There's a lot a folklore surrounding
Jacques Renault. The
On The Prowl artist is rumoured to have a background as a classical Violist who played in punk bands. He also shares a name with a French drug dealing pimp in a '90s TV drama. Yes, the man is shrouded in mystery. The facts we can verify though include his upcoming dates around Australia in June and his well earned reputation as a DJ's DJ. Anyone who has had the pleasure of catching his show or has his mixtapes loaded up on the JobPod will tell you just what a smooth operator Mr Renault is. We had a chat with Jacques about his wide spectrum of musical loves, all things analogue and his so-frenchy-so-chic name.
Tim O’Shea: Hey, how ya doing?
Jacques Renault: Hey, pretty good. How are you?
TO: Good thanks. I know it’s a pretty shitty one, but my first question for you is whether your name is actually real? Jacques Renault?
JR: My name? [laughs]
TO: Yeah well it’s ah…
JR: Yeah it is.
TO: We were talking about it in the office the other day, there are so many producers and DJs who make house music and have these typically French names but, well, aren’t French.
JR: Absolutely.
TO: So I guess it worked out well that you have such a French name.
JR: Absolutely, my father’s first generation French and my mother’s from the mid-west. I have two sisters and we all have really French names. Nobody believes that it's my real name, they all assume it’s some
Twin Peaks reference. But to be honest my French is really awful. I can understand it, but then I have to respond in English ‘cos my accent is so horrible and American that I don’t even want to deal with it.
TO: I wanted to ask you something I'm sure you get asked about a lot, but I’d love you to go into your musical past. I get the impression that it’s quite an interesting development that led you to making and playing house music that has a disco inclination.
JR: So I grew up playing classical music, and of course as I grew older I got bored. I told my mother I wanted to quit and play the trumpet. She was like, "no, you can do both". It just encouraged me to take up a whole lot of instruments, which I think my mother didn’t think I’d do. As a teenager I was really into punk rock, and what was happening in the DC hardcore scene. I bought a drum kit, guitar, bass and keyboards. I started recording myself and the bands I was in. Then in '97 I started getting frustrated with bands that weren’t going the direction I was, I discovered dance music and started making my own. So I kind of missed most of the early '90s rave scene, especially in DC and New York. Then I moved to Chicago in '97 and went to my first rave and got exposed to that side of dance music and just how massive it was - that was kind of the peak of it in Chicago. So from there I kind of drifted into house and once I started to learn where all the disco house samples came from, I got into these classic disco albums. I was working in a record shop that exposed me to proper disco and I really found the eagerness towards finding these rare records was similar to the punk scene. All my disco nerd friends were also punk nerds - there’s a weird connection. Now I see myself going back to sampling and appreciating the '90s and how I learned about disco, but also still appreciating the root of it. I love the new stuff coming out and all the interpretation. I like what people are doing, it’s changing.
TO: You certainly get the impression that you love hunting for records, I bet you loved working in a record store.
JR: Yeah, it was really different. Even five years ago things weren’t so accessible even with the internet. It was still a digger's market, and nowadays it’s amazing how much is out there and accessible. I used to go to the record store everyday after work and dig for new stuff that I thought nobody had heard of, finding new stuff that I could play out that week, there was a lot of excitement about it. There still is, I’m still excited.
TO: That’s good. Hey, so I was looking at your label
On The Prowl’s blog and it gives off the impression you're into all things analogue. You have a lot of videos of vintage Moog synthesisers and Roland drum machines, and you and your label partner tend to make a point of recording mix tapes just using vinyl and vintage effects units.
JR: I’ve known Markus pretty much since I’ve lived in New York, which has been about 10 years. It’s been a growing passion of ours. I’ve always considered myself more of a player than producer. I’ve grown to be a producer but its addictive finding these old machines. You discover new sounds and new ways of making the machine work, and it totally makes me look at music differently. Especially listening to old house records and trying to get a new sound out of them. Markus and I are always swapping gear and going between each other’s studios. When we make music for
Runaway or for myself you can hear the analogue parts, it’s all outboard gear. When I make a mixtape I use a Urei Rotary mixer that I have at home, and I have a really nice isolator, I really like the feel. Obviously though if I want to play new stuff I have CDJs. We do make a point of using this stuff but for my part I have nothing against playing on a computer or whatever as long as it’s something your passionate about and it’s something your comfortable with. I’m comfortable playing records; I like picking them out for that night, that’s how I get excited about playing a night. It’s about being able to mix it up. Same with analogue gear, I just got a KORG Microtron and hooked it up to my gear and made a new beat. I got really excited about it, I made four tunes in one day. There are certain things that can inspire you, whether it’s new music or old music, new gear or new ‘old’ gear. There are tons of different outlets and things that motivate me: the weather, my girlfriend... I’m dealing with construction in my building at the moment and it’s driving me up the fricken' wall. Ahhh, whatever.
TO: How do you approach starting a new piece of music?
JR: When I do a piece of music, when I make something or remix something, I really try to make a point of making something that I want to play. I feel like it’s a personality thing, it’s a reflection of me. I want to be proud of playing it, I want to present it. I am flattered when people want to hear my ‘Beam me up' remix, it makes me feel like I really got something across. One thing I don’t want though is to be pigeonholed, so I always do different mixes. I’ll do a house mix, a disco mix, or I'll do an edit of a disco tune or a house tune. As a DJ I like to mix it up, keep it really entertaining, close enough and yet wide enough to get people jumping. I have a passion for classic house and classic disco, and new house and new disco. There are plenty of different things that aren’t that closely related that I think I can bring together in a set. It keeps it interesting, I like techno don’t get me wrong, but I can’t imagine playing a three-hour set of just the same techno beat over and over. But that’s just me, and if you’re in the right space and right time then hey, why not? I just played in Tijuana on Friday night and it was bonkers. I played everything; from my own stuff, to house, to analogue Chicago stuff. It keeps it really fun. I think of myself as a positive DJ - I love getting into it and seeing everyone get into it
TO: Great, before you go what’s on the agenda for the next week/month/year?
JR: Ah man, I’m doing a lot of work on the new label On The Prowl. So many things coming out; my new solo EP, a couple of remixes by me, more Runaway stuff, more Party breaks. A bunch of traveling - basically every weekend. I’m moving into a new studio this week for the summer and I’m trying to force myself to like focus on that, but yeah I’m traveling a heap, catching up with old friends and seeing new places. It’s going to be a good year.
TO: Yeah, well we look forward to seeing you when you’re in Australia at least.
JR: Likewise, thank for talking to me.
You can win tickets to the Vivid LIVE show through the Members Lounge.
TOUR DATES:
Friday 1 June - Vivid LIVE @ Sydney Opera House, Sydney
Sunday 3 June - The Bakery, Perth
Friday 8 June - The Mercat Basement, Melbourne
Saturday 9 June - Sugar, Adelaide
Sunday 10 June - Bowler Bar, Brisbane
WORDS: Tim O'Shea