Wemoto Radio - 027 - Dylan Dylan

Described as an « artist to follow » in 2023 according to French electronic media, Dylan Dylan signed in 2022 on the English label Shall Not Fade, on which she released her first album, "Euphoria". Breaks, house, techno, acid loops… with her various releases and exciting DJ sets, she has been rising to the top of the pile of new French talents.



Could you please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your background, perhaps where you grew up and what first got you interested in electronic music?
Hello, thank you for inviting me !
I grew up in a small village in the south west of France. Back then I had no knowledge of electronic music, the discovery of it came to me when I moved to Montpellier, in the south east of France.
I was 20 years old and started going to clubs; back in the day the electronic music scene was quite rich there, so I learned a lot from the club culture at that time.

How and when was Dylan Dylan born?
I have been producing and DJing for 15years now, under other aliases. I quit the scene for a few years, and when I started making music again, I changed the style of my productions and needed a fresh start; when I signed with Shall Not Fade for my first LP, the idea of « Dylan Dylan » came to mind.

For people who have never been, how would you describe the scene in France (The city you come from)?
In Montpellier, back in the days (in the 2000s-2010s) the scene was amazing ! There were a lot of different clubs, inviting great guests every weekend. I also remember huge parties on the beach where you could see artists like Richie Hawtin, Osunlade, Dennis Ferrer, Nick Curly.. on weeknights.
I moved to Paris for 4 years, so I lost track of the scene for a while, but when I came back, I was quite surprised that most of the clubs had disappeared or switched to mainstream music.
But what is amazing is that many collectives were founded, and they work hard to create a new face of the electronic culture.
First in mind is Piñata Radio, a webradio and collective that supports local artists.

Do you think its more difficult to get recognized and make a living out of your music, because you are not located in one of the hotspots like London, Berlin or NYC?
I think it can be at some point. Even just the fact that I’m not based in Paris did make the process a bit slower I guess. What really helped me is to produce music and be surrounded with an amazing team that helped a lot in the development of the project. I’m happy with what we have accomplished together.
For now I am mainly touring in France but I hope to expand a bit more in the EU in the next few years.But there is already so much to do here, I am glad to be playing across France, the club scene is really interesting and quite different depending on the cities where I play; it’s exciting!



You’ve had quality EP‘s and a fantastic LP out over the recent years. What’s your process in developing ideas for releases?
Thank you !
The more I am working in the studio, the more I get inspired, so what I like to do is wake up early and produce all day non stop for like 2 weeks in a row; great ideas come in the studio.
What also stimulates creativity is that I try different genres, even if it’s not for potential releases. I don’t stick to one, I make house, techno, jungle, hip hop instrumentals, electronica, breaks… that helps a lot in developing production skills, and expanding better knowledge of music in general.

All of your productions have an analogue sound. Could you tell us a bit about your studio set up and the equipment you use?
My studio equipment is pretty basic. I mainly work with an electronic piano and use it with Logic Pro; there are some pretty cool tools in Logic, « Alchemy » is my bible for almost all the sounds I create.
Also I have an AKAI MPC that I sometimes use for drums, and a TD3 for acid loops.

Do you have any hobbies or passions outside of music?
To be honest, music is taking up most of my time ! When I don’t play or work on tracks, I keep looking for new tracks, new artists, new sets to listen to, or else I go to stores.
But on my « quiet days », I read a lot, go to the beach, and I try to learn new things. For example, I am currently trying to learn German.



What do you have up your sleeve for 2023?
Summer tour is still on, I also have very cool gigs to come for the winter.
My 2nd LP is finished and signed, it should be released by the end of the year, I can’t wait !
And lately I worked on several remixes for Paris-based producers, they will be out this autumn.

What are your preferred methods for finding new music. Do you still enjoy digging for records in shops, or do you prefer to buy online?
I am a huge fan of filmed sessions of dj sets, so I do watch and listen to an enormous amount of sets online, I can spend entire days watching sets on Hör, The Lot, Kiosk, or live festivals… I would say that this is my main tool to find new stuff and discover new artists.
I do buy a lot of tracks on Bandcamp, but I still (and will always!) enjoy digging records in shops. I grew up in the 90s, there was no streaming, no internet, you couldn’t know for sure what was on the record you bought. So this is a way of finding music that will always remain in my habits.
Plus, when you listen to music online, depending on the platforms you use, the algorithms will propose similar things, you can feel trapped sometimes; stores are the best way to be surprised and discover things you would not have paid attention to in the first place. It always feels like a kind of a treasure hunt, and I love this feeling.

Can you tell us a little about your Wemoto Radio mix? What inspired you?
Lately I have played a lot of fast power house, ghetto and techno, so for this one I wanted to come back to something smoother.
The 2nd track, « The saddest day » is an unreleased from my upcoming album.
Thank you again for having me, hope you will like it !