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MFSB
Considering
himself as a record pusher rather than a deejay as well as a story teller rather
than a journalist, Frederic Messent has always been surrounded by "muzak"
even though his first confrontation was something of rather borring, being brought
to these shores by a teacher who looked like the famous La Castafiore (Remember
Tintin's adventures ?). He then decided to leave for a while, when his mom offered
him his first sound system. She later will say, she would have better done breaking
herself an arm, as she saw him spending hours listening to music instead of
concentrating on his studies…
Frederic,
who began twisting the vibes 1974, has had the chance to witness the evolution
of contemporary music throughout its whole spectrum, from the early days of
the Philadelphia Sound — his aka being derived from the name of PIR's famous
MFSB, although with a different meaning (Mother F***** Sound Of A Beach
!) — and has always championned music with black elements in it, from soul to
the so called computer jazz, via deep house and latin vibes. A background that
added to some cursus in journalism led him to work on various radio stations'creation
projects in France and abroad, before co-creating the first publication totally
dedicated to dance music — simply named… De La Dance — in France
at the end of the eighties. He then worked for another mag called Black
News before joining Coda's editorial team in the mid-nineties,
where he still works today.
Having
played in numerous countries including Switzerland (last appearence at Energy
Festival in 2000), Belgium, Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain (and amongst others
alongside José Padilla at Café del Mar), Portugal, UK, Hungary, Georgia,
Russia and USA to name but a few, Frederic has seen his approach defined as
being between Body & Soul — check out his Ritmo Suave
double-CD mix on Universal via ULM + the following one on Compulsive/Kickin
— and these incredible ibizenco summer sunsets in the San Antonio Bay, looking
for depth and sensuality in the music he plays (see Mood 2 Chill
considered by The Face as one the three best chill out albums
in 2001). This allowing him to have a growing reputation worldwide, from Miami
where he has spinned for labels like King Street, Solu Music and Large to Tbilissi,
Georgia where he, alongside former Soul II Soul vocalist, Caron Wheeler
and her band, did the grand opening of the first club ever of this former Soviet
Republic…
You
may think that such a longevity could kill his appetite for new sensations…
No way ! His device — keep on (re)searching and see how it goes — having led
him to live exciting experiences like jamming alongside former Miles
Davis's percusionnist, Sammy Figueroa, or being a part of a memorable
block party with Kerri Chandler, Dennis Ferrer, three cubans percussionnists
and a sax player at the first edition of Toulon's Sunslice Festival in 2002.
Recordwise,
his latest contribution is the mix of the CD2 of Seamless Recordings' Bargrooves
— Espace Privé, including tracks from Norman Talley, Ron Trent,
Kerri Chandler, Eric Kupper, Rise Ashen and Nuspirit
Helsinki to name but a few.
The
next step being ? But that's another story to be told as time comes…
SOME
REFERENCES
Café
del Mar (Ibiza, SP)
Kumaharas
(Ibiza, SP)
Energy
Festival 1999 & 2000 (Zürich, CH)
la
Fabrique (Paris, FR)
Detroit
Electronic Music Festival 2001 (Detroit, US)
le
Bazar (Marseille, FR)
le
Bar À Thym (Toulon, FR)
King
Street Party WMC 2001 (Miami, US)
Arches
(Glasgow, SC)
Solu
Music Party WMC 2002 (Miami, US)
Sunslice
Festival 2002 (Toulon, FR)
Ingyenes
(Budapest, HU)
les
Pelouses Electroniques 2002 (Paris ,FR)
l'Extrem'
(Nantes, FR)
The
Limelight (New York City, US)
Adjara
Club (Tbilisi, GEO)
le
Nouveau Casino (Paris, FR)
King
Street Party WMC 2003 (Miami, US)
Large
Music Party WMC 2003 (Miami, US)
Detroit
Electronic Music Festival — The Movement 03 (Detroit, US), L'Ambassade (Lyon,
FR)
Sunslice
Festival 2003, (Toulon, FR)
Suburb
@ Cargo (London, UK)
Factory
Jazz Festival (Paris, FR)
DISCOGRAPHY
New
Jack Story (EastWest 1995)
New
Jack Story vol.2 (MCA 1995)
Groovetown
vol.1&2 (BMG-Jazz 1995)
Furry
Logic (AMC-UK 1998)
Codachromes
vol.1&2 (Distance 1999/2000)
Ritmo
Suave (ULM/Universal 2000)
French
Fried Funk vol.4 (Slip'N'Slide-UK 2000)
European
Sound Community (Distance 2001)
Nights
In French Satin (Choice/Millennium-UK 2001)
Mood
2 Chill (Compulsive/Kickin-UK 2001)
Ritmo
Suave (2) (Compulsive/Kickin-UK 2001)
Nights
In French Satin Chapter 2 (Choice/Millennium-UK 2002)
Currently
released
Bargrooves
— Espace Privé (Seamless Recordings 09/29/2003)
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INTERVIEW
