Private since March 2020, Yuksek is finally starting his tour at La Magnfique Society. With a new album with disco sounds and projects full of the decks, the DJ from Reims tells us how he lived this extraordinary period.
How did you experience the past 16 months?
I am quite divided. On the one hand, I worked a lot, because from the start of the confinement of March 2020, I composed the music for the series “En Therapy” (broadcast on ARTE), then I worked on the music of a film which will be released at the end of the year. And basically, canceling my tour was pretty disappointing, but it wasn’t that bad. On the other hand, for me, I was hardly creative. On this question, I don’t position myself as an artist, but rather as a human being: I was quite stressed, pessimistic and it was complicated some days.
Was it difficult to be cut off from your audience?
At the start of confinement, “Radio Nova” gave me a program every Friday evening. Being on the radio and releasing an album (“Nosso Ritmo”) in February 2020, which went well, allowed me to have feedback and to realize that I was being listened to. Even though the contact with people was not direct, I did not have the impression of losing the connection with those who listen to me.
Have you changed the way you work?
Before, I had a laborious thing where I forced myself to go to the studio every day and work like a psychopath… I relaxed a bit about that. Now I go there when I feel it. Recently, I also worked on the albums of Clara Luciani and Bertrand Burgalat. I have several activities that mean that in the morning I can choose what to work on depending on my mood for the day. If I don’t have a crazy inspiration, I will rather do some technical things …
How do you position yourself, as an artist, on this long closure of cultural places?
I am neither a virologist nor a political expert. The government has done absurd things, but we have also been incredibly lucky in France to be able to benefit from incredible aid. Particularly artists and the entertainment world, but also traders and restaurateurs. There are things to be faulted with and many have suffered, especially the most precarious, but many have also been incredibly supported. Around me, it allowed many people not to be left behind.
What is your feeling before finding the public?
I did not quite apprehend the thing, because my music is clearly not made for all these sanitary measures. I make music to make people dance so it’s a bit difficult when everyone is seated … Fortunately, it’s disappearing and that’s good.
Precisely, on the occasion of the Fête de la Musique, you were able to perform in Paris, last Monday …
I did three dates in the same day: on a boat at the foot of the Eiffel Tower for a streaming without an audience, then in Pantin on a large terrace where there were a few people and finally at the bottom of a hotel, in the 9th, where there were really a lot of people! It was great, we felt that people needed to let go of the pressure, to hear loud music, to get together. It feels good, there is clearly an outlet side.
What is your feeling before playing Reims?
I’m very happy, but it has also always distressed me a lot to play in Reims. It’s easier to play in front of people you don’t know. Playing in front of friends, people you know, others you can meet at the bakery in the morning, it’s not easy. It puts a little extra pressure.
You have always stayed very close to your hometown. Why ?
I live in Reims, it is here that I have always built myself. 10 years ago, when I started to be successful, when I said that I did not live in Paris, I was considered a bit of an alien, but now less, especially with the pandemic. But it’s always a little fishy not to live in Paris when you’re in the middle of culture! Living in Reims suits my temperament. I don’t like being in an uproar, but I also don’t like living like a hermit in the middle of the forest. It is a medium-sized city which has evolved well and which suits me well. – .
