Shonky upped sticks from his native France to move to Berlin, the epicentre for the sort of stripped back electronic music he makes so well. But still, as his debut LP drops, influences from his homeland are vital to his sound. He’s previously worked closely in the studio with other French dance stars like Jennifer Cardini and still plays regularly in France’s coolest parties, when he’s not on a hectic schedule of global dates.

We were supposed to catch up with him at the Freak n Chic label party in Miami, but by the time we got there the police had paid them a visit. Luckily we grabbed him by email for today’s big 5 questions…

What was the best thing, and the worst thing about Miami?

“I enjoyed Miami so much. It was the time to see all the people I cannot see during the year. To see all my mates from Freak n Chic because now I’m living in Berlin and this is more complicated. I also saw producers whose work I really appreciate. The freak n chic rooftop party was really good. So many good people – friends, all the people that I met during my US tour were at this party but the party was stopped by the police unfortunately. Still one of the best memories of this conference.
The worse thing was that it was too short for me. I was supposed to play in China so I had to move to early, unfortunately.”

Tell us about the experience of making your debut artist LP, and how was it different to making singles?

“I was working on the album a bit less than one year. For me, I saw the album like a project in which each track will bring something interesting. It’s hard to have an exact vision and it’s always interesting to improvise but I knew in which direction I wanted to drive the album.
For me, it was important to build it in the same mood as the EPs I did before. To try to be hypnotic, deep and groovy. I didn’t want to do another EP so it was more interesting to go deeper into my musical roots and all the music I had listened in the past 4 years.

Many tracks have been done in the Freak n Chic studio. It was nice for me to work in a professional way – better than in my living room. I had finished most of them before I moved to Berlin but for me it was important to stay in the mood. I didn’t want to be influenced by something new at this time, which I was sure would happen in Berlin. The only work that I did there was to retouch the edit.”

Which is your personal favourite track on the album and why?

To be honest, I really appreciated all of them but if I have to choose one I will say Nebula or Magma because they remind me so much of what I was playing when I started to be a DJ in 1998. All this music from San Francisco and Chicago, I used these roots, plus a bit of Kraftwerk and a bit of myself. I play them in many of my DJ sets.”

Where is the best place in the world to enjoy the kind of music you make?

“I think the best place is the Berlin nightlife, even if Paris was really cool. The good thing with Berlin is that you always have good parties with good DJs and an amazing sound system. The crowd is nice and really pay attention to the music. You meet a lot of producers you like everywhere and anywhere and the best thing is that you really feel free and secure at the same time.”

What inspires you?

“A lot of things, from the roots of my musical background like the fun, soul, punk to what I listen everyday in everything. But most important I have been inspired by my gigs all around Europe and abroad, afterhours too…

There are so many artists I love; Villalobos, Hawtin, Baby Ford, Gemini… but to choose one is impossible. For example I really like Mathias Kaden that’s why I asked him to make a remix for my single, Time Zero, the title track of the new album.”

Shonky Top 5 Chart

  1. Various Artists - Milshake - Minibar Music
  2. Dyed Soundorom - Son Capulet - Freak n’Chic
  3. Rose & Ulysse - Myosotis - Edit - Select
  4. DOP - Lighthouse - Orac
  5. Seth Troxler - Aphrika