Michel Cleis Makes More Music

Michel Cleis came to music production relatively late in life, beginning just five years ago and getting his big break via his worldwide smash, La Mezcla, back in 2009 on Cadenza.  Born and raised in Switzerland, Cleis is no one trick pony- a trained psychologist who speaks five languages, he only began producing music after being laid up for three months with a broken leg.  Since then both his DJ and production career has rocketed with releases also on Strictly Rhythm, Supplement Facts and Buzzin Fly.  His latest single, Running, is out now on More Music and MIchel caught up with Pulse.

Pulse: What have you been up to lately?  Michel Cleis: My new single on More Music just came out. The single is called Running, it's a little bit more techy than usual, a nice groove. I wanted to do something a little bit different from what I do usually, a bit more techno influenced but always with a groove.

What part of Switzerland are you from?  I grew up in Lugano, in the Italian part of Switzerland. I lived there until I was 19 and then I went to University in Lausanne, that was in about 1986. It was the beginning of House music, tracks like Promised Land were around, that kind of thing. There were people like Kid Bachelor, Adamski, Robert Owens coming over. I actually saw people like Adamski in the period when he was performing Killer! It was in a club called Dolce Vita. We had seen people like De La Soul there. We were in the backstage with people like Seal, explaining to us how he wanted to be a pop star, it's funny how it all worked out for him!

What kind of things were you into?  We were into R&B, Soul, House Music, Disco, Funk. I was already into dancing for 6 or 7 years before house music came about. I was like 15 when stuff like Nina Hagen - New York New York came out so that was what I first got into. I also listened to a lot of records by Lamont Dozier, who was producing a lot of stuff for Motown. He made one or two big hits but he was mainly doing the Motown stuff. We would go dancing on Sunday afternoons and it was a real melting pot! Some Italo Disco stuff too, but the good stuff.

Were there quite a few people operating in Lausanne at the time?  During the time when I was at University, I met a guy called Mandrax who was part of Shakedown. He was a pioneer of house music in that area. There are a lot of people from Lausanne like Ripperton, Digitaline from Cadenza and others who make music in fact. Luciano's also from Switzerland but he's from Geneva. We worked together sometimes but it's always difficult to work together because of a question of time. There was a time where someone had a little crew but it wasn't always easy to work with everybody

For you when did your break through come? For me it started with a single / EP on MBF. That was in 2006. It took a long time to develop. When you start out everybody tells you what to do, sometimes you follow but it takes time. Everybody's a producer and a label owner, they try to produce what you're doing and it takes time. I don't have these problems any more but at the time I did. After that I had my first single on Cadenza. That was the start.

How did signing to Cadenza happen?  I met Luciano through his old manager, who was also my manager at one point. I gave him one or two tracks and she was running the Cadenza booking agency and then I started to go around the world. I'm a big fan of all the Cadenza artsts: there's some great stuff from the Romanians, Pedro and Rhadoo, of course Luciano, Quennum, Digitaline, Tomas Melchior. There are some great artists on the label that I have always loved.

How has techno changed since 2006?  At that time we were at the end of Minimal, which was quite boring by the time it came to an end. I had a feeling that people wanted to have something more soulful, sunnier, to go out to and not just this backroom sound. And, there was stuff that I really loved for a time but which at the end was a little bit boring. It needed to get more friendly. I try to use analogue sounds and warm sounds, and I try to pay attention to the drive and the groove, something more than just the sound of the machine, something more than just a drum machine. I try to channel the kind of thing people like Gino Scoccio were doing back in the day. It sounds different. It's not only about the drums, though, it's about the music too.

Has the scene become more fragmented?  Berlin is more industrial because of the place, the environment. There aren't the beaches or the sea like you have in Ibiza. During the summer in Berlin you can still hear some more soulful music though. Of course, Berlin is like another vibe. I don't know if it's a different music, but even I can appreciate these colder sounds in the right season. There are people who can play in Berlin and in Ibiza and it works though, still.

What's next?   I'm preparing my album, I'm preparing an EP for DJ Koze on Pampa. I'm a little bit late on that! I'm also working on some side-projects with musicians. I'm preparing something for Rekids too but it takes time! Matt is really cool so it's ok. I have the official remix of Jamie Woon which I've done coming out, that's coming out with a remix from me and Luciano, I'm not sure which label it's coming out on though yet.

Michel Cleis- Running is out now on More Music

Listen to Michel Cleis on Pulse Radio