STREAMING AUDIO INTERVIEW

Iconic French producer Mr Oizo certainly is a man of many talents. With several albums to his credit he’s also proved he’s no slouch in the area of film, and it was in this creative endeavour that he took his first steps towards musical notoriety. In 1997 his father sold a car to Laurent Garnier, head honcho of the F Communications record label. Oizo got talking to Garnier and was invited to direct the clip for his track Flashback. A few years later and Oizo unleashed his worldwide hit Flat Beat on the label, and the rest – as they say – is history.

The past few years have seen Oizo working at a breakneck pace, at least in comparison to the first phase of his career when he took a 6 year sabbatical between albums after the runaway success of debut single. “I was a little bit blocked, musically,” he relayed to inthemix, speaking of his extended break between 1999-2005. “Probably because of the success of the single Flat Beat. I was very young, it was my first step in electronic music and it became a huge commercial hit. I was not prepared.”

Making his return with Moustache (Half A Scissor) in 2005, before long Oizo had moved on to a new label with Ed Banger, and he was hard at work on his next project. Releasing Steak, his first feature film in 2007, in true Oizo style he wasn’t all that impressed by the way the project was handled. “It had been presented to the audience like a blockbuster, because the producers were expecting to get their money back,” he explains, with a deadpan French accent.

“So, they lied to the audience. They tried to sell it like a blockbuster, and my film was much more of an experimental movie. It was half comedy and half experimental. The audience felt violated… it was not right, they were expected something really funny and it was not that kind of movie. Besides that, I had some fun, and some very good reviews.”

Clearly not afraid to speak his mind, Oizo also raised the ire of Daft Punk and Etienne De Crecy fans recently, after telling inthemix he felt their heavy visual live shows were “too serious and too ridiculous.” Whether or not you agree with the man, there’s no denying he’s left a footprint on modern electronic music, and with his brand new album Lambs Anger he’s proved he had continue to step forward as his career progresses.

Mr Oizo’s album Lambs Anger is available now through Ed Banger. You can also catch the man touring the country over the coming weeks:

Sat Feb 28 – Future Music Festival, Sydney
Sun Mar 1 – Future Music Festival, Perth
Fri Mar 6 – Ruby Rabbit, Sydney
Sat Mar 7 – Future Music Festival, Brisbane
Sun Mar 8 – Future Music Festival, Melbourne
Sun Mar 8 – Roxanne Parlour, Melbourne
Mon Mar 9 – Future Music Festival, Adelaide

Wondering what Oizo has in store when he tours? Check out this clip from the crowd at Germany’s Melt Festival in 2008: