Mezzanine De L’Alcazar
Michael Canitrot Interview
Words Toni Tambourine.
It has always been true that fashion and music are interrelated. Especially in places like New York, London, Tokyo, Barcelona and Paris, where the social scene is made up of savvy party people who take care of the way they look and the way that they live their life. If you live in the latter city, Paris, then you will probably be familiar with Micheal Canitrot. He is the 26 year old, good looking scenester that promotes the ‘So Happy In Paris’ clubnights as well as being the resident DJ at The Mezzanine De L’Alcazar, Paris’ most fashionable restaurant and club he is also connected to some of the worlds biggest fashion labels. Not too sound too boastful he is also the presenter of his own house show on Radio FG. Here he tells us about his parties, his productions and his favourite end of the night track.
How did you discover music?
My family were the most important influence, my father was a Dj he played a lot of Disco, he also worked on Radio Skyrock a very famous station in France and I went to work with him every weekend, this was around 83-84 when DJ’s weren’t very famous.
How did you get involved with Radio FG?
I’ve been a resident for 5 years with a weekly 1 hr show. I try to introduce new music, a more eclectic mix than when I’m in a club, I play soulful house, also disco, funk, jazz and classic house.
Who from Radio FG inspired you?
I was listening to Dmitri from Paris and DJ Gregory. It was a pleasure and an honour to work on the same radio station as those guys. Dmitri was a big inspiration, I’m still in contact with him and we share information on records. I worked with him 2 weeks ago on my new track ‘Desire’, it’s always good to have feedback from Dimitri on production.
What is your relationship with him like?
I’m in contact with a lot of the famous French DJ’s; Gregory, Martin Solveig, Bob Sinclair. When travelling if I have the chance to meet with them in Miami or Spain or Ibiza we talk about music and they can listen to me and give me advice which is always important for young Dj’s, so they helped to bring me up within the music industry. I also have a good relationship with DJ Yellow as he’s one of my partners in the studio on my own productions, I have learnt a lot from him, he’s also an inspiration. He works in a very underground way at the moment, minimal techno buts he’s always happy to work on a more mainstream projects with me.
What are your thoughts on Minimal and Electro?
Initially I didn’t understand this music especially minimal, so I went to parties to try and understand what it’s about and now its makes more sense.
Do you like it?
It’s like most music there are always good tracks, so I can play one or two songs for balance in my mix but on its own no, I don’t feel a lot of emotion from this style of music.
How would you describe Michael Canitrot’s sound?
I try to be very positive with the music, music with lots of energy to make people smile. I play mainly house and I try to balance it with some peak time tracks like ‘I Swear’, also I love to finish the mix with some classic tracks, classic disco and house.
What are your favourite tracks at the moment that get a good reaction in Mezzanine?
I’m getting a good response from the new Julien Jabre track ‘Vicious Circles’, I think this is one of the best tracks for Miami this year. I’m also getting good feedback on my friend DJ Kaëlig a very young Dj from Paris and his new track ‘3 in the Morning’ . It features vocals from a very famous French singer Jaheym from the nineties band Kojak who were around the same time as Daft Punk, it’s a track with very good energy. I also love all Yass’s productions. If I had to choose a classic it would be ‘Fantasy’ by Earth Wind and Fire which I featured on the last Mezzanine compilation.
Production-wise what kind of music do you actually produce?
Soulful house, I try to keep the classical basis of vocal house with the vocals and some elements in the percussion. I try to add a modern vision to it. I try but it’s not easy to do soulful house with a modern twist.
What makes the famous Mezzanine in France so special?
First of all I think it’s a perfect mix of food, design and music. Its been going for a decade now in Paris and it’s a where on the weekends you can see very good Djs, meet very nice people and also eat great food, the staff are also great, so everything is perfect.
Are there any famous people that go there?
Not really, but you have a lot of people that work in fashion, in film, the arts and the media in general, so it’s a great place to be.
