Interview: C2C
Primarily known on the DJ battle circuit as masters of their trade, this year C2C have ventured into releasing their own productions. We caught up with them to chat about their recent EP Down the Road and steps forward from here…
Hi C2C – please introduce yourselves for those who may not be familiar.
Hi there! We’re 4 DJs from France: Atom, Greem , Pfel & 20syl. We created C2C in 1997 and we got known by wining the DMC World Championship 4 times in a row from 2003 ’til 2006. Since then we’ve been busy with two other projects: Hocus-Pocus – one of the most famous French hip-hop bands for 20syl and Greem and Beat Torrent , a worldwide party killing machine for Atom and Pfel .
Your first EP, Down The Road, is out now. How has the response been so far in France? Have you heard much from the rest of Europe and the UK?
So far the response on the EP has been amazing in France. We didn’t know how people would react to it because we hadn’t released music for a few years with C2C but looking at all the feedback on the EP , it’s really encouraging for the album. We have also very good response from other countries such as Japan, USA,Netherlands and also UK.
Is promoting your music at home easier than farming it out to the world or does the internet negate any difficulties in attacking a global market?
It is true that internet help a lots to promote our music through social networks ,blogs and videos like F.U.Y.A or our 2005 DMC show which has nearly 6millions views on youtube but it’s not all about that . We believe it’s also very important to be close from the crowd and being able to tour in many countries.We designed a very innovative AV show to give our music its full dimension so we hope to be able to perform it in the UK as soon as possible!
Have you found that releasing an EP has enabled people to find out a little bit more about turntablism culture and your competition history? Have you come across anyone that was unaware of your DMC work but is a fan of the music?
Yeah ,releasing this kind of music contributes to promote this artform to people who are not really digging it. And yes we’ve heard many people who learned about it through this release so it ‘s always a good thing to see that people can be interesting on this very specific thing. However the main goal is just bring good music to the crowd but if they can dig new things through our music, it will be positive for everyone.
Was there a particular motivation for moving away from the battle circuit? Was it a big decision to make?
No special deal with it, we just thought we made our time on the competition after winning 4 times. I think with or without Serato , preparing a dmc set is always hard work . It’s just a different approach and new way to design and perform the routines. There are much more possibilities to create and have original stuff with Serato so i think it ‘s a normal evolution for musician and djs to accept the new technologies .
Were there any particular influences behind the sounds of the EP, in terms of artists or genres?
So many !! It’s hard to put precise names behind those influences but the thing is we didn’t put any limits on the style of music we wanted to do. that’s why our music can seduce hip hop fans as well as electro fans or more organic music diggers. “No wall between music” as our friend Dj Kentaro use to say!
How long was the process of making the music? How does the collaboration between four of you work out? Do you have specific roles?
Well, we really got into it seriously in september 2010 since now. For the creation of this album we had a very democratic way of working. The first step was more individual. During one month each of us did many demos ,loop ,short ideas so everyone could express itself without any restraints. During this period we nearly did a 100 short tracks! Then we did a selection and kept the best 15 tracks to rework it all together. So we all have the skills for music production but in order to be more efficient , two of us are heading the work when time is come to get behind the computer, to complete and finish the tracks. On one side ,20syl which has the biggest musical experience in studio lead the work when we doing all the edits and the arrangements on the tracks. We’re working on his studio also in Nantes. On the other side ,Atom who’s studied a few years to be sound engineer is in charge of the mix and he’s working in his own studio inParis. And of course we all scratch on every track!
As a result does the album vary wildly in style or do consider it a cohesive whole? I think we manage to have both variety and coherence on the album. It is the result of all those influences and the “No Style limit” we had.
What is about C2C that made you better than your competitors?
Don’t know… Ask them maybe ! 😉
Did someone come to you with the concept for the F.U.Y.A. video or was it one you had in your heads? Who directed it?
20syl came up with the idea for F.U.Y.A video. He also directed it and edited it in collaboration with another guy called Francis Cutter. It was a big challenge to shoot it on our own but a great experience and big fun. It’s cool to see that people are really diggin and sharing it.
DJing or production… If there’s a kid reading this who wants to know what to spend his or her money on, which way should they go?
Hard to say. Both are complementary but production is maybe more of an achievement in music than djing . Depends how much time you can put into this!
Will you be going out on the road to perform a turntable version of the album?
Yeah we’re already started touring! We’re performing on many big stages in France this summer such as Le printemps de Bourges, Garorock, Francofolies, Eurockéennes, Rock en Seine, Les vieilles charrues and many more. We ‘re also performing at big European festivals like Dour and Pukkelpop in Belgium, Paleo in Switzerland . We just got back from California and Japan where we did a few shows as well . As we said earlier we’re performing the new songs with a brand new AV shows with lots of actions and surprises.
And for the future – more DMCs or competitions?
No, I think we won’t enter the competition anymore. But who knows….
C2C, thank you so much for your time. I look forward to hearing the album! What’s it called and when is it out?
The album will be released during fall, at the beginning of September! Don’t miss it! Peace.
Buy DOWN THE ROAD on iTunes
follow C2C on Facebook and Twitter. www.facebook.com/C2Cofficial twitter : @C2Cdjs
