Acclaimed French producer Agoria asked Ugo Bienvenu to draw a story based on his track "Singing." The animator came back with a tripped-out narrative, as if the video for "Take On Me" had a baby with French cartoonist Moebius. Adding weight to this exclusive video premiere, we caught up with the Lyon-born Agoria to learn about his recent US tour, Nuits Sonores, the festival he founded, and his upcoming tracks and remixes.
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THUMP: What's up Agoria? You just finished a mini tour across the US… how was it? Agoria: Very good I must say. For a few years now, the US has become great for undergound music. For a long time I didn't play so much there except at Movement festival (Detroit). The audience wasn't really used to electronic music, but now I have the feeling people are up for listening to cool stuff. Bangers might have helped to open at least a few doors. Also, a few promotors like Verboten in New-York and the Link and Miami Rebels crews in Miami have developed their own crowds and we can go really deep musically in their parties. So yes, I really had a lot of fun on this tour… and I can't wait to be back in July! I fell in love with Brooklyn during this trip, it reminds me a lot Berlin…it looks so creative now! A few new clubs emerging like Output make me believe this is just the beginning… Thumbs up for New York!While you were in the US, your hometown Lyon was hosting Nuits Sonores, a festival you founded a decade ago and which is now one of the biggest European electronic gatherings, alongside festivals like Sonar in Barcelona or Time Warp in Mannheim. How do you look back on this adventure? And why were you not there this year?
I cofounded Nuits Sonores with a very close friend of mine, Vincent Carry, and the association Arty Farty. They are still in charge of the direction of the festival and they are my closest family. I wouldn't imagine twelve years ago that our festival would become so famous and successful. I think we've been programming acts nobody would have bet on in Lyon, and we've made it work. My hometown used to be a disaster for djs and live acts. Absolutely nothing was going on and it was impossible to organise events. Nuit Sonores was risky, but with the help of the mayor, we decided to move forward and create this new event for the young generation. I'm very proud that we've given Lyon another reason to be visited than for its local sausage and its Côte du Rhone wine!
This year, I was actually at the festival for two days doing a lecture, but I thought that I should take a pass after playing ten years in a row. But you are right « La 11th Marche » (in reference to the 11th edition of the festival) was without me at the decks! Many people wrote me expressing disappointment that I didn't play, but I have to say that the scene from Lyon is really fertile now and it's great to see newcomers like Kosme playing on the main stage this year. That's also why I created Club69 with Jose Lagarellos, one of the art directors of Nuits Sonores, to feature artists exclusively from Lyon, trying to push them a bit more.
And I have to admit, it was amazing being at Nuits Sonores without any stress for the first time! When you play in your hometown, in front of 10000 people, it's very stressfull! You can't stop thinking about all the friends and family dancing in front of you.
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Nuits Sonores isn't all about music performances, I was looking at the programming of the European Lab, the pro meetings and conferences organized alongside the festival. It looks like you have created also the European Union for electronic music, tell me more about it.
The Europan Lab was an initiative created by my partner Vincent Carry. He has been a true visionary with this! For this year, people came from all over the world to speak and share their ideas and perspectives. We had the founders of Pitchfork, Resident Advisor, Burning Man, and SXSW, but also artists, label managers and many more… it's a really inspiring addition to the usual festival lineup.
On top of this, Vincent created a little group of people who will meet four or five times a year and discuss ideas. I'm part of this brainstorming team with Bruno Bonell (president of Robopolis and I.volution), Georgia Taglietti (Sonar Festival), Julia Poulpy (Culture Action Europe) and Steven Hearn (Scintillo). I don't know exactly what will come out from this but I really like the idea of creating a cultural think tank.The techno illuminati! [laughs] Let's go back to music. Today we are releasing the music video for your track "Singing." How did you work with the director? What can we expect from you in the coming months? Any new releases on the way?
The video for "Singing" was made two years ago for InFiné, the label I cofounded, but for some reason, I decided to stop overseeing the management of the label and the tune was never even released. I put out several remixes by Dixon on his label, Innervisions, but after some time went by, I realized that the original version was still relevant. Ugo Bienvenu, who directed the video, is such a great illustrator and he worked a lot on this. That's why I'm very happy to finally present his work!
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Regarding music, I just finished a remix for Art Department's cover of the XX "Crystalized" with Martina Topley Bird and Mark Lanagen from Queens of the Stone Age… not a bad team! I also started working with my friend Everydayz, under our new alias Sunlune on a remix for Michael Mayer that went out a couple of weeks ago. Last but not least, I'm happy to announce that I'm going to release a new EP on Innervisions named Scala sometime in the next months… Agoria feat Scalde - "Singing" (radio edit) free download
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Nuits Sonores isn't all about music performances, I was looking at the programming of the European Lab, the pro meetings and conferences organized alongside the festival. It looks like you have created also the European Union for electronic music, tell me more about it.
