Strictly Rhythm

DIGGIN DEEP

It’s has been an exceptional year for Michel Cleis. Kicking off at the Miami music conference when ‘La Mezcla’ first appeared. 6 months later it was voted ‘Best Ibiza Track’ as well as making it into the Mixmag shortlist for ‘Track of the Year 09’. Now Michel is firmly under Strictly Rhythm’s mighty wing he tells us why he is so passionate about his new mix for the label, why House music is fashionable again and if there will be an artist album in the pipeline for next year.

Did you know that ‘La Mezcla’ has been short-listed for track of the year in MixMag?

No! I’m very happy about that! Once again I’m happy about that track. Since Ibiza, everything I’ve heard about the track has come as a surprise, and I really didn’t think it would do so well.

So you didn’t expect the success of the track to be so big?

No not at all, every time you tell me news such as having the best track of 2009 in Ibiza and now being short-listed in Mix Mag it’s like ‘Wow! That’s incredible’. I’m very happy about that.

Let’s talk about your new Strictly mix. We here at Strictly think it’s one of the best mixes of this year. What are your feelings on the mix?

Thank you. I think it’s a good mix too. I took a little more time to do it because I was away on tour in places such as Australia and East. I took more time over the selection, and I’m very happy that all the people at Strictly like it.

These records are all available on the Strictly catalogue, but we’ve never come across them before. How did you find them?

Ha! Well all these records mean something to me, such as the memories I get from them. They are really old records, but I’m 42! So I was there. I was in clubs when people played them so I have small images in my head for every track. They’re not clear, but these tracks sum up a period in my life and times such as my first after-hours party and my first year at University in Lausanne. These years were between 1987 and 1993.

Tell us about some of the memories you get when you hear these tracks.

I don’t have particular memories, but with the track ‘Celebrate (Dub)’ (1991) I remember a party in Montreux, a big party with Tony Humphries, it was the first time I’d heard of him and he was playing the record included in the mix. So I always remember this party when I hear this track. There’s also a track that reminds me of Italian ambient house music and a party I was at with Kid Bachelor in Lausanne and in London too. So the mix definitely takes me back.

What are your overall feelings about the mix?

I don’t have a really special feeling about the mix, I’m just happy because it focuses on a completely different period in the history of Strictly Rhythm. It starts with The Untouchables and their first work ‘Little Louie Anthem’ and then there’s a track from Kenny Dope. There’s some break-beat stuff, and there’s some disco-stuff from Roger Sanchez. So the mix does represent a very different time period in the strictly rhythm story and in the story of house music. I’m glad because I had to mix up these different styles & times and finally the end result is good.

A lot of the techo DJ’s and minimal DJ’s these days are playing a lot of straight house music at the moment. Would you say that house music has suddenly become fashionable again?

Yes I think so. For me, it’s been fashionable for the last two or three years. Minimal music, as it suggests, is very minimal and it soon became boring after a few years. People want melodies now and they’re looking for something more and this is why house music is coming back because there is more in this music and there’s something in it that makes it happier. However I don’t think the New Jersey house period will come back. It had a lot of vocals and it was very soulful. It’s very good and I do like the old stuff, but now I do find too much of it quite tedious because it’s just too much, such as when you get a Diva singing ‘Wohoooo!!’ I like house with some vocals but not too much. Personally, I’m more into the dub, and if I choose an old record and it’s got a vocal version and a dub version I tend to always pick the dub version to use.

Do you think this has been your best year in your career so far?

Yes for sure. I don’t know if I will have another year like 2009, but I hope so! 2009 has certainly been the best year for me and I will remember it for a long time.

What are you doing next year? Which projects will you be working on?

I’m actually finishing a new project right now, it’s a remix for this singer called Courtney Tidwell, and then I’m going to be remixing a track for Gilles Peterson who has a new jazz project. I have also been asked by Strictly Rhythm to remix the track, ‘The Spanish Rituals’, it’s on the mix, so I will be working on that too. I’m also working on a Maxi for Rekids and one for Cadenza, and I’ve already started to work on my own album. I may have to cut down on the number of remixes I’m doing so that I can concentrate on my own productions. I am doing a remix for Cocoon as well. It’s difficult to say no to people when they ask for a remix, especially when it’s someone like Gilles Peterson,Radioslave or Sven Vath. I love doing collaborations like this.

You mentioned your own album. How far have you got with that work?

I have a lot of ideas and I’ve made a few mini-tracks, and so ill just have to dig through them and choose the best ones to work on and take them further.

Where will you be playing this New Year’s Eve?

I might be playing in Geneva but I’m not sure yet. I may spend the first day of the year in my home- Lausanne or maybe in Berlin, either way it will be a holiday and I won’t be working!

Strictly Rhythms Vol.3 - mixed by Michel Cleis is out 14th December.