Must be the so called French charme or better yet their undeniable talent but Joan Costes, graphic designer and Dj, & Adrien de Maublanc, producer and sound engineer, together make a perfect ensemble.
MEOKO talks to the cracking couple about their projects as designers and producers, their parallel, colourful and light hearted universe and about the ongoing collaborations for their very own label, Welcome to Masomenos.
Design and electronic music have always had a bond, as you can see from the absolutely cool cases of every noteworthy LP. But for Masomenos it is something more, it's an encounter between two worlds and two persons first of all. How did your collaboration begin?
It beginned with a love story, a fusional one that made us put everything we were and we did into it. On a more practical sense, we were proposed by a friend to work with him on a catwalk music selection. we had to find a name for that working partnership, and as w were back from a trip to Mexico, Masomenos naturally rised from brainstorming.
It has been our playground since then.
Masomenos has some funky, dub influences, but you also draw a lot from the French heritage & electronic scene. I am thinking about tracks like 'Coco'...
Well, dub is the core of the music, and techno sound dragged a lot out of this groove. Dub is like home for Masomenos. Then the disco funk is probably related to the joy within this music. And more to the house side of our sound. And as you say as French electronic music maker we are attracted to funk. It's like our door to dance music. Disco and funk.
The last reference is probably something a bit more poppy. Influenced by supertramp for exemple or bowie.
Then all this together makes our tracks very personal indeed.
You have already invited many fellow producers to collaborate on Welcome to Masomenos, your label: Tobi Naumann, Ark & Valentino Kanzyani to name a few. How were these past experiences so far? Do you have any collaborations coming up?
Well, on this matter as well, it usually began with a strong human bond before it got materialized by a session in the studio.
We're now still working on a release with Cesar Merveille…we had a really nice session few weeks ago in berlin!
The music industry is a big, wonderful melting-pot of cultures. Those encounters must have influenced you a lot...
More than the influence it gave us a lot of freedom. We felt a bit to tight in Paris 10 years ago. The scene is now really nice once again but back then the night life was almost unexisting, and we felt so amazed when partying in Romania back in 2007 to see that this kind of incredible rave were on there!
We get to meet so many different and interesting people, got to visit lots of cities and countries. All this was for sure really mind blowing.
Listen HERE for MEOKO's latest podcast by Masomenos
Event-wise...you played in the so hyped Boiler Room, at Space in Ibiza, Hoppetosse, and XXX amongst others. They are such different places and atmospheres, which kind of experience do you prefer?
As you say, they are such difference between them that you take was is to be taken out of each one. We do though really have a preference for small underground venues
…and first of May in Mamaia!
The thing is you can never say when or where the magic is gonna happen even though some places are more welcoming for it.
You have already played all around the world, and have so many gigs coming up. Is there anywhere you really would like to play or go back to?
We're back to Montreal next month, and always had nice time there. And as classic as it may be, Fabric in London!
Your label, Welcome to Masomenos, is actually also a world for your creatures, not just for music. Can you tell MEOKO a bit mote about it?
Well, we always had both music and image in our world, and weirdly, some creatures started existing in this world. Can not really explain how it happened, like they had their own life.
Is there a story behind, a connection between the eye-catching, colourful creatures on your vinyl cases and the tracks of an album (Hazy Duck, Pierre and le loup, The shy sheep)?
Sometimes it can influence, for sure. We had always been keen on playing with the words.
Also, they all seem like they popped out of a children’s book. Is there a specific reason for why you arw attracted to these aesthetics?
no, actually, they just popped out of the sharpie, didn't ask for invitation before. Though they always put a smile on our faces and on our friend's' aswell.
thinking about it, no doubt that the "disney + japanese manga cartoon" that fed our children eyes, and the keith haring posters that covered our teenagers room have something to do with having these guys around us now.
Many of you tracks' titles love, you, cherie clearly address love matters, and it's no secret being two happy 'love birds'. How it is working with the partner? And how big of a part does the relationship play in your music production?
The thing is we don't produce together. We basically have Adrien in the studio, and Joan gathering music. And then we play it under Masomenos name.
Recently we started playing together, as before we splited the act between the live and the dj set. Being a couple can not be analyzed out of what Masomenos is. We can not make a big difference between our personal / Family projects and our masomenos projects. It's all knitted together.
You used to have a shop in Paris now closed, which is a shame. The reason being is because you'd rather create than sell, something admirable to say, especially nowadays. What is Masomenos artist planning on at the moment?
Well we'just got a really nice workshop and are working in it to create a big masomenos installation.
Light installations, drawing, sculpture and music. You definitely work across a lot of different media. Where is the inspiration coming from in your artistic practice?
Even before we met we were already expressing our creativity through a lot of different medias. Still don't know if it's a good or a bad thing cause we spend lot of time getting to know the specificities of each technique or media. but this is how our creativity works!
Could one design exist without the other music production? Or are they as coupled as you two?
In our universe they could not
Finally, having travelled so widely, what is the thing you appreciate the most from your home (Paris)? And the best you've found elsewhere?
We LOVE so much being in Paris these days. it's an exotic adventure to stay home but Peru is like our secondary home, and we always spent great time in Berlin, NY, London…
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