Fedde le Grand: From Holland to Detroit and back.
SF: After numerous weeks waiting with bated breath for Fedde to take some time out from his busy schedule, The Skinny finally catch a few moments with the Dutch producer for our continuing Bacardi profile series.<br/> <br/>PQ: ""I believe that there is coming a lot of good house music from Holland at this moment and I hope this will continue in the near future.""
| 07 Nov 2007
It's rather fitting that we speak with Fedde in November 2007, as it is the first anniversary of the addictive Put Your Hands Up For Detroit reaching the number one slot in the UK. If you don't know the track, there are no words to describe where you must have had your head shoved for the duration. Perhaps you're more familiar with his output in 2005, when Fedde also managed to pull the unusual feat of having four tracks within the Dance Top 30, charting with Get This Feeling, Las Vegas, The Vibe, and Electronic EP at the same time.
1994 - the scene, a club in Utrecht (Fedde's hometown); the DJ, Dutch house legend Dimitri, and in the crowd is a young Fedde le Grand. The result? A blown away Fedde, eager to start creating and playing music as well as, if not better than, Dimitri. What was it about Dimitri that inspired you to pursue house music as a career? "The rhythm can take you into a cadence so that three hours seem like 15 minutes. The night after his performance, I was hooked." Although Fedde is not from a musical background, he went on to teach himself music production and DJing, and after finishing high school he earned himself choice performances at the prestigious Danssalon in Eindhoven.
Nowadays, name a club in the Netherlands and chances are Fedde has played it, or possibly imagined and created the night in the first place. Sneakerz was created in 2004 and with Fedde as co-promoter - it successfully continues to this day in the form of Sneakerz @ The Beach in Scheveningen and Bloomingdale, Panama in Amsterdam, and T Paard van Troje in The Hague. Fedde does not have as many chances to play the Netherlands these days, but emphasises, "it is still important for me to do my thing in Holland."
Holland is widely known for the techno which has come out of Rotterdam, such as Michael de Hey's output - do you think this is an accurate representation of Dutch electronica? "I think that Holland is mostly known for trance music, but also for techno. I believe that there is coming a lot of good house music from Holland at this moment and I hope this will continue in the near future."
When he was clubbing as a non-DJ on the verge of artistic fruition, le Grand says he was partly inspired by the Detroit techno sound, perhaps hence why his biggest track to this day remains Put Your Hands Up For Detroit. There has been much debate about the origin of the track, including whether it was related to Matthew Dear's 1999 release Hands Up for Detroit, a lesser known cut, of which only 1000 copies were printed and distributed. Is there any relation? "Yes, the vocal hook was totally inspired on [sic] Matthew Dear's Hands Up for Detroit."
Apart from signing to MN2S's agency (also home to Grant Nelson - see last month's interview) exclusively for the UK, Fedde has so far spent this year touring the world's hottest dance spots, from Indonesia to Ibiza. One of his latest ventures to Scotland was for his slot at the Stereofunk festival: "[Scots] really know how to do a proper party." While in Miami he took home not one but three prestigious awards at the Winter Music Conference (Best Breakthrough Solo Artist, Best Breaks/Electro Sound, and Best Underground House Track), exceeding "all of [his] expectations." The rest of his time is currently being absorbed by production for his new album, which is expected in 2008. Can we expect more filthy, addictive hooks coming our way? "I'm just trying to make music the best I can. It's up to you to decide if there are filthy addictive hooks coming your way!"
1994 - the scene, a club in Utrecht (Fedde's hometown); the DJ, Dutch house legend Dimitri, and in the crowd is a young Fedde le Grand. The result? A blown away Fedde, eager to start creating and playing music as well as, if not better than, Dimitri. What was it about Dimitri that inspired you to pursue house music as a career? "The rhythm can take you into a cadence so that three hours seem like 15 minutes. The night after his performance, I was hooked." Although Fedde is not from a musical background, he went on to teach himself music production and DJing, and after finishing high school he earned himself choice performances at the prestigious Danssalon in Eindhoven.
Nowadays, name a club in the Netherlands and chances are Fedde has played it, or possibly imagined and created the night in the first place. Sneakerz was created in 2004 and with Fedde as co-promoter - it successfully continues to this day in the form of Sneakerz @ The Beach in Scheveningen and Bloomingdale, Panama in Amsterdam, and T Paard van Troje in The Hague. Fedde does not have as many chances to play the Netherlands these days, but emphasises, "it is still important for me to do my thing in Holland."
Holland is widely known for the techno which has come out of Rotterdam, such as Michael de Hey's output - do you think this is an accurate representation of Dutch electronica? "I think that Holland is mostly known for trance music, but also for techno. I believe that there is coming a lot of good house music from Holland at this moment and I hope this will continue in the near future."
When he was clubbing as a non-DJ on the verge of artistic fruition, le Grand says he was partly inspired by the Detroit techno sound, perhaps hence why his biggest track to this day remains Put Your Hands Up For Detroit. There has been much debate about the origin of the track, including whether it was related to Matthew Dear's 1999 release Hands Up for Detroit, a lesser known cut, of which only 1000 copies were printed and distributed. Is there any relation? "Yes, the vocal hook was totally inspired on [sic] Matthew Dear's Hands Up for Detroit."
Apart from signing to MN2S's agency (also home to Grant Nelson - see last month's interview) exclusively for the UK, Fedde has so far spent this year touring the world's hottest dance spots, from Indonesia to Ibiza. One of his latest ventures to Scotland was for his slot at the Stereofunk festival: "[Scots] really know how to do a proper party." While in Miami he took home not one but three prestigious awards at the Winter Music Conference (Best Breakthrough Solo Artist, Best Breaks/Electro Sound, and Best Underground House Track), exceeding "all of [his] expectations." The rest of his time is currently being absorbed by production for his new album, which is expected in 2008. Can we expect more filthy, addictive hooks coming our way? "I'm just trying to make music the best I can. It's up to you to decide if there are filthy addictive hooks coming your way!"