When one thinks of Bromance producer Gesaffelstein a number of adjectives immediately spring to mind; French chic personified; one brooding and mysterious bastard; and last but certainly not least – sexy! Gesaffelstein, aka Mike Levy, has fashioned these conceptions through an intriguing quality of allusiveness – rarely permitting his fans any insight into his true personality or creative process. His filth mongering beats, his uneasing film clips and his menacing, soul-defiling glare creates an overwhelming sense of apprehension; despite his ridiculous good looks. When you look at Gesaffelstein you see pride, power and a bad ass mother who won’t take no crap out of nobody.

With his debut record ‘Aleph’ set for a release in just under a week (October 28 for those living under a rock), it was always going to be fascinating to see whether the Frenchman would surrender his apparent distaste for the media to promote the album, which is almost guaranteed to be a game changer. But it begs the question – is there really any need for more publicity? In recent memory there has not been a more hotly anticipated debut from any artist, let alone a DJ.

Thankfully for us he has graciously opened up to Mixmag’s Jeremy Abbott in a comprehensive feature that details the enigmatic figures beginnings, his relationship with fellow artists The Hacker, Tiga and Brodinski, and provides a summation of the new album and live show, which we can sample ourselves at the upcoming Stereosonic tour. Here’s some extracts that I found particularly enlightening. Be sure to read the whole article though, it’s a ripper.

Gesaffelstein on his mysterious allure;

“People think I’m mysterious but I’m not – that’s just what they think. I’m just me. For me the real mystery in electronic music is the artists who try to be cool, when they aren’t cool. When I see a DJ who…” at this point he stops to simply raise his arms in the air, imitating the big room DJs that use over the top gestures to interact with the crowd. He continues: “that’s the real mystery.”

The producer’s discovery of the synth and relationship with fellow dance luminaries;

 “When I discovered the synth I completely stopped listening to dance music, I was just obsessed with the sound. I knew that if I wanted to do this music I had to learn it myself,” he says.

On the influence of The Hacker;

“I had been obsessed with his sound, because for me his music is the perfect combination of the past and the future. It was the only music I understood because everything he made was so logical for me” he remembers… “He is the most important thing in my music,” says Levy. “If The Hacker didn’t exist I’m not sure if I’d be here today. He explained a lot of things to me; it all came from him.”

On Turbo Records boss Tiga;

“I worked a lot on my sound – not music but my overall sound,” he says. “I remember when I found the loop from ‘Variations’, the bassline, I knew that I’d found it. I decided to send the track to Turbo. At this time in the techno world there was nothing really exciting going on, and it was the end of the French Touch era. So I decided to send it to Tiga by mail – and he said OK straight away… I sent him one track and then sent four or five more. He said, ‘I want all of them’. I did an EP of five tracks; it was a good introduction and the best way to showcase my sound.”

Bromance brother Brodinski shares his experiences and relationship with his fellow French maestro;

When Brodinski heard the EP he called Mike up immediately and asked him to play at one of his shows. “I thought the EP was mindblowing, amazing,” remembers Brodinski. “It’s one of a kind. I got that feeling of listening to the perfect music at the perfect moment, and that’s really rare. He’s simply amazing, and his message is really clear so people get it right away.” When Brodinski started his Bromance record label in 2011, it was Gesaffelstein who created the first release. “Musically we understand each other,” says Brodinski, “but we are also friends, and we get along really well. Sometimes, weirdly, it’s that simple!”

Abbott gives us an exciting insight into some of the new material on the album and the live show;

Suddenly a venomous and searing high-pitched screech comes thrashing in just as a disgustingly heavy half-time number rears its head. The hip hop-inspired track is named ‘Hellifornia’, and most of the audience have never heard it before. For the friends and colleagues who’ve had a taste of Gesaffelstein’s forth-coming album, though, the scenes of mayhem on the dancefloor only serve to confirm their expectations. Guillaume Berg and French Fries turn and look at each other in acknowledgment of the madness.

Hip hop influences on ‘Aleph‘ following collab work on ‘Yeezus‘?;

After working with Kanye West on his ‘Yeezus’ LP Levy’s profile rose around the world, but although there’s a hip hop style track on the album it’s the exception rather than the rule. “I did ‘Hellifornia’ because I was attracted to the old style of hip hop,” he explains. “It’s a really serious track, but for me it’s ironic to do something like this. In general I’m not a big fan of hip hop, even though I worked with Kanye. I did the Kanye stuff not because I’m a fan, but because for me it’s interesting for me to make some new music in an old style.”

“The main idea of the album was translate different styles with just one sound,” says Levy, leaning forward intently. “It was really hard to do that. It’s exactly the same when you see a guy – he’s one guy but he can have several different emotions. That’s the best way to explain.”

After all this, the crafty bastard manages to remain as mysterious as ever;

“I don’t think I’m in this game – the EDM, techno or electro game. I have the thing that I do and I try to do something different but I don’t want to try and find a place and just stay in my chair. If I have to move I have to move, I don’t care … I have no idea what I’m going to do, but even when I do know, I’m going to keep it to myself.”

Source: Mixmag