AKUFEN

MUSICAL ROOTS
?I got into music when I was very young. Even as a baby I was shakin? and singin?. At the age of five I was playing piano, and I was a guitarist for several years too. I was always in touch with music, generally speaking. I was never immersed in one specific genre, I?d an overall interest in music that spanned jazz; classical; rock; disco; funk; country; salsa; anything! When something is done well, it is fine with me. I?m a huge collector of music but again, it?s very general. I?ve got a big room at home with a huge amount of vinyl. I?m not into CDs to be honest; people give them to me but I don?t buy them. My vinyl is from literally every period of time that it has existed in. As a young kid I was heavily into classical music, from the age of five until now - I still appreciate it ? I?ve loved it. I?m also a real fan of crooners like Tom Jones, Sinatra, and these guys. The Beatles were a huge influence in my teen years, and around 14 I discovered electronic music through Kraftwerk. I was always into contemporary composers like Steve Reich, Boulez, and many others. I studied a bit of theory and practise, but my ear was pretty good and I tended to be lazy on theory. I gave up.

FIRST PROJECTS
?It was always clear in my mind that I wanted to make music all the time. I started to make a living from it four years ago, around the time of the first Mutek festival, but before that I was always working in the direction of making this my life. I wasn?t bothered about making a lot of money, but I wanted to have regular income, pay my rent, pay my bills. I don?t have to focus in anything except music now, and I feel very privileged. My very first official project was 1995?s Noiz Slack-r, a very experimental project in the vein of Aphex Twin, or Alec Empire. These people are the foundations of my style; I was mainly working in an experimental way, trying to find new approaches and ideas. Then the whole house thing happened to me, I would say, by mistake. I was caught by my own trick. When I started making house in 1996 or 1997, it was more as a joke. A friend of mine and myself did a project ? we got the title, Juice Box, from a porno movie that we picked at random from a magazine ? and I found that I really liked the rhythm, I loved the shuffle, and it gave me a refreshing alternative to redundant techno music.?

THE FUTURE
?Right now I?m focused on getting the next album together and looking for the right label to release it on; it?s on its way, My ideas are down, and I?m going to make a record with a few dance pieces but less so than the first one. It?s going to be more eclectic, more downtempo, more loungey and experimental. I just want to go off. I want to treat myself a bit. I think I can afford now to go a little further, take some risks. When you start you have to be a bit careful. You can?t do everything that you want to. I can permit myself to have a bit of an extravaganza now. I?m also keeping busy with my new label Musique Risqu�e. I set it up, with my pal Vincent Lemieux, to support our community and also help bring up new artists that we?re really into ? Stephen Beaupr�, Atom Heart, The Rip Off Artist and Philippe Cam are all scheduled for releases this year.?

THE MIX
?I always loved a certain level of risk taking when it comes to my DJ mixing. Marrying the most awkward music together often turns out to be crazy and sexy. And I strongly believe that if it’s done right, it’ll compliment the artists work while challenging the listener’s mind. It’s all a matter of momentum, like time does not exist anymore. Ninety percent of the people on this CD are close friends of mine. Right from the beginning my goal was to put as many of those people on this record. My manager said ?You can?t please everyone, you?re going to have one hell of a time fitting all of those people on there,? but I thought I had to try. I think I found a way. It took me God knows how many hours before I thought I had it right. I really wanted to find the perfect combination between all those musicians. I don?t like people that mix in and out, fade in and out. You have to create a special environment by having two tracks in the mix together for as long as possible.


Link: http://rapidshare.com/files/17356380/Akufen_-_Live_at_5DaysOff_14.07.2005-stream-Rai-part1.mp3