listen in
widescreen
Not since DJ Shadow burst
onto the scene has an album
blended hip hop beats and
cinematic style to the same
effect as Little People’s debut
“
hat a was a weird time in time
in my life,” says Anglo-Swiss
producer Laurent Clerc. “The
band I was producing music for back
then were picked up by a label from
the Paris suburbs – it seemed to be
a great opportunity…
“We got some studio time in Paris
and spent four or five days recording – then it dawned on us that we
were working with some seriously
shady characters. Their main line of
business was diamond contraband
from Africa. There was a lot of ego
on show, people brought guns in the
studio and the emphasis seemed to
be on being a gangster rather than
actually making music…”
Laurent’s past life sounds like the
plot of a film – fitting really because
his debut album as as Little People,
Mickey Mouse Operation, could be
its soundtrack. We’re talking
cinemascope music here, the sort of
stuff Massive Attack or DJ Shadow
would be proud of. Being on Illicit,
Deadly Avenger’s revived label, it
also has an impressively chunky hip
hop vibe to it.
“The cinematic quality to my music
is related to how I got into making
this type of music in the first place,”
says Laurent. “I started making hip
hop beats back in 1996 and it’s
around that time that I first came
across Mo’Wax, DJ Krush and DJ
Shadow. Then during my university
days I got involved in writing scores
for plays.
“Essentially though, I like my
music to convey a mood or a
T
feeling as well as a certain
intensity. I’ve always aspired to
make music that makes the hairs
on the back of your neck stand up.
My track Last Fare [which came out
on Illicit’s Straight To Video
compilation] was written as my own
interpretation of a soundtrack to
Scorsese’s Taxi Driver.”
home movies
Laurent’s cinematic obsession has
also found its way into his live sets:
“I’ve picked up some basic VJing
skills and added a visual element to
the sets using childhood Super8
footage dating back to when we
were all little people.” He’s also
reworked his album so it can
played in a live environment,
bootlegging famous vocals over the
top of his instrumentals.
“Hip hop production in its purest
form is based on piecing together
songs with rare breaks and hooks,”
he says. “While I use samples I
tend to rework, layer and process a
lot of it to make sure they become
my own work. Borrowing another
man’s genius and passing it off as
your own isn't something I go for.
“Saying that though, I’m not trying
to discredit the artform; the fact that
all these obscure and forgotten
artists are brought to the public’s
attention years down the line is
extraordinary. Without sampling so
much great music would have been
lost to most of us.”
Mickey Mouse Operation is released
on May 8 on Illicit. Visit
www.littlepeoplemusic.com
e