Talamasca Interview By Dean DJ Kito :

Talamasca is a psytrance project based in Paris, France. This project is the solo project of Cedric Dassulle, also known as DJ Lestat. Lestat promotes the music of Talamasca at parties on his journeys as a DJ all around the world. I decided to catch up with DJ Lestat to discover what he had in store for us for Antiworld’s very special Psychedelic Academy on Sunday 3rd May.

I feel names are very important in the music industry. Whereabouts did you get Lestat and Talamasca and are they important symbolically for you?

Well, I think differently than you in the way that I know some people who became famous with a shit name!!! Ahahah..... and of course you would understand that here, I can not give any example to prove what I say! (lol). So about Lestat, to be honest, I really didn’t care of the meaning when I chose it, because it is coming as many people know from the Chronicles of Vampire from Anne Rice, which, beside the fact that it is not connected to music, are very good books and I was fan, that’s why in 1992, when I decided to become a dj, I chose this one, because it sounds “French”, but I don’t know ANYONE called Lestat for real in France. But I didn’t know that this book was soooo famous, and when they did the movie of it with Tom Cruise (Interview with a Vampire) as Lestat, believe me, it was a very heavy name to carry!!! (lol) Also, I chose this name in a time where it was not so good to keep your real name, as long as the police in France and in 1992 was really trying to stop the parties by any means necessary... I thought it wouldn’t be so clever to put my real name... so I chose a dj name and that is Lestat.
Talamasca is a different story. Despite the fact that it is coming from the same book, I really have chosen Talamasca on purpose both for the meaning of the word as for the word itself, because I was looking for a name that anywhere in the world would be pronounceable... so I wanted sounds that was said the same way in Japan, Russia, Brazil or Israel... and T, L, M, S, C, with of course, A , are very common sounds everywhere, that was the first reason.... then, the double meaning of the name itself... Talamasca means in Latin language “animal mask”, which is cool enough to be taken.... but it is also a group of people (in the book....) who are “paranormal investigators”... and as long as I have a second hobby called mentalism, a hobby that you know quite well in UK because if I had to choose an “idol” in this second hobby (the first is the music, did I have to mention it ?), then it would be Derren Brown ;), I am a great fan of his work.... and the fact that all the members of Talamasca (in the book..) have powers, mental powers, it was fitting exactly with my “message”...
For those who don t know what is mentalism, it is a kind of magic which is absolutely not paranormal at all, but who make you believe it is using tricks or technics such as NLP or hypnosis... So now I don t need to tell you why I named my label “Mind Control Records” right?

You were a musician long before you took to the art of turntabalism, playing the piano for 13 years. What influenced you to jump from the piano to dance music?

AHAHAH... Well, it is a bit more complicated than that I am afraid ... it is always hard to say if I was musician first, or dj first..... of course, I played the piano since I am 6, but not exactly for 13 years, because from 6 to 10, maybe I was the good little piano student, but after 10 I turned to be heavy metal fan, and the piano was not exactly my goal in my life... so I left it a bit for some years, and then, from 14 to 16, after many bullshits, I tried to come back to a more “normal” life, and decided to play the piano again... that is where I began to “compose” my first tracks... on piano..... and then, form 16 to 19, I was not taking lessons anymore..... but I practiced my composing skills.... I’ve never been a really good piano player, compared to Erez from infected or Deedrah for example.... I was just an average player... then in 1992,my friend from school Dj Mael aka Nomad, invited me to a “rave party”... I was really doubting I would enjoy because I was listening to heavy metal and I was “spitting” on electronic music!!!! The result of this party ??? : I stopped school to become full time Dj...!! And only in 1995, I felt like I have now enough knowledge in my mind to be able to compose electronic music. I knew the music “rules”, and I knew what people wanted on the dance floor.... I just had to learn “how” to “make” this in a computer... In 1996, the firstTalamasca track was released...

Your new album with you and XSI is due to be released next month and took a year and a half to produce. What have you got in store for your fans? Any surprises?

Well, you know, I’ve been doing music for now 15 years, and beside the 6 first Talamasca tracks when we were 3 people, all the rest I was alone.... I did a lot of collaborations tracks, with a lot of artists, but I’ve never tried before this one to make a collaboration album.... and the fact that XSI and me became, I hope, friends, with the time spent together after “Mind Control Records” released their debut album, and after all this parties here and there where we have played together... Of course, my goal was also to link their name to mine, and to make them more famous suddenly...but I wouldn’t have done this two years ago after having released their first album, it if I was not thinking that they were the best and most talented band of the new French scene !!! They have in April this album with me, and another one called XSI and friends, released on phantasm records..... and I honestly believe that they will seriously blast and become big... ahaha..i just hope I will be able to keep them with Mind Control when they will be as big as I believe they will be !!! LOL

Where do you see your musical focus going within the next few years?

You know, many artists try to diversify their styles, but they keep the same name....I have the idea of making slower music too, but if I do, I will of course change my name, but also maybe try to not play in trance parties.... but for now, it is far from what I am planning to do.... Talamasca is not a project as I see it... it is a style of music by itself... as I see it, if suddenly tomorrow there are few Talamasca tracks of 135 bpm, more progressive, or the opposite, if I do one or two gabber tracks of 180 bpm, it won t fit ! I would not please my “fans” because this is not what they expect, and I will not please the ones who listen the other styles because I come from trance.... so I keep doing “morning happy full on” music... because this is what I am paid for (beside the fact that it is what I love to do of course. !!!), I mean that a promoter who books Talamasca is expecting a certain kind of music, the people who come to listen are expecting a certain kind of music, and this is why they booked me, or came to see me, so I don’t think it is a good idea to keep a name and change the style.... so to answer shortly to the question, the style of Talamasca will not change..... but maybe I’ll try some other things under some different names... as experiments ;) Last thing.... anyway, if you change your style, people say it is not like before....if you don’t, they say it is always the same ... so better to do what you want to do...

