Introducing The Brilliant Artist and Producer Madeon
Bursting on the scene at the age of 17 with his 39 sample piece ‘Pop Culture,’ Madeon has become a powerhouse in the music industry. After his successful debut, he continued on his upward trajectory by DJing and producing. From working with artists like Lady Gaga and Coldplay and performing non-stop for eight years, Madeon took a much needed three-year hiatus. Now in 2019, he is back with new music, including his latest track Be Fine, Madeon is setting fire to the industry yet again, and we can’t wait to see what he has in store!
We got to chat with the French artist about everything from his viral hit Pop Culture, his experience producing Lady Gaga and Coldplay, and so much more!
When did you realize that you wanted to pursue music?
As a child I was interested in almost any medium of creation. I would write, draw and build things. At the age of ten I stumbled upon a documentary on TV about Daft Punk and that was my first proper introduction to music. A few months later I decided I wanted to focus on one craft above others and was intuitively drawn to music over all my other interests. The music I loved moved me in ways I couldn’t explain and investigating that mystery was irresistible.
You got you to start with your mash-up “Pop Culture,” how did that 39 song piece come to be?
My early music was deeply informed by the French house tradition. That music is typically made using sampled loops but I decided I didn’t want to rely on those for my original productions, as a rule.
Pop Culture was a way for me to do the exact opposite and make a new piece of music exclusively out of samples.
Your two latest singles Dream Dream Dream and All My Friends are fantastic tracks, how are they different from your previous work?
With this new album my priority has been to embody the music as much as possible, I want to include myself in it. The natural solution was to write and sing the songs myself, progressively revealing more of myself through lyrics. I also decided to embrace my freedom as a producer and let go of the limitations of genre and format I had internalized before. I welcomed all of my influences and aspirations without considering whether it made sense as dance music or not.
What’s your creative process when you’re making new music?
It’s laboratory. I try to gather tools and ingredients and play around until something unexplainable and magical emerges. It’s like finding a little treasure, then my work is to preserve it and give it a home, expand upon it until it becomes a song.
Which do you prefer DJ’ing or producing?
My favorite part of this project is my live show. It’s not really DJing, instead I sing and play instruments as part of an audio visual presentation. I only perform my own music. I’m very proud of that performance, especially my new show Good Faith Live. Occasionally, I still DJ and enjoy it a lot but it’s less of a statement. Making music is a giant beast in my life and it provides me by far some of the highest joys and some of the most frightening challenges.
You’re working on a new album, what can fans expect from the new record?
Good Faith is about celebrating the joy you’ve earned. It’s sunny and euphoric, but it’s a joy that was fought for – it’s victory. I really wanted to make an artist album as opposed to a producer album so I wrote, sung and produced every song.
You’ve produced for some of the industry’s biggest acts like Lady Gaga and Coldplay. What’s your favorite part about collaborating with other artists?
Exceptional artists are often exceptional people. Those collaborations came at a pretty influential time in my life and I definitely took away both musical and personal lessons.
What do you hope to achieve before the end of this year?
I’m gonna be touring Good Faith Live extensively. I hope that the tour goes well and that I share a really good time with a lot of people. I hope that those are memories that I’ll look back on fondly forever!
Make sure to check out Madeon new track ‘Be Fine’ below!
