First appearing alongside other techno house royalty: Greg Gow and Karim Sahraoui on the compilation ‘The Other Side’ Vol 1 v/a, Fabrice Lig was first a fan of the label before establishing a working and musical friendship with the founder and fellow artist, Eddie Niguel. . It was only a matter of time before the Belgian star debuted on Integrity with a solo release, and appearing on the label’s ‘Yellow’ artist series couldn’t have been more perfect. Integrity Records is proud to present Fabrice Lig’s ‘The Cosmology’ EP, four cuts that amalgamate the producer’s musical range. Fabrice effortlessly traverses cosmic house, funkified techno and dub electronica on this outing, prominently showcasing why the world-class producer continues to impress the world with his music and his unwavering commitment to releasing only high-quality electronic music for the body and the soul.
We have had the pleasure of interviewing him and this has been the result.
Can you tell us a little about your experience? Where are you from / how did you get into music? Was it all internet based?
I’m from Belgium, I’m probably lucky as my country is into electronic music since early eighties, so I’ve been in touch with Electro Body Music, New Beat, House, techno & electro since I was a teenager. First clubbing experience around 15 at “Boccaccio Club” in Gent, 1987-88. Since I discover techno in 88 with Inner City & some more underground Detroit techno music, I started buying records, playing those for friends and built the idea to make music…When I release my first records in 1993, internet wasn’t there, I was living in the south of Belgium and I didn’t know any music producer so I had to learn by myself how techno music was done, tutorial was an unknow word at this time.
Who have been your main inspirations (both musical and in «life»)? And how have they affected your sound?
As a kid I was totally into funk/pop/synth pop ; Michael Jackson & Motown, Prince, early electro/hip-hop bands like Grand Master Flash, Afrika Bambaata etc…But also romantic pop like Nick Kershaw’stuff. I’ve also always been big fan of Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre & of course Kraftwerk. But It’s Kevin Saunderson & Inner City who hitted me with that new sound from Detroit. Maybe because it was like a mix between all the types of music I used to listen before with a great energy on top…The way all those things affected my sound is not easy to say as its something difficult to say and to explain. I just know I like the groove of funk music, the melodies from Kraftwerk/Vangelis & romantic pop, and the power of 909 from techno music, so I probably mixed all those things unconsciously when I started making music, even if at the beginning I was influenced by some radical music from Jeff Mills, Luke Slater or Underground resistance…I liked radical & experimental side of their music (and I created my alias “Interwaves” to make some music like that too) and needed more time & skill to produce melodic music.
How would you define your sound?
Not easy. I would say its what I called “Melodic techno” with funk elements. I also sometimes like to make minimal tracks but with as much funk as possible. (My influences here were Dan Bell, Robert Hood, Todd Sines, Dan Bell…)
How has your sound evolved so far?
It’s important to say I’ve always done music for pleasure and with consciousness of my limits…That’s why I worked step by step to move forward on the melodic and funky side of music. I also wanted to make special melodies, getting out of usual chords and harmonies, that’s probably why people often tell me they can recognize my sound. It’s something important for me too. That’s why I never decide to learn music theory, I was afraid it would drive me to make conventional melodies & music more globally. Now I think I reached the limits of my music skill which is not a problem as I see that (limited) knowledge enough to make a lot of things and always with my own touch.
What can you tell us about your last job? What inspired you? What do you want to convey?
I always trying to convey some emotions & some funk or energy, sometimes all those things together sometimes not. But those elements are essential.
Dance music can’t be transparent or insipid, it has to bring you something ; joy, energy, emotion and something you should want to listen on a long term…If music doesn’t make you feel something special, the artist probably missed the point.
What can you tell us about each song that makes up your latest work? What is hidden behind?
Cosmology is a good example of what I said, its funky, its melodic, it’s something between house and techno and I like it like that. Like Eddie’s from Integrity records wanted to bring into the Yellow Serie, it sounds like something positive and I think it sounds typically “Fabrice Lig” ;-).
Preface is simple combination of Sh101 loop and a Matrix 1000 chord suite, a Pro One bass & 909 drums. Here too, it’s positive vibes I wanted to share.
The Snake Passed The way is nothing than a tribute to one of the best techno artists, Mister Kenny Larkin. He represents everything I wanted to develop into music. A particular sound, funky, soulful & innovative…I talked about some inspirational artist when I started making music, but Kenny Larkin is my model. So usually I don’t like to make something sounding similar to another artist, but here I wanted to make something for my pleasure and try to make something sounding like the master…
Incremental Control is that kind of never-ending track I like to record. A track for me has sometimes to be like a story or a book, and to enter a book, it needs time, and to build an atmosphere, some characters, their psychology and their environment so 13 minutes is not too much to tell a story. Those long track I recorded like “The track”,“My UFO”, “Complexity of life” from the last album or “Hmong Dignity” are the ones I prefer because it’s also a real challenge on how to build the structure of the track.
How are you living the current situation because of COVID? Has your work affected you a lot? Do you think there is hope? I feel like the underground scene will continue to persist.
I didn’t make music during the Covid to be honest. I’ve seen that period like a chance to reconnect with important things ; family, nature, animals, books and philosophy. Underground scene…To be honest again, is hard to definite or explain…I think underground is more a state of mind than a place or a real scene, underground is everywhere, into some people, some moments, it’s probably something you can’t wait for or see, but some special instants you have to find and feel into any parties or dj sets, statements and attitudes you are experiencing sometimes. It’s not like a block, it’s now fragmented and it’s not necessary bad cause underground is everywhere if you have open ears and open mind.
What projects are you working on right now?
I have to work on the new live act. I would try to make one with different tracks I recorded all those years, but it’s like writing a book to make a good track listing so it takes time…
An ep will come out soon on my Belgian’s friend Kolombo’s label (Otherwise records)
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/FabriceligArtist
