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TelePopMusik French for Yum-

Author: michelle pirovich
Wednesday, April 17, 2002
From the cigarette smoke filled depths of a studio in France has emerged one of this years most talented group of artists, Telepopmusik. Their debut album "Genetic World" is a stunning achievement, aptly named when you look at the world we now live in, where so much is taken from its natural state and tweeked and modified to supposedly become something better. Its a process Telepopmusik used themselves to create this album, the end result however leaves no scars, but rather a stylish and evocative fusion of sounds.

There are three members in Telepopmusik, Stephan Haeri, Fabrice Dumont and Christophe Hetier all come from different musical backgrounds and have different musical tastes. Stephan speaks about "finding a common ground." It was one of the main objectives the three had whilst making Genetic world. "We set out right from the start that all three of us had to be in agreement with an idea or we would drop it and move on." A very civilised method of working indeed and it didnt hinder there work at all "we actually had thirty songs recorded when we finished and had to choose out of those which were to go on the album."

One area where all three agreed with no fuss, was that there was to be no sampling of other artists work. "We prefer to play our own instruments, to create the music our way and then take it into the studio, modify it, create loops and samples and then put it together." There is a small glimpse of pride coming from Stephans voice, and admittedly knowing that this album was created solely from their own creations does brings about an even deeper appreciation for the album when you listen to it next time round.

Where did all this talent come from and who was responsible for what- "Christophe is the nightclubber and DJs by the name of DJ Antipop, he also plays the guitar and searched for guest artists on the album. Fabrice plays, guitar, bass and doublebass and worked heavily on the musical arrangements,and I play the keyboards, drums and bass and having a background in sound engineering I looked after alot of the studio production" Without sampling from the material of others, Telepopmusik successfully created a feel to their music reminiscent to that of Kraftwerk, Grand Master Flash, Buggles, Giorgio Moroder and Sugar Hill Gang. An element that can be attributed to the bands collaborating with some very talented artists. Both Mau and Juice Aleem were known through previous musical interludes and the gorgeous voice of Scottish vocalist Angela MacClusky was discovered by Christophe when he heard her singing in New York. Stephans favourite collaboration though was with Chilly Gonzales "Chilly Gonzales was approached by Christophe after seeing a live performance in a bar, when not wanting to go into a studio, Christophe pulled out his mp3 player and Gonzales did the rappin thing then and there in the bar, it all happened in about an hour and we never even met"

Angela joined the guys in a studio in France, where improvisation was the preferred method by all. Of course improvisation always leads to something good but who would have thought that Angelas being quite unaccustomed to large doses of cigarette smoke would have resulted in the beautifully popular song "breathe" and "love can damage you health." "It was really quite funny, Angela was there in the studio and we were all playing and smoking and the only two words she could sing were just breathe."

The single Breathe has bought about success in the UK, Germany, Australia and some parts of the US for Telepopmusik. With it already landing spots on prominent compilation albums. It is a success that comes at a time when the french are finally being acknowledged in an international market. "For alongtime people didnt know we were here. But with bands like Daft Punk, and Air enjoying success it has caused people to look our way and take notice."

Its now a full time gig for the members of Telepopmusik, a dream come true, but naturally a never en
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