Intellectual. Individual. Innovator. These three adjectives describe French DJ and producer Madeon perfectly. Hugo Pierre Leclercq has been fascinating audiences left and right with his unique sound. However, he is just as fascinating, if not more, away from his signature Novation Launchpad. An incredibly humble and insightful producer, Madeon is an individual who has no trouble completely being himself. In fact, that is what makes him so remarkable. With elements of pop, electro, rock, and disco all infused into his sets, his sound is so unique because it is stays true to his musical outlook. Madeon has shown that he is able to use multiple mediums to reach out to his fans and share his unique work. We had the opportunity to sit down with the rising star on February 15 at the Bluestone in Co- lumbus, Ohio, presented by our friends at Prime Social Group. In a short amount of time, we were able to get a great feel for how Madeon became the successful producer he is today, while also taking a look at the endless opportunities that lie ahead of him.
Madeon, thanks for joining us, how are you feeling?
Actually I’m feeling a little sick… I’ve been sleeping all day and just woke up. Generally what happens is, when you’re sick and you play, you’re pretty much cured for precisely the duration of the set. As soon as it’s over and you head back to your green room, then it all comes back and it’s awful. When I’m sick, I guess I’ll just play back-to-back shows forever.
So you’ve been on tour with Lady Gaga up until her recent injury (remaining shows were cancelled due to a hip injury that required surgery for Gaga). How has the energy of the tour been, and how have people welcomed your music?
It’s been really great and I’m frustrated that it has been cancelled. I’m really glad that I was able to do so many shows already, I think like 15, which have all been genuinely fantastic. The approach I took when they offered me to do this, I said, ‘I’m only going to do this if you let me play exactly what I want.’ They were really open and I just came in and played music that I genuinely love. The mistake I could have made would have been to approach it as a mainstream/top-40’s crowd and play a generic set. I’d get all new fans, but they would not be fans of what I really do. I wanted the fans to enjoy what I really like so I played music that I would normally.
One of the themes of these shows was showing to the audience that what I do is not just a DJ set. I am not just a guy behind the table. I want to give the crowd a
performance, where you can see what I’m doing; you can experience it and relate to it, so it’s cool. Are you going to be adding any shows or rescheduling shows now that the remaining tour dates have been cancelled?
Well I’m doing a few sideshows along the way and I’m going to keep doing them, but what I’m going to do instead, is drive or fl y to New York, stay there for a week and set up my studio in my hotel room until they kick me out for a noise complaint.
Were there any of your songs that you played on tour that instantly made every- one go crazy?
I have a couple of Jokers (wild-cards) for that situation. I like to play the a-cappel- la version of “Mr. Brightside,” sometimes over my remix of “Que Veux Tu,” that gets a big reaction. What I want to start using is some of those big rock references as opposed to the over exploited pop or electro clichés. I don’t want to play “Levels.” I love “Levels,” by the way; playing a cool, older rock song has the same recogniz- able impact but without being to cliché.