by Amy Weller

Yuksek: 'I could have spent weeks in the studio with Oh Land'

DJ and producer discusses current projects ahead of London gig with James Murphy

 

Yuksek: 'I could have spent weeks in the studio with Oh Land'

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French dance superstar Yuksek is in London tonight to perform as part of East London's XOYO's birthday celebrations. Over the course of two studio albums and a run of spectacular remixes, he has made a name for himself as one of the coolest electronic artists - and a must see performer and DJ.

The event at XOYO is being led with a DJ set from LCD Soundsystem’s frontman James Murphy, of whom Yuksek is a huge fan. “James Murphy is probably the only person I could say over the past 10 years I’m a big fan of. I haven’t really been crazy about anyone else," he tells us.

Considering Yuksek has recently launched his own record label Party Fine, which showcases the music he is genuinely passionate about, it's easy to believe that the producer can be quite picky. However he does name Flume and Jagwar Ma as two of the acts he's currently listening to. 

Having successfully made a name for himself with both DJ sets and live performances in a band set up on his most recent album, he has proven his versality when working in the electro genre.

“I love doing both, it's a lot easier to tour as a DJ," he says. "Live it’s much more complicated with seven or eight people on the road.

"On the last album I was singing every track and it was a huge experiment to do that on stage. It was much more involving and something very physical."


Yuksek performing his live sets

"When you DJ you can play different sounds every night and you can feel the crowd. When you play live you play your own songs so you hope every time that the people know that and they enjoy that. It’s much more stressful.”

Yuksek has just released a new single, the first in the way of material since his album Living On The Edge Of Time in 2011. The track 'Last Of Our Kinds' is a collaboration with the Danish singer Oh Land.

Yuksek is always looking to collaborate with some of his favourite talents, and was heavily involved in the album production for french indie-pop duo Juveniles. 

"It was really cool to work with Juveniles, I’m lucky that I get to work with really fun and cool people," he says of his involvement in their debut album  "But I only had 2 days in New York with Oh Land and we could have spent two weeks there."

Despite ever changing the style of his musical output to avoid personal boredom, Yuksek's trademark upbeat electro sound always shines through. In the meantime, the producer continues to work slowly on his new record but states "We’re going to take our time, I don’t want to rush as I’m continuing to DJ and focus on the label" he says, suggesting fans will have quite a wait for new solo material...

Yuksek performs tonight alongside LCD Soundsystem star James Murphy at XOYO, East London.

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