Chris Carrier, the Parisian prodigy, sets down his artist album, Gosse De Paris an expressive journey through a truly inventive collection of tracks, on Phil Weeks Robsoul Recordings.
Chris Carriers only goal is to make music. For more than a dozen years hes been an underground icon, churning out more than one hundred records and remixes for a host of labels. Never giving much chase for a spot in the limelight, Carrier is nevertheless rightly revered as one of the most gifted, prolific producers on the European dance scene. Refusing to restrict his output to one genre or one school of thought, Carrier is admired by lovers of sexy, deep, tech, house and stands apart for his diverse style. An artist who refuses to be pigeonholed or to conform to a bland career plan, he delivers an assorted album that marries funk and disco, while passing by the heart of soul music. Gosse De Paris is a tribute to Carriers home town in its title, and explores Carriers earliest influences. For a very long time I've wanted to raise a project around the black music which rocked my childhood, explains Chris, In my family we spent all our time listening to the likes of Stevie Wonder and many others less known. Presenting a fresh model for the standard dance artist album format, Gosse De Paris is a seamless blend taking in the weightless feel of disco, the grooviness of funk, the depth of vintage analogue techno and the alluring nature of soul music. Old samples amalgamate with new technologies, retro piano stabs happily sit alongside futuristic synths, and dynamic beats fuse with classic style. Dancefloor moments are satisfied in album cuts Cabaret Des Belles Lettres and Calais Douvres, while more joyful emotions attach themselves to tracks such as Quadrilette and Gramaphone. Each production conveys its own series of feelings that directly relates to the next, resulting in a natural sequence that is unapologetically evocative. At a time where the boundaries between genres are continuing to blur, Gosse De Paris makes its own conclusions on the formula of modern electronic music. Growing up in Paris, Chriss father, a keyboardist, provided his early musical inspiration, along with heroes like Quincy Jones. Youthful notions of being a baker (I like cakes, he says) lost out to music when he discovered the early 90s techno rave scene. Driven to be the master of his musical destiny, Chris quickly learned to produce, and created pioneering techno label, Chronobrain with Guillaume La Tortue. Most artists stave one label if at all but Chris is so restlessly creative hes founded a whole fistful of labels over the course of his career, including the renowned Adult Only imprint, Catwash, Chronobrain, Combustible, Taka, X86 and Direct Art all committed to a variety of musical styles. He has also worked under more than a fifteen aliases, turned his remix skills on the likes of Matthew Dear and brought his vision to Get Physical, Crack & Speed, Brique Rouge, Freak n Chic, and Robsoul. Artists like Derrick Carter, DJ Sneak, Mark Farina, David Duriez, No Assembly Firm all decided to release some of their most underground workings on Robsoul, and thats because the label isnt frightened to put out whatever sounds good to the ear. A lover of vintage gear such as 808s and 909s, its founder, Phil Weeks, dedicates his label to the purest and most upfront sounds, creating one of the most respected labels around with a plethora of varied releases. Chris is an underground star, firmly in the forefront of the new French electronic movement. Renowned for his skilled DJ performances that have taken him to the finest global hotspots in Romania to Roma, Tokyo to Beijing, each alongside some of the most revered globally recognized artists. This is a facet of my universe. I'm always looking for originality without losing rhythm. My aim is to make people dance with a smile on their face, explains Chris Carrier, and with Gosse De Paris there is no doubt he will succeed.
