Sebastien San

Sebastien San grew up to the sounds of Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder,

Prince and Serge Gainsbourg. In the early 80's he got heavily into

the New Wave and Industrial scene much inspired by Depeche Mode,

Cabaret Voltaire, Fad Gadget, Human League, Front 242 and Severed

Heads amongst many others. "It was the most amazing thing, say

Sebastien. At that time, i could hardly believe that this music

was made by human beings".

The emerging club-culture of the mid-80's, as well as the birth of

Detroit Techno and Chicago House had an even greater impact on

him. "I immediately got into it, the sound of those records had a

powerful depth and it was generally more danceable".

He consequently landed a job at a local record store where he

could get his hands on all those great records. It also helped him

launch his own party where he could play those fabulous tracks.

"We were throwing parties anywhere we could find, be it a garage,

a warehouse or a basement. Tracks Like 'Strings Of Life' by

Derrick May, 'Big Fun' by Inner City or 'French Kiss' by Lil Louis

became instant Classics".

By the mid 90's, Sebastien launched his own (and now defunct)

Label called 'Shield Records'. During that time he had the chance

to collaborate with people such as Kirk Degiorgio, Kevin

Saunderson and Fabrice Lig to name but a few. "It's Fabrice who

really turned me into the production side of music. He convinced

me to buy synthesizers and drum machines. I even sold him my

trusty Oberheim OBX-A, and I wonder if he still owns it".

Another key factor, was Sebastien's meeting with Mad Mike of

Underground Resistance in Detroit at the infamous 'Submerge'

building. As Sebastien became familiar with production techniques,

and studio equipements, he decided to concentrate full-time on his

own music. He developped his style which combines deep atmospheric

strings, sweet melodies, and funky beats and rhythms. "My music

sums up all my influences, which are rather ecclectic. I like to

put some emotion into my music, but I also like crazy

dance-floor-orientated tracks, it all depends on the mood I'm in".

Sebastien San's first offering on Gigolo Records will be 'Wuxia',

a rather obsessive single which will be followed soon by a concept

album on which every track comes in two different versions. "The

idea comes from DJ Hell, I've sent him many tracks and several

mixes of some of them, he apparently couldn't decide which one he

prefered so he thought of including all of them into one album

that would represent all the moods we can go through within a same

day".

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