Originally from Paris, Alexandre and Paul form a duo espousing a “dandy chic” mindset that manifests itself through jazz-tinged music that’s not a million miles from Deep House, a style that’s reminiscent of early electronic music. After releasing their first 12-inch single in 2010, things really took off for the duo, who started touring more and more these past years with an impressive immediate effect on their public.
Now, Synapson are behind their remix of Dominique Fils-Aimé’s ‘Stand Tall’. EG caught up with the French pair to learn more about the new drop, their process in the studio, views on music, and more.
EG: Hi Alexandre! Paul! It’s a pleasure to have you down for a chat with us. How are you doing? Where are you based right now? What’s the scene looking like over there at the moment?
Synapson: Hello. We are in Paris right now, working on new tracks. We just came back from the French Alps where we played a few DJ Sets. Clubs are open again in France and it’s very good news for all the music lovers. We’re looking forward to going back on the road with our life. The next show will be in Nice in a few weeks.
EG: What have you been up to lately? How did you decide to spend your time during the pandemic? Did you pick up any new skills?
Synapson: We shared our time between Paris and Biarritz (where we both come from). On the first phase of the pandemic, we worked on our album ‘Global Music Vol.1’, and luckily, we were able to do a French tour between the two waves, it was amazing.
During this particular time, we almost spent all our time in our studios, discovering new music/artists, working on new collaborations and new music for our next album ‘Global Music, Vol. 2’, which should be out by the end of the year.
EG: You recently released your new single entitled ‘Stand Tall’ with the collaboration of renowned Canadian singer Dominique Fils-Aimé. How did this idea come to fruition?
Synapson: Our partner and co-producer introduced us to Dominique. When we listened to her album ‘Three Little Words’, we fell in love with the track ‘Tall Lion Down’ and decided to do our own version. We kept the vocal and built a new track with it. The result was beyond our expectations and Dominique was really excited too.
EG: What was the inspiration to produce this track as it also includes a poem as part of the vocals?
Synapson: The poem is actually an extract from an interview Dominique gave a few years back. We came across it while digging more into Dominique’s universe. The message resonate immediately with the track and we thought it will be a nice break for the track. We love hearing speech over music.
“When we listened to Dominique’s album ‘Three Little Words’, we fell in love with the track ‘Tall Lion Down’ and decided to do our own version”
EG: Can you explain how the production process between both parts came along? Did you meet in the same studio or separately? Did you know straight away which elements you wanted to keep and how the narrative would develop, sonically speaking?
Synapson: We didn’t meet Dominique while creating the song since her vocal was already recorded. Both Alex and I have studios in Paris and we exchange ideas daily, so I don’t remember which one of us came up with the idea. Usually, we first work separately and finish the track together.
EG: How has the reception of the single has been so far?
Synapson: Even if we already knew this collaboration had something special, the feedback we received from it was amazing. We got messages from fans and artists all over the world. It’s a strange feeling knowing our work is touching people. Thanks again to Dominique.
EG: Also, you have a monthly podcast. What’s the concept for each episode?
Synapson: Yes, it’s called the ‘Global Boom Clap’. We are both kind of serial crate-diggers and we wanted to share our findings with our fans. When we released the first mix, the feedback was so great that we couldn’t stop! It’s another way to share our universe with fans.
EG: Moving into the current situation with COVID-19 and all the event cancellations as well as clubs, the industry has taken a hard hit. What are your thoughts on this and what do you think can be done to make things better going forward? What would you like to see more of after this ‘reset’?
Synapson: In France, our government helped a lot in the cultural sector. I hope this is all behind us and that the public will be back to listen to live music and support all these places we love.
“Even if we already knew this collaboration had something special, the feedback we received from it was amazing”
EG: What advice would you give to young artists and producers?
Synapson: To be patient (we’re not :-))! And to try to make the most personal music. When it’s truly personal, it’s universal. It’s paradoxical but I really believe it.
EG: What else is in store for 2022? What are you looking forward to? Any new milestones to aspire to?
Synapson: We are looking forward to being back on tour with our new album ‘Global Music Vol.2’. But in the meantime, we’ll release plenty of new music that we are excited about. I shouldn’t tell you this, but we’ll officially release next month the remix we did of ‘Mona Ki Ngi Xica’, a magical track from Bonga. We released this remix on youtube almost 10 years ago, and we are really touched that Bonga agreed to collaborate with us and release this track, so stay tuned!
Electronic Groove: Thank you for sitting down with us! We wish you all the best!
Synapson: Thank you !!!
‘Synapson & Dominique Fils-Aimé – Stand Tall’ is out now. Stream it here.
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