RS: You've also done a few remixes and you've remixed one of my favorite songs of recent years "Over You" by Daddy DJ. How were you approached to do that project?
Christophe: RKG was the head company for Daddy DJ in France and they signed Lasgo. They asked if somebody at the company wanted to do a remix and so, you know, that's how we did it.
RS: And you also remixed Leann Rimes. How did you approach your mixing with such a harmonic vocal? .
Christophe: The challenge with "But I Do Love You" was that it was a slow ballad and it was hard to a dance remix. Most people would pitch up the vocals and do something that sounded like a Smurf singing. Instead of pitching it up we pitched it down. The original version was around 80 beats per minute, so we put it at 70 and then made the music at 140. Our remix didn't lose the feeling of the original song and it was still trance. It did well for us, making top 20 in the UK.
RS: What's your favorite piece of studio equipment?
Christophe: Well that's hard to explain. We have an incredible sound system at the moment. We have collected real synthesizers and hardware, so we had around ninety hardware synths and then we added software synths so we had over a hundred software synths and over two hundred software effects plug-ins. We have so much equipment that we had four DSB cards in our computer. We are building a new studio which will have an eight or nine terabyte hard disc server and have all the studios connected with us working with virtual folders. If we work in one studio, we can save it, go to the other studio, open it and have the same set up.
RS: Do you use Logic, Cubase or ProTools?
Christophe: Actually, I had just had an experience with ProTools, because everybody's talking about ProTools or Logic or Cubase, and actually I think it's like comparing Mercedes with BMW. If you want a good system, you need to spend money regardless of the type - logic or cubase. But then it depends on taste, BMW and Mercedes are the same price, but some like the Mercedes, some like the BMW, you know what I mean?
RS: That's a unique comparison, no one has ever said it like that.
Christophe: We work on the Cubase SX2 system, which is actually the same as Logic because the system is the same. Why do we do it on Cubase? Our company is building this five studio complex and we have artists and even young kids working in our studio. The kids work on their PCs because they don't have a lot of money to use ProTools. They has a normal PC, work with Reason, Fruityloops or a cracked version of Cubase and have some software plug-ins and work on it. They bring in a good demo that you like with a good sound and you need to use it. If you use another system then you are not able to use that sound.
So the idea is that with the kids making songs, we want to help them improve it and then make it as professional as possible. Everybody is laughing with us because they say you need a ProTools system, but we disagree. Sequencing is horrible on Protools! So that leaves us with Logic and Cubase SX2, and they are the same but one is Mac and one is PC, but what's the difference? Software-wise, yes, you can buy plug-ins for your Mac, there are two hundred plug-ins, but for your PC there are four hundred and fifty, so we made that choice. So we mix everything and then we put it on a ProTools system and have a mix engineer do their thing, so at the end it stays the same. My first records were made on an Atari 1040, and I still made the top ten with it, so nobody really cares what software you use as long as the song is good.
RS: Is there anything you want to say to all the people out there?
Christophe: I really am happy that the American people are so consistent liking dance music, it makes us really happy. Everybody's dissing dance music and at the end everybody likes it. It's quite strange that dance is one of the most popular music styles in the world, because dance records are played all over the world. If I go to Germany, Japan, South Africa, America, Chile or Ecuador, they're playing dance records. Every club has dance music and still some people don't appreciate it. So I'm really happy that there are people, the clubbing people, that go for it and are still consistent in dance music.
