Mademoiselle Ely embodies Paris as a real Parisienne, chic, playful, and original. Add sophistication and quirkiness to the music she creates to seduce her audience. Her musical identity was built via her travels and experiences and only grew richer from multiple influences.
Her techno is deep, bewitching, slightly dark and sometimes has afro-house vibes and sensual voices.
Mademoiselle Ely has a very feminine French touch and is known for her warm and progressive sets. Today she is with us to talk about her latest release and project. Enjoy her interview below.
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Thanks for your time doing this interview. How are you doing?
Hey, Thanks for inviting me. I am very well, thanks!
Maybe a little introduction for our readers. Where are you from and what do you find inspirational about where you’re living?
I am Mademoiselle Ely. I am a DJ & techno producer from Paris. Paris is a great place to create. It’s a beautiful city with a lot of happenings in music but also in fashion, art… and also there are so many great artists willing to gather and make things happen.
And add to that maybe a bit about your musical background. How did you fall down the music rabbit hole?
Lol… I like that image of the music rabbit hole… That’s exactly what it is…
Hum… Well, I have always been very sensitive about music and dance. I am the kind of person who can have shivers listening to music and who can dance or sing all night long, and this from a very early age. When I was a kid, my mum was keen on funk music, classical soul, or french songs and she used to organize parties at my house. I was the last one going to sleep. I had this orange portable record player that I carried everywhere.
Later, I was more into Urban music and at some point, I discovered rave parties and techno music. I so loved it. I enjoyed the vibe and the music. It was a very different way to party and I found the ravers were a lot more in connection with the music. At that stage, I couldn’t imagine that I would become a producer myself. In my young head, it was a men’s business… One day, a friend suggested it to me… and that’s how I started…
What type of music did you enjoy in your younger days? And when compared to today, how has your taste in music changed?
I always was very open to plenty of styles of music, but my culture was more about Hip-Hop, R’n’B, Funk or French music. My friends and I would be listening to 2Pac, Biggie, Mary J. Blidge, Brandy, The Fugees… We grew up with this kind of music. So I didn’t know much about Techno or House music… Then I was invited to a rave party and another world appeared before me… One track that I really felt at that time was French Kiss Lil Louis! Lol! Souvenirs!
Today, I listen to music in a more professional way… I really listen to the way it was produced, the layers, the details and all… but overall, I love Music in a general way…I enjoy listening to anything… It’s inspiring! My musical culture is way wider, and my mind is obviously more open.
What or who were your early passions and influences?
I’ve been brought up with French classical singers like Renaud and french rap such as IAM, NTM, Doc Gyneco… In their music, it’s a lot about lyrics. It’s like poetry. It is deep and often melancholic. I think this influenced me a lot. Writing is a big part of me and I want to use it in my music… (Plus, I love my language LOL).
How would you describe your sound of today?
My sound is mainly dark, minimal, progressive and often off the track. It has most of the time french poetry in it! I like the bassline to be powerful. It has Trance influences I guess!! I like my music to take people’s minds away.
You have a release ready, Vague à l’Âme. A great techno-infused track with some trance elements in it. How did this come together?
One night I was feeling down and I started to write about the feeling of having a spleen when the mind is feeling confused and anxious and you’re not yourself anymore… and then I had this unused bassline that I liked… and then I decided to combine both.
This release is part of something bigger. You mentioned a concept called ‘Confusion’. Want to explain this a bit more to get a view of your future plans?
Yes. With Confusion, I want to create a series of tracks and visual content around this same topic and put it all together, probably as an EP or an album. Still thinking about that. I have various texts and tracks building up at the moment.
What are currently your main challenges as a producer? Something related to trying out new gear in the ever-changing world of equipment, finding labels, …?
I would say that I freshly found my direction and identity as a producer. It was hard. I tried various things and also I was learning how to produce in the process… so sometimes I wanted to do things but I didn’t know how… and at some point, I finally started making music that I liked and that looked like me… That was a beautiful feeling even though learning is never over.
Also, I would say that my music being off track, it’s kind of hard to fit in a genre or in certain types of events and find a label that would follow…
If you could describe your perfect environment when working on new music, what would it be? How does it look like, it’s a certain vibe you create, do you want people around or not?
To produce I must be free-minded in a peaceful environment, home mainly. I usually plan my producing session to get in a productive movement. I like to be alone and put myself in a deep atmosphere where I find some emotions. Sometimes, it also happens randomly when I feel overwhelmed, and have something to express. It’s like writing a story really.
In the second part, I go more into technical aspects. I like to share my track with my musician friends to have their feedback and their fresh ears and see how I can make it better! It’s important to me to be surrounded by people that I trust and who I feel comfortable with.
As the last question, how is your end of the year going to look like and what will be the first thing you will be doing when you wake up in 2023?
Well, this year is ending quite well. My first video clip is out and I am really proud of it because we worked a lot on it with my team. I have a few projects coming up: a big collaboration with multiple artists (that’s going to be big), and another track with an Egyptian singer… So yeah, looking forward to 2023…
And the first thing I will do… hum probably coming back from the big New Year’s Eve rave, kiss my kids and go to sleep!
Thank you!
