| |
| |
|
| artist |
miss kittin & the hacker |
| |
|
| perform as |
dj team . live |
| |
|
| related projects |
|
| |
|
| label/city |
mkth recordings / paris, grenoble, france |
| |
|
| browse |
home
.. contact
. dates
. biography
. news
. discography
. pictures
. music
|
| |
|
| biography |
english / french
It was in 2001. The Frank Sinatra electro ditty, with its light melody and Miss Kittin's cutting sense of humour, has toured the world: "To be famous is so nice. Suck my dick! Lick my ass! In limousines we have sex, every night with my famous friends." Karl Lagerfeld, Marilyn Manson and Elton John (who says he gave a copy to all his friends) are self proclaimed fans of the duo. With Miss Kittin & The Hacker's success, the French music scene has found its, unexpected, second wind after the French touch disco loops.
Caroline Hervé (a.k.a. Miss Kittin) and Michel Amato (a.k.a. The Hacker) met in Grenoble during the early 90s at a rave. This trend, at full tilt in the UK, is slow to pick up in France: "In Grenoble, there must have been about 10 of us who went to techno parties", remembers The Hacker. As for many people of their generation, techno is a musical and cultural slap in the face. The two friends both buy decks and each becomes a DJ. Their notoriety, essentially on a national scale, grows little by little. In 1996, the French label Tekmics asks Miss Kittin to write a track for a compilation. She turns to The Hacker for help (he is already producing tracks under the XMF project and techno themes on his own). The Miss Kittin & The Hacker duo sees the light of day. Their first track is called "Gratin Dauphinois". Others are soon to follow ...
At this time, techno, in the strictest sense of the term, is at apogee. The tempo often rapid and the music violent, based on a superposition of hypnotic loops. Miss Kittin & The Hacker use this style when DJing (Jeff Mills is one of their heroes), but, they decide to take a different direction with their compositions, preferring to dive into naive, free and easy electro-pop. Their arrangements are to-the-point, spontaneous, somewhat unthought-out, and mainly generated with basic material (some synths, beat box, microphone ...). Miss Kittin & The Hacker's tunes are somewhat unorthodox. Their techno has a song-like format - based on the verse-chorus pop schema, heavily influenced by the 80s (Cabaret Voltaire, Depeche Mode or New Order in particular).
Munich's DJ Hell, who goes on to found the International DJ Gigolo label, cracks for the duo's demos and signs them in 1997. The first Miss Kittin & The Hacker EPs ("Champagne" and "Intimités") take off straight away going beyond the Rhine. The hit "1982" (a kick back to the music of that year) even makes it onto MTV Germany. Another title quickly sets itself apart: "Frank Sinatra" a distinct and delirious anthem, composed during an afternoon jam in the Ozone record shop studio in Grenoble.
Miss Kittin & The Hacker soon find themselves on stage. Their image is imposing: Her - exuberant, front stage, dressed as a dominatrix nurse; and Him - in the background, statuesque behind his machines. The ultimate 1980s duo fantasy: The Diva under the burning spotlights, the composer in the shadows. Soon, other artists make names for themselves using the electro-pop, glam and tuneful formula. Tiga, Fisherspooner, each become stars under the electroclash banner of which Miss Kittin & The Hacker are recognised pioneers.
Preceded by a new single version of "Frank Sinatra" ("Frank Sinatra 2001"), "First Album" is released in 2001. This first album revisits the themes that these "Frenchies" are so fond of: Synthetic smiley and naive electro-pop ("Life On MTV", "Stock Exchange") or darker and pernicious ("Stripper"), distinguished by Miss Kittin's French accented voice full of derision. The album earmarks a next step. Touring intensifies, the duo play every weekend and fly to America, Canada and South America ...
At the end of the summer of 2002, electroclash reaches its peak. Miss Kittin & The Hacker are at their summit. It's here that they decide to call it a day. "We were knackered, we needed to take a break, take time out for other projects and not close ourselves in with one musical style", admits The Hacker. Many spoke of a split, not true. "We never separated, we just took a long break" grins Miss Kittin.
Late 2002, Miss Kittin & The Hacker, together as well as solo, become electronic music references. One of them - a sort after voice (collaborating with Felix Da Housecat, Sven Väth ...), a DJ star with an eclectic ear (demonstrated by her mix CDs: "Radio Caroline", "A Bugged Out Mix" ...) and a successful album "I Com'" (in 2004). For his part, The Hacker, goes on to be an unrivalled electro and techno DJ, going from EPs to remixes (Marc Almond, Laurent Garnier, Air, Nitzer Ebb ...). His career takes a new turn with the success of his second album "Rêves Mécaniques" (2004), led by the hit "Flesh & Bone".
Finally, amid their flowering solo careers, the duo once again come together as they did initially: By accident. Throughout 2006, spontaneously, far from any pressure and just for the fun, the French duo composes a few tunes together. Two of these come out in the spring of 2007 on the "Hometown" EP (released by Goodlife, founded in 1998 by The Hacker and his friend Oxia). Miss Kittin & The Hacker full of new perspectives, two seemingly complimentary extremes. "Hometown" encompasses a light emotional disco theme (in homage to their hometown Grenoble). "Dimanche", written in Berlin on return from an "After" party, is darker minimal techno influenced by the 1990s raves.
Very quickly a tour is organised. Kicking off with a huge gig in front of thousands of people on the Gard Bridge, in July. Each date is the same: A massive turnout. The duo uses this experience to define a new on-stage style. Between "revisited" and new tunes ("Belgium", "PPPO" or the superb cover of Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Mind"), Miss Kittin & The Hacker leave behind electroclash contrariness and unmask a perfectly accessible - more elegant, more mature and more distinct - yet, still pop side. An initial and tempting appetiser to their next album and forthcoming tour: That will, undoubtedly, be one of THE great electronic music events of 2008.
written by Damien Almira
Translated by Sarah Agasse |
| |
|
| home |
Gostimirović Music Management
Brunnenstraße 7/D. 10119 Berlin. Tel: +49 (0)30 40301520, Fax: +49 (0)30 40301560 |
|
|