Interview: Recloose

Durant l’été 1997, Matthew Chicoine, aka Recloose, rencontre un des pionniers de la techno Carl Craig. Cette rencontre aboutit à la signature quasi immédiate de Recloose sur Planet E, le label de Carl Craig, et marque le début d’une carrière musicale prometteuse pour un individu des plus talentueux. Ses racines musicales proviennent de huit années passées à étudier la musique et à jouer du saxophone jazz, focalisant plus tard son attention vers l’art de manier les platines. Ses DJ sets éclectiques l’ont mené à devenir un DJ des plus demandés, jouant aussi bien dans les clubs et festivals de toute la planète que pour le projet de génie de Carl Craig, Innerzone Orchestra, en tant que DJ.
Depuis sa première rencontre avec Carl Craig, Recloose a réussi à se démarquer de la mouvance musicale de Détroit. Ces dix dernières années, on vu sortir un certain nombre de maxis révolutionnaires et une armada de remixes pour des artistes, tels que Herbert, Towa Tei, MJ Cole et Azymuth. Il déménage en Nouvelle Zélande en 2001, pour planter de nouvelles racines et explorer de nouveaux horizons musicaux. En 2002, il sort son premier album Cardiology sur Planet E, largement approuvé par les critiques. En juillet 2005 sort Hiatus On The Horizon (Peacefrog) son deuxième album qui rassemble de nombreux musiciens et vocalistes néo-zélandais talentueux. Certains de ses artistes composent le groupe Recloose Live Band qui s’est produit en live en Nouvelle-Zélande, Australie et Europe, notamment lors d’un concert au Fabric de Londres.
Son troisième album studio Perfect Timing réunit de nouveau ces musiciens et amis de longue date venant de Nouvelle Zélande, comme Joe Dukie (Fat Freddy’s Drop), le MC Tyna aka The Natural et Jonathan Crayford parmi de nouveaux talents internationaux. Grâce à cette ambiance irrésistible et dansante, l’album s’apprête à avoir un impacte majeur sur la scène des clubs internationaux. Des hymnes funk édifiants aux beats entraînants, Recloose est de retour pour reconquérir tous les dancefloors avec Perfect Timing sur Sonar Kollektiv. (Source Modulor)

TheClubbing.com: How did you meet Carl Craig? Following that, how did you get into Planet E?
Recloose: I met Carl while working at a Detroit deli after I graduated from University. I was moonlighting in my studio concocting beats and passed a demo to Carl one day when he came in to eat (disguised as a sandwich). Carl rang me a few days later and we decided to develop and release the first EP, So This Is The Dining Room. We continued to work together via The Innerzone Orchestra as well as other releases such as the Spelunking EP and Cardiology.

TheClubbing.com: Your new album Perfect Timing contains great funky stuff. What is your musical background?
Recloose: I grew up listening to a lot of music and playing piano, guitar, and saxophone. I was exposed to a lot of great music via the radio while growing up around and in Detroit and this has left an indelible mark on my musical tastes and sensibilities. As a result I tried to bring elements of the sounds of Detroit (namely techno, funk, soul, and boogie) to the musicians of New Zealand ands we wound up with the latest album Perfect Timing.

TheClubbing.com: There is many vocal guests on Perfect Timing. Who are they? Could you quickly introduce them?
Recloose: There are five main vocalists that feature on the album. Tyna Keelan features on the more funk-driven tunes and is an impeccable vocalist and harmonizer as well as battle MC champion of New Zealand and a bad-ass guitarist (hence why he’s not only on the album but in my band!). Dallas Tamaira is the lead singer of Fat Freddy’s drop and we collaborated on Deeper Waters. Rachel Frasier is a massively talented up and coming singer from New Zealand who I worked with on two of the more soulful tracks of the album. And Justin Chapman and Genevieve Marentette are two friends from North America who I’ve worked with several times in the past.

TheClubbing.com: What is the meaning of the « timing » of each track? They all virtually length 3:45 (regarding the back of the cover), is there a signification?
Recloose: Ah, no actually. I think this was a carefully placed misprint on the promos! Evidently it worked as it got you thinking that maybe there’s a secret behind it haha…

TheClubbing.com: You get on stage with your Recloose Live Band. Who is this live band? How does it look like when you play live?
Recloose: The live band consists of, in my opinion, some of the best musicians New Zealand has to offer. A number of them have featured in my music and also appear on our live album released last year called Backwards And Sideways. We’re basically an eight-piece future-funk disco band that perform lots of Recloose numbers as well as some carefully chosen dance classics. Our aim is to rock the party with energy, vibe, and blazing musicianship.

TheClubbing.com: You release Cardiology on Planet E; Hiatus On The Horizon on Peacefrog; and now, Perfect Timing on Sonar Kollektiv. How do you make your choice? Are you forced to move from label to label?
Recloose: There are many factors involved, but these days the most common is the direction of the music industry and the difficulties in selling music. A lot of it has to do with chemistry as well, and as you can probably hear my music has changed a lot from the days of Planet E. As both artists and labels change over time it sometimes make sense to partner up with new people to get the most out of your business relationship.

TheClubbing.com: You also play DJ. What is your conception of Djing? What does a Recloose DJ Set look like?
Recloose: I’ve been Djing for 13 years now and still love it. My concept is basically to play interesting and inspiring music in an energetic fashion. I love hip-hop DJs as well as house and disco DJs so my own personal style is a combination of cutting and drops as well as blends, eqing, and effects. I play a large variety of music in my set, usually because I find myself bored as a listener when DJs cement themselves in with one style. It betrays the history and spirit of music and I think the best DJ should take the listener and dancer alike on a sonic journey.

TheClubbing.com: Where do you find such good mood to inject in your music?!
Recloose: I don’t know, to be honest I can’t say I’m always in a good mood haha! But part of it comes from being a father of course (kids are hilarious and it seems difficult to take one self so seriously after having a kid). Playing in a band has also had an effect on the mood of my music- I’m more prone to get us to play energetic, inspiring, sexy party music than heavy, moody, or aggressive types of songs. But this might all change tomorrow, you never know!

TheClubbing.com: You live in New Zealand. Is there something special/different in this country?
Recloose: I think people imagine New Zealand as some sort of quasi-magical paradise. I can tell you it is not this by a long shot, but that said it is a great place to live. A lot of its appeal comes from its small size and the closeness of the people that live here, and this translates to the music scene too. People are very supportive of the local music scene too (as evidenced by the fact I just won a ‘Best Electronica Album’ NZ music award this week!). Plus it is a beautiful country with lots to see and escape to.

TheClubbing.com: It seems that you like the remix exercise. In which way is it exciting to transform a track made by another artist? Is there someone you would like to re-work above all?
Recloose: To me it depends on the track, but I think the best remix jobs are the ones where you instantly know what it is you want to do when you hear the original. You can hear what it is the artist was thinking with the song but you as the remixer have a different interpretation of how to make it knock for the people.

TheClubbing.com: Thank you
Recloose: Thanks!