DJ Profile – Frenchish (UK)
Always out to push the new breed of DJ coming through the ranks, this time we’re taking five with Frenchish, the 22 year old French born bassbin basher from Malvern, Worcestershire.
He’s got an impressive array of gigs under his belt, as well presenting the world with a couple of blinding mixtapes with man like Elkay (who we interviewed a while back, and who is easily one of our favourite MCs), and a recent free download that bust out all over.
With sets at Boardmasters, NASS, Nozstock, Motion, Lakota, Clock factory, Resonate Aberystwyth tucked away on his done list, we thought it was about time we said hello!
Frenchish! Welcome in!
Yes guys, very excited to have a chat!
I love the play on words in your DJ name. Classic. Like your only French-ish. That must be a hangover from school right?
Hahaha, when I got my first booking, me and my mate were sitting in his car and I said to him “we’ve gotta come up with an alias”, and props to him, after many poor ideas from the pair of us, Frenchish stuck. Big ups to Jonny for that
While you’re from Malvern, Worcestershire, you’re currently studying Electronic Music Production At BIMM Bristol. This is a combination most young DNB heads of your age (and mine come to think of it!) could only dream of.
Firstly, what is your main ambition once you’ve got this awesome qualification under your belt?
Just progress man, after nearly two years of trying on and off I’ve finally started to see progression in the music I make and I’m enjoying it far, far more than I used to. So hopefully when this course is finished there will be a lot more music out there from me.
And secondly, is living in the new DNB capital of the world really all it seems to be from the outside? We LOVE the city here at INSIDE DNB HQ, and raving there is always a joy!
It’s expensive as HELL but it’s definitely the place to be. There’s never a night where something exciting isn’t going on, and you’ll definitely draw inspiration from your surroundings down here.
You’ve got quite a broad taste in music, including jazz and blues as well as bass music. Do you find you are able to draw influence from styles outside of DNB when you sit down to write? I mean, there’s a lot of stuff coming out now with a kind of ethnic/traditional/folk flavour to it, so what, if anything, do you find working its way into your music?
Yeah I’d say so. One of the reasons I listen to so much is because it can help broaden your ideas when making tracks, and you can never listen to too much music. At the moment I’d say you can hear more of a soul influence in my sets than anything else when I play out, obviously that’s surrounded by so many different sub genres but it’s in there.
You’ve got 4 CDJ2000 NXS2. Bit greedy innit?
You could say that hahaha, I’m lucky enough that my parents supported my passion when they saw what I was doing, and I can definitely say that I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am today without that setup. I used to spend around 4-6 hours on them every day for the 3 years I had them before I moved to Bristol, now it’s more so when time allows and if i’m focusing on a set more than tunes, or if I’ve got the time around my assignments but it’s still around 2 hours a day.
You say you’re leaning towards the Camo & Krooked & A.M.C sound at the moment, but there is just soooooooooooooo much variety out there right now. We have never been more spoilt for choice!
That’s so true man, I say those two names mostly because I love A.M.C’s technical ability and that’s something I pour time into, but I haven’t seen a set that makes me feel the emotions Camo & Krooked B2B Mefjus has. I’ll play almost every subgenre of dnb in my sets because if I like a tune then I’ll play it. Also Crossy’s style is something I really enjoy. After watching his 5 hour set at Marble Factory I personally haven’t seen any DNB DJ’s as versatile as him, which is another thing I lean towards. Technical Ability, Emotion & Versatility are my 3 pillars when playing.
I’ve heard of a lot of ways that people get into DJing before, but mixing by fading up and down two different YouTube tabs at house parties is probably one of the most innovative! I just love that idea!
Hahaha, honestly me and my mates had no idea that decks even existed at that point, felt like the guys when we turned up and did that, because as far as we were aware this was the only way to fade tunes together without having silence in between them.
You were born in France and didn’t move until you were six, and I assume you’re still connected with the country, so I wondered, are you aware of the DNB club/event scene there, and if so, would you consider trying to get some gigs there? At least there would be no language barrier! Also, there is some absolutely sick music coming from France right now, what with L0G1N and Burr Oak to name but a few!
Yeah man I love the country, sadly haven’t had the time in recent years to head back over there but would love to soon. I’d definitely love to play over there, crowds seem crazy ! Burr Oak are ridiculously talented.
I’m really interested to know about the Electronic Music Production course you’re currently enrolled on. I’ve interviewed loads of producers and some say that formal training definitely helped, and others were completely happy to be self-taught.
My question is, what benefits have you seen personally so far in taking the training, and ultimately, where are you hoping it will take you?
I’ve definitely seen a major improvement in my production, mainly I’ve found that the course forces me to produce which I kind of needed, being a perfectionist if I’m not good at something, or convinced I’m good at it fairly quickly I get bored, so in that scenario it’s definitely benefited me.
Hopefully it enables me to make the music I want to, but I’m well aware that it’s not only to do with the things I’m taught, it’s also the hours I put in.
You are a jazz music fan, as well as blues and bass music. You’re not the first person I’ve talked to in the DNB world who likes jazz. I do too, and I think it’s because it can be quite chaotic, like DNB is. I mean, DNB is a kind of musical nonsense for the most part, so what is it about jazz that appeals? I’m just interested!
Hahaha, I found with Jazz that if you’re in a group of people, and conversation is struggling, put some Jazz on and it sparks back up. It sounds crazy but somehow it just gets people talking, give it a go if you’re ever in that position haha. Aside from that, I love how the music flows, the emotions it gives off and how one tune can go through so many different emotions, just like DnB.
Producing is something you’ve been into for a year and a half or so now. What styles are you into making the most, do you prefer to make one style over another, and what style is the most fun to create?
I’ll just make whatever I’m feeling at that point in time to be honest. I love making Grime beats, Hip Hop beats, Old school DNB with that Dillinja type feel and big old reese basses with chords underneath.
When you say most fun to create, it depends on how I’m feeling, but overall Id say grime, just gets me gassed when I have a good idea on the go.
And tell us about the releases you’ve had so far? (also, our label is weeks away from launching, so remember us when you’re sending out demos!!!!!!!!)
So far I’ve only self released a couple of Free Downloads, the favourite being my Saga Bootleg. I’ve got a few things that I’m finishing up at the minute, but I doubt they’ll see the light of day for a good while. It’s s blessing and a curse being a perfectionist, because I have a fair bit that I could put out but I just know I wouldn’t be happy that I let it go without spending an absolute age on it.
Smaller venues are something you’ve also mentioned, and how often they can be more enjoyable to play. There is just something closer and more familial about the whole process eh?
For sure, The Attic Bar in Bristol has been home to some of my favourite sets ever, the crowd is ALWAYS on point, and I just love the intimacy of being able to see how everyone reacts to what I play.
So, tell me about you and Elkay. I’ve seen him perform at a few gigs here in Wales where I’m from, and of course I interviewed him a while back too, but you’re hoping to increase your footprint as a duo this year. Truly great DJ/MC combos are unbeatable in terms of excitement and entertainment, so what are you hoping to bring to the table?
There are so many unbelievably talented MC’s out there: Trafic, IC3, Phantom to name a few of my favourites, and for me Elkay just embodies everything I could ask for in an MC. I don’t know how many other DJ/MC Duos do this, but before every set we play, I record the hour and ping it over to him so he knows exactly what’s coming and when, our communication on stage is also unreal, and we both know exactly what we’re gonna do and when. I also feel that in recent times the respect for MC’s has been lost a bit, and I hope that by pushing us two as a duo people will start to see how important MC’s are to the culture again.
Industry Music, Trafic MC (who I would still love to interview BTW) and Elkay are all people you feel have supported you and pushed you forward as a DJ. That initial push is so important isn’t it, because there is just so much raw talent out there that a lot of it probably never sees the light of day.
For sure man, without the support from these 3 mainly and the help of a few others, I wouldn’t be halfway to where I am today. The Industry Music guys were the first people to book me outside of a commercial club setting, they just said they liked what I played and could see me going somewhere, which I appreciate so much. They’re half the reason I met Elkay in the first place.
Elkay and myself met and then kind of mashed our connections in the scene together to create a network of people that would book us as a duo, I wouldn’t have played some of my favourite shows if it wasn’t for him, and they wouldn’t have been half as enjoyable without him holding it down.
After meeting Elkay he introduced me to Trafic who then gave me so much great advice, helped me link up with some of my favourite artists, and got me to play even more of some of my favourite sets. I’m very lucky to have such a wonderful network of people around me.
