One of the favourite Frenchmen in electronic music, Olivier Mateu aka Rodriguez Jr. is best known for two studio albums and singles for Laurent Garnier’s F-Communications as a part of Youngsters. We got the chance to speak with him about his new EP ‘Chain Reaction’, his music and many more. Enjoy!
Hi Olivier, how are you? As I could see, you are always on the road around the globe, so where are you currently?
I am fine, thanks! Finally back home for a couple of days, before flying to Brazil tomorrow. It’s been so hectic that I don’t even know where I am when waking up. Feeling blessed to experience such a wonderful life though.
You new EP ‘Chain Reaction’ is out, so tell us something more about it? What inspired you to make it?
I’ve been performing ‘Chain Reaction’ in my live sets for quite a while now, and have always received great reactions. So I basically decided to release it as a last EP before my album. The whole EP presents a different twist than what I did before: the synths are more compressed and upfront, the beat is slightly faster .
I really liked track ‘2 Miles Away’ from this release because it’s so beautiful, uplifting and sounds so complex and planned, and then I read you made it in only one day. So, how did that happened and what do you think caused hit of spontaneous inspiration?
I was actually struggling with another track, and decided get rid of it and start something else from scratch. That’s always the good trick in case of writing block. So I plugged the Moog, started having fun, and the whole track got finished really quickly. ‘2 Miles Away’ sounds more complex than it actually is. There is just one line of synth with different modulations on each oscillator, so it gives this feeling of complexity.
What’s your favorite thing when it comes to producing your own track?
I love hanging out in the studio, looking for melodies or sound textures on my synths. It’s all about experimenting and having fun, pretty much like a kid with his toys.
Speaking of your releases, earlier this year you released ‘Petropolis’ and the title track became really popular, so what was the story behind it?
Petropolis is a city in Brazil in the state of Rio de Janeiro. I had the opportunity to go there a couple of years ago while touring Brazil and really liked the contrast between the post-industrial sounding name and the dreamlike city surroundings. That’s the same kind of contrast I try to emphasize in my music: using machines and electronically generated sounds for creating emotional soundscapes.
‘Chain Reaction’ was released for mobilee, so how did you cooperation with Anja and this label started?
I met Anja at her Berlin Radio show 13 years ago. She also used to organize parties in Germany together with Ralf Kollmann. And we have never lost the connection since then. Sometimes, life brings the right people on your path. That’s a strong long time friendship. She’s been extremely helpful when I started my Rodriguez Jr. project, back in 2007, so my first releases naturally came out on mobilee…
You announced your third album for next year, and also live show tour, could you tell us something more about that?
The album will be the continuity of what I have released lately: stripped down beats, lush analog synthesizers, melodies, textures, vocals. We will support it with my new live concept ‘Visualized’ – a special configuration we have developed for bigger stages and festivals. Trying to bring it to the next level thanks to the experience we have gathered this year: more visuals, more instruments on stage, more interaction.
What are the charms of live performance for you?
It’s all about controlling music from inside. That’s a totally different feeling: a DJ can adapt to an audience and create different kind of vibes by assembling tracks, while a live performance is all about performing original material. It can often be a tough challenge, because you don’t have so many different options for pleasing the crowd in terms of genres… so it’s all about pushing your own music in different directions in order to convince the people with it.
What are your plans for the future, regarding music?
I am currently focused on my forthcoming album, which should be released in 2017, so I cannot properly think further. So much looking forward to hitting 2017 with these new projects! Though I wish I could work on different kind of projects at some point, such as soundtracks or art installations. Future looks bright.
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