Etienne De Crecy
Etienne de Crecy talking about french radio stations, music and touring!
Etienne de Crecy is a key figure of the international electronic scene. During his 20-year rise to the
summit, the French producer has cut some of the worlda€™s most influential electronic albums:
Pansoul (under the pseudonym Motorbass), Super Discount 1, Tempovision and Super Discount 2. He
has also made around 30 EPs and done some 40 remixes for artists such as Kraftwerk, Air, Moby,
Morcheeba, Lila€™ Louis and Zombie Nation. As well as being recognised for his versatile and potent
productions, Etienne de Crécy is also a keen DJ who is always a hit with the crowd and his live
shows with the giant Beatsa€™Na€™Cubes structure swept all before them on five continents.
In 1990, 21-year-old Etienne de Crécy was working at +XXX studios in Paris. He was assistant
sound engineer on MC Solaara€™s track Bouge de là , which he worked on with Philippe Zdar (one half
of the future Cassius). The two men quickly realised they were on the same wavelength. Both of
them were fans of music and new sounds and they discovered techno together, went to the first
Parisian raves and launched the adventure that was
Motorbass.
After making several outstanding EPs in 1993/4,
legendary duo Motorbass released their Pansoul
album in autumn 1995. A few months later Daft
Punka€™s Homework arrived. These two albums were the
cornerstones of the emerging French Touch, the
wave of electronica that put Paris firmly at the centre
of the musical map.
Full of torrid and intoxicating beauty, Pansoul was the
embodiment of a sound with its roots in funk,
bringing a touch of colour to techno and mingling in
some 90s electro-soul. The critics went wild and the
British press loved it. The album was one of the most
beautiful albums of its time and has become a classic.
In 1996 Etienne de Crécy launched the Super Discount project. On this memorable album, bursting
with a euphoric and mischievous brand of out-and-out house, he crafted most of the tracks under a
range of pseudonyms and also invited his friends Air, Alex Gopher and Mr Learn. Just like
Motorbassa€™s Pansoul, this fresh and spontaneous sounding record imposed itself as one of the
driving forces behind the French Touch and set the standard for electronic music in France and
around the world. The album also launched Solid, one of the first French electronic music labels,
which was set up by Etienne de Crécy, Alex Gopher and Pierre-Michel Levallois. Solid went on to
bring out dozens of EPs and a dozen albums (Etienne de Crécy, Alex Gopher, Cosmo Vitelli, Wuz,
etc.).
The album Super Discount announced the birth of the collaboration between Etienne de Crécy and
the H5 graphic design agency. The simple graphics on the sleeve for Super Discount made a powerful
and universal statement. As a producer, Etienne de Crécy often likes to hide behind an imaginary
world, a concept, visuals and a range of graphic styles and leave the music to do the talking