but overall I think the reaction was OK. I think some people didn’t understand it.

The vocals in your last album are quite prominent, was that element something you aimed to develop in the LP?

I didn’t make any plans really – there was nothing in the plan. I just started writing music and whatever felt natural was what went into the LP. A lot of production went into the vocals; we used different vocoder sounds and did a lot of recording.

I love the video for ‘Fade Away, what was the inspiration behind that?

The video wasn’t my idea; it was all down to the director, Romain Chassaing. I love the video though I think he had great inspiration for it and I love the storyline and the drama.

How do you describe your sound to people? Do you consider yourself an EDM or maybe an electro house artist? 

I describe myself as rave-disco.

What has been your favourite album this year?

Disco stuff from Germany.

Have you listened to Random Access Memories? Opinion on that seems pretty divided –what’s your take? 

I had a really quick listen through it but unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to listen to it carefully yet. I loved the single ‘Get Lucky’ though. I was really crazy about it when it was released. I want to really take the time to listen to it.

Who are your all-time favourite artists? 

Giorgio Moroder is my favourite artist overall.

I once read that ‘Vitalic’ is a Russian first name? What’s your connection to Russia?

It is a Russian first name. When I was a student I learnt Russian as a language and I started to travel in Russia and Ukraine when I was 16. I used to go to these countries for holidays; I found it was really exotic and really different to my own culture, where people are living in poverty. I find it a very inspiring culture.

If you were stranded on a desert island and could choose only 3 items to bring with you, what would they be? Phones not allowed.

I’d bring a computer to make music at least, my Polaroid camera and…my Kenwood.

You can listen to music from Vitalic's last album and DJ sets here.

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