DJLarge

Madeon’s Summer Will be Hard: Grammy-nominated artist Madeon became intrigued by music production at 11 after watching a documentary about Daft Punk on French television.

“I started downloading software on my parent’s computer and fell in love,” he says. “I had always been a troublesome child and I wasn’t thriving in school. As soon as I turned 16, the legally required age, I quit school and dedicated myself fully to music. Within a few months, incredibly, things started going really well and by the time I turned 17 I was touring around the world.”

The electronic musician says that his sound isn’t any one thing.

“I come from a generation that discovered dance music entirely online, as a child, long before partying or nightclubs could possibly be on my radar,” he says. “As such I always listened to dance music alongside pop music, there was never a big gap between Daft Punk and The Beatles in my imagination. I think the music I make today reflects that, I think about songwriting and melodies a lot more than danceability. Most of my music today is made of songs I wrote and sang by myself. The line between DJ and pop singer is blurry.”

Madeon is enthusiastic about the current state of dance music.

“I think the quest for legitimacy is behind us, it simply is a major pillar of popular music just like any other,” he says. “Audiences are receptive to all kinds of projects, sounds and formats. It feels as free as ever to me.”

Madeon will be performing at HARD Summer this month.

“HARD Summer is a really special one,” he says. “I’ve been living in Los Angeles for a few years so it’s a home turf show. I’m gonna be bringing my Good Faith Forever live show, which is probably the thing I’ve made I’m proudest of! It’s a show where visual moments are as important as musical ones, and it’s a true labor of love that took many years of work and reflection. I’ll be singing, playing keyboard and hopefully creating visual moments you’ve never seen before. Without spoiling too much, I can say I’ll duplicate myself with digital clones, kneel down to ominous giant faces and levitate into the air.”

Looking ahead, he has plenty more planned for 2022.

“I have a few more really important shows this year, the Brooklyn and the Bay area ones are particularly special for me,” he says. “My next release will be a song I’m really happy with that I’ve been performing on stage lately. I don’t want to reveal anything beyond that quite yet!”

Madeon’s Summer Will be Hard: Madeon performs at HARDS Summer on Saturday, July 30. Go to hardsummer.com for all the info.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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