W stands for DJ W!LD

With a name like Guillaume Duchastel de Montrouge, DJ W!LD was born for show business. Having been in the music game for the best part of 15 years and holding residencies at some of the coolest clubs around, he's just been signed to the Cocoon stable and released his debut album to crazy acclaim this summer. Helen S catches up with the french whirlwind ahead of his set at this Movement Festival in Torino. 

Pulse: You're a remarkably prolific DJ and producer, what have some of the highlights of the last few years been for you? DJ W!LD: DJ wise being a resident for Circoloco at DC10 for sure. It's just something amazingly difficult to say as I have had so many great times over the past few years and producer wise it's also difficult to say as I'm already working on some new stuff I'm more exited about, like my new album coming on Cabin Fever

Your debut album, Palace, came out over the summer, how did you find the process of making it and why wait so long to do it?  It was the right time for me to do it. The most difficult part is to start sometimes.

You've got some great names on your musical CV- Circo Loco, Fuse, Le Rex, DC10 and you've now just been signed to the Cocoon roster. How did that come about?  I think that came naturally after all these reasons that you mentioned but also because of my productions that Sven (Vath) plays a lot.

 Tell us about your time working in the fashion world and is that something you're still pursuing? When you live in one of the fashion capitals such as Paris, New York or London music and fashion can be really closed as the crowd is made up of fashion designers, models, make up artists etc. It has to be the right ones of course, working with the ones in the good clubs so it comes naturally.

As a DJ and producer you've spent much of your career in France. How's the scene there right now and where is it's centre?  Well I always travelled around because the scene has been difficult sometimes. So I was away from france for most of the time. But now the things have changed. Lots of good French producers and DJs and good organisation are making new nights in Paris and some cities in France (but some are stalled by the politics in France).

Does french music have a specific sound at the moment and how do you see that influencing dance music in general?  Well if you are talking about the underground it's more housy and sexy maybe with many different good musicians Chris Carrier, Phil Weeks, Shonky, Dyed Soundorom and Gauthier DM. Then when you talk about the mainstream music (pop) we have David Guetta, Bob Sinclair etc., but this is another world!

Movement in Torino is the next big gig for you, what's so special about it and what can people expect from your set?  Well it's my first time there but when you see the lineup you can expect something really good. As for my set well it's difficult to know beforehand but for sure lots of my new productions and maybe little more techy.

Who will you be listening to and hanging out with while you're there?  It's difficult to say we'll see depending on the timetable. Probably hanging out with Stacey Pullen or Sscanx ( LBS), Shaun Reeves and the Visionquest guys.  Let's see!

Finally, any plans to play in the UK soon?  Yes my next dates are fabric on 30th October (my first time there so I'm really excited) and then 5th November in Southampton and 25th November in Manchester.

For more on DJ W!LD head here

For tickets and info for this weekend's Movement festival in Torino, head here

Listen to DJ W!LD on Pulse Radio