The Mezzanine album is very eclectic, does this represent the sound of the place?
Yes, also it’s a double CD, one for the dinner and one for the dance and that’s really representative of the Mezzanine because you can go for dinner around 8or 9, you go for a drink around 11 or 12 and later between 12 and 2 you can dance, so the album is a good reflection of a night there.
Can you tell us about some of the tracks on the next album that are special to you?
One especially, it’s the track that I play last in the Mezzanine at around 2pm; Hercules and the Love Affair ‘Blind’. It’s a classic at the Mezzanine, its all about the emotion, the voice is amazing and the remix from Frankie Knuckles is amazing. The original track wasn’t as famous in France as it is in the UK, it was not on the radio as much.
How did you get involved in fashion and is it a big part of your life?
Yes, but or me it’s only about the music, I think my music works very well on this type of scene.
Do you think it’s important that music and fashion go together?
Yes, of course with the fashion you have an image and if you add music to that it’s another step, that’s why it works so well. I’m very proud to work for designers in Paris because I can play and produce music like that I would play in the clubs, its very important for an artist to be open and creative and to have a lot of expression.
What designers do you work with?
At the moment I work with a very famous French fashion brand, Louis Feraud. I’ve also worked for Christian Dior, Dolce & Gabana, not French but famous none the less. At the moment I work very closely with Louis Feraud who was very famous back in the 60’s with Bridgette Bardot. These days it has started to have a new life, just like what happened at Gucci, so I’m very excited to be at the beginning of this project. I have arranged the music for the fashion show, the website, everything, I guess you could call me their musical director.
Is your image important to you to?
Yes, I think its important, not the most important thing but I try to be myself, I try to play good music, sexy music, glamour music, and I like to be a little bit fashion conscious, its not really a way of life its just how I am.
Tell us about So Happy in Paris?
So Happy in Paris is one of my biggest projects, its been going for 8 years now, it’s a party, very famous in Paris, we have a residency at Queen, Simon Dunmore, Dennis Ferrer and Aaron Ross, all Defected Dj’s, have played for us.
Is it a very fashionable party with Fashionable people like you?
Yes (laughs), It’s a beautiful crowd who love the music, not to say its elite, its more exclusive, we encourage people with style to come to the club. Its one party a month at Queens and its always full, its very successful in Paris so we have expanded in France as well as internationally, we have around 100 parties a year with me and all the other Djs from So Happy in Paris.
How do you find time to play all these parties, mix Mezzanine compilations and fit in everything else?
I think I’m in a club every 3 days! I work very hard and after I’m in the studios as well. But for me the pleasure in life is to be in clubs playing to the crowds, I enjoy it and I’m passionate about it.
Where else are you having So Happy In Paris parties?
We have a lot of residencies but mainly we work at Catwalk in Barcelona where Defected also have a residency. We also play a lot in Italy in Bari, Riccione and Rimini. We also have a lot of parties in Asia, I toured there a week ago I was in Singapore, Hong Kong, Seoul and Jakarta so we are starting to work very well within Asia. We are starting to work in the US as well, we have a So Happy in Paris event in New York soon.
So the Best parties are all at Queen?
I can’t say the best but it is very special for me as all my friends are there, so it is very different from the others.
Do you think you will be Djing and producing for the rest of your life?
Yes, I think so, but I'm also encouraging some new DJ friends to start producing and DJing. I'm young but I've started to encourage new young Djs that are around 19/20 years old but are very talented. Kaëlig Léo Lanvin, Nicolas de Andrea we have a lot of talent in France.
Last Words:
I hope that everyone will like the new record, it will do well in France but in the UK also I hope. If the people of the UK like the CD then I encourage them to come and see us in Paris.
I’m working on my new production for this summer, one of these tracks will be ‘Desire’, its going to be great and I hope you all like it. It’s a soulful house track but with a modern electronic edge. New Sanctities are on it I think it’s really nice because I've tried to mix some modern with classical, its has real strings and a real band.
