Having recently produced a remix for singer Mylène Farmer, Florent and Victorien are about to present “Home”, a new single in which every note and every word has been carefully thought through. We met FDVM, the French duo who have been immersed in electronic music for more than ten years. Your remix for pop star Mylène Farmer has just…
Your remix for pop star Mylène Farmer has just come out. What does it mean to you?
It’s an honour for us to have remixed Mylène Farmer, and it’s a pleasure to see the remix come out in such a beautiful physical format.
What were the steps that got you here?
There’s no secret: hard work and persistence pay off. We’ve been working together for 10 years and we’re determined to see our project develop and grow worldwide.
Do you remember your early days in production?
Oh yes, we remember! We started from scratch with no idea what we were doing, but with inspiration and a desire to share a strong message to inspire the world. Back then, we spent a huge amount of time with our friend Tim Baresko, who knew a lot more than we did. After spending enough time in the studio with him, we started producing ourselves and slowly releasing our first tracks on Soundcloud.
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FDVM is closely linked to the Soundcloud era. Does the latest news about the platform worry you?
Yes, we really did bet a lot on that platform back then. We still use it a lot for our “Supernatural” mixtapes and sometimes to release a few edits, but it’s true that what’s happening at Soundcloud isn’t necessarily helping our project grow. Today, Spotify has really established itself as the main platform. Generally speaking, the music world moves incredibly fast. As artists, it’s important to follow that closely and to keep reinventing yourself.
Have YouTube, and the channels in particular, also given you a lot?
We’re grateful for the support we’ve received from YouTube channels and music blogs. It helped us develop the project and share our music all over the world.
So far, which encounter has stayed with you the most?
One encounter that deeply affected us and had an impact on our project was meeting Phil, our manager, a year and a half ago. We’re very grateful for the work he and his team do every day. His support lets us move forward calmly and in the right direction.
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A little anecdote: on my way to work one morning, your track “Make It Right” was playing on the radio of some workers on a building site. Would you say your tracks are becoming more and more radio-friendly?
“Music is a universal means of communication.”
Our passion for it lies in the sound, but also, and above all, in the message it carries and the feelings it shares. We want to inspire, to share emotions (joy in particular) and to take people on a journey. Radio is a medium that speaks to everyone, and we’re delighted to be able to keep listeners company in their daily lives.
Your latest single “Love Again” is also getting a lot of airplay. How did the track come together?
After “Make it Right”, we wanted to produce something a bit more House. When we discovered the lyrics, we loved them straight away. When Cayo added his voice, it really moved us. Once again, it’s a strong message we wanted to share. We invite you to pay attention to the lyrics and you’ll see that “Love Again” follows on perfectly from “Make it Right”.
And a remix EP has just been released, hasn’t it?
Absolutely, we’re delighted to present this “Remix EP”, which contains some very interesting productions that explore the track in a really original way. Thanks to the artists, Miku, Darlinn, Elenne and Miskeyz.
You’re rarely in the studio together. How do you go about writing?
That’s true, Florent lives in Lille and Victorien lives in New York. But today, with technology, it’s really easy to collaborate remotely. We use Splice a lot and we talk on the phone every day.
I imagine Avicii’s death affected you deeply. He was probably one of your inspirations?
“We hope this tragic story will lead people in the music industry to ask themselves the right questions, to promote the physical and mental well-being of artists and to prevent this from happening again in the future.”
It’s also a wake-up call for the whole party world. With FDVM, we intend to be at the forefront on this, to change preconceived ideas about what “having a good time” and partying mean: by inspiring a better world and by celebrating life in the most beautiful way, through dancing.
To wrap up this interview, what are your upcoming projects?
Our next two singles are finished and the first one comes out this Friday, 18 May! We really can’t wait to present this track, called “Home”. A track full of good vibes that makes you want to travel. Right now, we’re focusing on writing the next tracks. As you’ve seen, we pay a huge amount of attention to the messages we share, and we intend to develop that more and more. At the same time, we’re trying to explore new sounds to offer something ever fresher and more interesting for listeners. As for shows, we’re touring the USA and France, with some great dates coming up. You can follow all our news on our website.
Florent & Victorien
