APPAREL INTERVIEW:

Art Of Tones

DJ,  Producer [France]

 

Ludovic Llorca aka Art Of Tones is an old acquaintance of ours, as well as a member of the broad musical family that we call the Apparel family. He’s about to release a wonderful five-track EP called ‘Flight of the Comet’, on the Parisian imprint Frappé, which is also their first studio record to date; in collaboration with the Jazz/Funk ensemble Chatobaron. We though this might be an ideal moment to get together again and ask him a few questions about this forthcoming release and a few more interesting facts.

 
 
 
 

APPAREL INTERVIEW:

Art Of Tones

DJ,  Producer [France]

 

Ludovic Llorca aka Art Of Tones is an old acquaintance of ours, as well as a member of the broad musical family that we call the Apparel family. He’s about to release a wonderful five-track EP called ‘Flight of the Comet’, on the Parisian imprint Frappé, which is also their first studio record to date; in collaboration with the Jazz/Funk ensemble Chatobaron. We though this might be an ideal moment to get together again and ask him a few questions about this forthcoming release and a few more interesting facts.

 
 
parallax background
 

 
 

 

Art Of Tones Q&A

 

-Salut Ludo, how’s it going?

- I'm good ! I've been on a short creative pause recently because i was "creatively" tired, but i can feel i'm slowly getting back to music making.

 

-How are you dealing with the tension (if there’s any) of this new forthcoming fascinating release?

- Oh no tension, man. I'm very excited and super happy to see this one finally released ! Lot of hard work, lot of joy in the studio with the Chatobaron team, so there's no tension at all.

 

 
 
 

-Tell us a bit more about the birth of this collaborative idea; was it something planned out or it just happened by chance?

- Well, i've been wanting to go to studios with musicians for years. I've got a lot of new projects and instrumentals sitting on my harddrive, but sometimes you've got find the right singer, or the right musicians to collaborate with.
The Frappé label proposed me to go to studio with Chatobaron last year and they introduced me to Franck Chatona, who led the rehearsal sessions with his band. We swapped some tracks and shared some ideas, and everything was flowing so naturally.
That was a very easy collaboration ! We could feel in the studio everybody enjoyed being here.

 

 

 
 

-We assume that, after such a long career full of highlights you might have felt an urge to express yourself in a different way? So, does this EP come from the necessity of breaking down some artistic barriers?

Definitely. Because i usually do everything by myself - drums, bass programming, chords, arranging, mixing - this creative process can make you feel very lonely. Meeting musicians, creating some tunes together is very refreshing!
I would bring a chord progression and the bass player would go "oh, i changed this chord because i thought it sounds better" and i would be extatic, because i'd never have this idea. It's very rewarding.  

 
 
 
 

-How did your ‘affiliation’ with Frappé come about? Tell us something more about this relatively new label, as if you were talking to somebody who doesn’t know them yet (that’s not us, editor's note).

Basile and Bruno runs this Frappé label with a very fresh mind and i love it. They've got a great electronic music culture, and they've been releasing some different EP's and artists: house music, deep house, techno. Always on point.
They got in touch with me 2/3 years ago and we got to know each other on the phone. Great talks! I eventually released one track on a various artists EP, and they did a Frappé party where they invited me.

 
 

-We last spoke publicly in the throes of a global Covid pandemic, how did the French scene react to the massive collective transformation that this unprecedented event brought? Tell us how you see things from your POV.

- I would say it's almost back to normal here.
Club owners told me they lost 20% of their customers, that is, 20% would never go back to clubs. They got used to private parties.
What we call "collectives" here, which is a team of DJ's, really took over the parisian scene.
They care about social networks, playing half-naked... it's not about the music, it's about how many people they attract to their parties, thanks to their IG posts for example. Anyway Paris has never been a place for deep house and house music, except maybe for a couple of years in the early 2000's. Parisian club scene is mostly about Minimal and Techno music.

 

-We won’t ask you about your future project as there’s such a big thing coming up shortly, but just tell us how do you feel about your music when it gets released: do you still feel like it belongs to you or you got (as many do) the impression that it slips through your fingers and it’s forever gone?

- Well, when a track is done, it's gone. Forever. You can't go back and change anything, and you've already heard the tunes 250 times!
We recorded this EP in studio, September last year, and I did this EP's mixes in the beginning of the year - february or march. Meanwhile, i've done a dozen of tracks and remixes, so you kinda forget about the work done 6 months ago - but i knew this one was special and i was eager to see it's out. Very proud of it! 

 

 
 

-Always a pleasure to talk to you. All the best for Flight of the Comet, which is out on the 30th Nov 2022. We speak soon!

- Thank you for the support man, much appreciated! Speak soon!

 
 
 
 
 

-We last spoke publicly in the throes of a global Covid pandemic, how did the French scene react to the massive collective transformation that this unprecedented event brought? Tell us how you see things from your POV.

- I would say it's almost back to normal here.
Club owners told me they lost 20% of their customers, that is, 20% would never go back to clubs. They got used to private parties.
What we call "collectives" here, which is a team of DJ's, really took over the parisian scene.
They care about social networks, playing half-naked... it's not about the music, it's about how many people they attract to their parties, thanks to their IG posts for example. Anyway Paris has never been a place for deep house and house music, except maybe for a couple of years in the early 2000's. Parisian club scene is mostly about Minimal and Techno music.

 

-We won’t ask you about your future project as there’s such a big thing coming up shortly, but just tell us how do you feel about your music when it gets released: do you still feel like it belongs to you or you got (as many do) the impression that it slips through your fingers and it’s forever gone?

- Well, when a track is done, it's gone. Forever. You can't go back and change anything, and you've already heard the tunes 250 times!
We recorded this EP in studio, September last year, and I did this EP's mixes in the beginning of the year - february or march. Meanwhile, i've done a dozen of tracks and remixes, so you kinda forget about the work done 6 months ago - but i knew this one was special and i was eager to see it's out. Very proud of it! 

 
 
 

-Always a pleasure to talk to you. All the best for Flight of the Comet, which is out on the 30th Nov 2022. We speak soon!

- Thank you for the support man, much appreciated! Speak soon!

 
 
kisk

Giuseppe D'Alessandro

Illustrator / Editor

schilling

Ludovico Schilling

Author