When French producer Møme teamed up with L.A.-based vocalist Ricky Ducati (Midnight to Monaco), who could have guessed that the results would be the sort of gloriously retro, smooth electronic R&B-pop showcased on new single “Got it Made.” We chatted to local boy Ducati about all that and more…

L.A. WEEKLY: When did you start singing and writing individually, and then when did you start collaborating with Møme?

RICKY DUCATI: I’m from Canada so I went to audio school there. I wasn’t sure if I would do music or writing, and I actually started doing stuff on my laptop. At that point, I figured I really liked it and just kept going with it. I ended up messaging a lot of producers at the time, and I actually messaged one — Donnie Sloan. From there, we started a project together that went on for a few years. We actually ended up getting signed in the States to Island. Unfortunately, that didn’t end up working out so at that point, I was published by Sony and started songwriting for a few years behind the scenes. But in the time I was with that project, I had met Jérémy Mome and we did a track together — “Alive.” I think that did pretty well, especially in France. Then we didn’t talk for a couple of years, but afterwards we ended up meeting, talking again, and did a track called “Sail Away.” I had been working on a number of tracks in the background, and I sent him the demo of “Sail Away.” He’s a really great producer, and that song has taken off in the last couple of years and done really well for his project. So that’s how the project began.

Describe the sound that the two of you create together…

There wasn’t much thought going into it — I think it was pretty organic. I definitely have a classic rock/yacht rock background just growing up, so I think a lot of that ‘80s influence came out, not even thinking about it. So that point, we had been going back and forth with demos, and I think we had five or six tracks together. We looked at it and realized that a lot of those had a retro feel. At that point, we decided to do some sort of concept project where maybe we make our own playlist of the kind of music we grew up listening to and like to listen to still, and put a radio concept around it. So it’s like our own personal playlist.

The new single is “Got it Made” — what’s it about?

I think it’s about a number of things. Mainly, living in L.A. there’s a lot of hip-hop and pop influence if you’re just driving around with the car windows open. I’ve lived here now for four year, and I’ve personally never felt that encapsulated my experience of L.A. I think this song is basically what I feel it’s like to live here for me — to drive when the sun’s out. It just happens to have a retro feel. Lyrically, it has to do more with a relationship. It’s not a joke, but the concept of living here, trying to pick up women, girls looking for guys with money. In a lighthearted way. It’s supposed to be just fun.

Did the lockdown affect the rollout of material?

I would say it hasn’t, just because were both able to work in-house. I think we’re both homebody writers and producers. So if anything, it’s probably influenced the way we’ve been writing and what we’ve been writing about, just with what’s been going on in the world. Down the line it will obviously affect playing live and stuff.

What do you have planned for the rest of 2020?

We’ve put together an album and this is just the first of the tracks. We’re still trying to put together the right way to release everything. Personally, I do have my own project. So just writing. The focus is on this album, so I think we’ll probably have a couple more releases before the end of the year and then next year, if we can play live, get the album out and go from there.

“Got it Made” is available from July 8.

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.