Psychedelic Trance has got a lot bigger in recent years, with many crossover genres now being created. Do you see this as a natural progression for the music, and does your music often crossover?

I see it as a natural progression.... from “progressive psytrance”, to “trance hardcore”... ahaha....it means also that the music is living...it is not anymore just one style as it was with “goa trance”, it is a full genre, and I even think that “psytrance” is not the good word anymore....I even think it never was anyway... we are part of the electronic underground music, because whatever we say, even it has grown bigger recently, (and even this point we could discuss about it, because it depends on the country you are speaking about...) it is still an underground music, mainly made to be danced in parties...more than to be listened by everyone on radio stations...

The Psychedelic Academy is being held in a secret location, bringing the Antiworld vibe back to the underground. What treats have you got in store for us for this party?

I will come to present with one of the XSI guys our work together, and then I think I will do a short dj set to present my new artists I signed with Mind Control... you can go to listen who they are and what they do here:

myspace.com
myspace.com
myspace.com
myspace.com
myspace.com
myspace.com

Other than psychedelic trance, what music do you love to chill out to on a Sunday afternoon?

On Sunday afternoons I am crashing in a hotel room after the party I’ve just played at!!!.... And the rest of the week, I spend it in my studio making noises with 145 bpm speed..... so... anyway, when I find some time to “listen and enjoy” music for the music, and not to analyze the way it is done, it MUST be chill music...in the electronic section, I like any kind of ambient, lounge, chill out, or even electro..I am not against classical music at all neither...;) ...but I don’t listen often to music.. I put music at the background, to create an atmosphere, but I rarely “LISTEN” the music...i just ear it...

If you wasn't such a successful DJ and producer, where do you think you would be and what would you be doing?

Well...I don’t know what way I would have take in that time if I wouldn’t have became successful.... I believe it would have been a wrong one... I was not a “easy” kid...and I was even worst teenager...in a way, to become successful in music saved my life a little bit... But if for any reason tomorrow I had to stop music and do something NOT connected with it, which is mostly impossible, at least for the next 10 years, I think that I would become a hypnotherapist... I hypnotise people for fun for some time now, here and there during my tours, and I know the techniques used in hypnotherapy are quite similar... Just the goal is different....but to help people to solve their problems seems like something I could have motivation for.... but for now, believe me, I prefer to give them fun when I play.

When you are travelling the world djing, how do you spend your time or in the studio producing, how do you spend your time?

You mean when I am getting bored in my hotel rooms? Mmmm... I answer interviews with big answers as you can see now... (I am in Brazil...), I practice my illusionist skills by learning new tricks on the internet, books, dvds... I lose a bit money by playing poker after having believed I was a good player because I just won 4 tables in a row... or, like now, I am waiting for Dino, Shanti and Dado to come back from the gym!!! Ahaha...I couldn’t go today...

When you are NOT travelling the world djing, or in the studio producing, how do you spend your time?

I ENJOY MY FAMILY !!!! which is not often enough !!!!

How would you like your music to influence the world?

Wow... what a question for such a “little” artist as I am...because even if people consider me as “big” in “psytrance”, in the entire world of music, I consider myself as no one yet... and this is a good thing, because it would be soo bad to believe that because you reached the top ten of a very specific and underground style, you don’t have any more effort to do! I believe that my next step is to find a way to put my music in some action or science fiction movies or video games... it would fit perfectly... and it will just give greater fun to people because with the sounds they will have images on big screens... if the goal of the music is to make the mind travel, our style, beside the fact that it is a bit fast, is almost perfect... But to influence the world ...pffffffffff............I would say that my goal is to give fun to people when they dance on my music, this is my normal goal now.... so if I could influence the world to have more fun sometimes... well..... it would be already cool enough ;)

When in London, as well as Brixton, what sights to you plan to visit?

I played in Manchester and I REALLY enjoyed it! It was a good club with really nice people... I really enjoyed and hope people have enjoyed my set as much as I enjoyed the party

And finally, tracing back through your career, what’s the most memorable gig you've had and why?

Impossible to answer to this question.... really.... first of all because I have so many... and second because the guys are coming back from the gym and wait for me to go eat because they are starving!!! LOL ..... So....quickly ...;) ....I did a cruise party in 1998, from Tel Aviv to Cyprus... it was amazing... in the middle of the see, on a big boat with a casino, a boat full of trance people...party for three days....pfiuu...it was crazy.... but I can not speak only about this one because I have now in mind jumping pictures of parties everywhere... the desert in Israel, the beach in Cancun, the Luna Park in Japan, the 40000 people parties in Brazil, the Andes in Chile.... and soooo many more !!! The list is too long!!! The guys are hungry..... ahaha....so I stop here, hoping you will correct my English mistakes ;) Bye!

Thank you so much for your interview, and we look forward to hearing you smash up the stage with your powerful psychedelic beats. Enjoy!!!!

Interview By Dean DJ Kito (Antiworld)! Talamasca in London @ Psychedelic Academy 006 More info www.psychedelicacademy.com