Last summer we released an EP by Laurent Schark & Laris Alexander, an afro house title that had received a lot of supports and feedbacks, here they are back for an interview, a exclusive focus with the two English & Swiss producers.
Laris Alexander & Laurent Schark
Hey guys! Nice to meet you, how are you?
Laurent : Hi guys, hi everyone, very happy to meet you all and to do this interview with you. Everything is going well!
Laris : Hi team, I'm doing great thanks.
Tell us about the early days of your career, what are your most vivid memories of that time?
Laurent : There have been a few milestones in my career and important moments, so if I have to go straight to the point. Saturday 19th November 1994, my first official Dj set in a club in Marseille, summer 1996, my first show on an FM radio, 2006 my first release (after moving to London at the end of 2005), and since then, it's been a great journey until now ;)
Laris : I wouldn't have enough lines to tell you about my beginnings and highlights, for the last 27 years my life has been made up of highlights with music both in production and events.
However, you'll have to do a lecture... So I started in 1995 in Toulouse, my hometown, at the Shanghai, a gay club in the pink city, which was an institution at the time.
Radio show on Booster
A few years later, I left for the Mediterranean coast where I became a resident of the Club Le Chantier in Aude, it's at this period that my curiosity brought me to Montpellier and there I discovered the Bar Live After where I took a big slap in the face in terms of musical quality, it's there that I met Cebb and Greg Delon for the first time :)
Imagine my pride when we signed on WOH.
And then Geneve Krystal, Platinum, Griffin's, B-Club, Baroque, ....
And of course London where I met Laurent, who will become a dear friend
What have you learned about the music industry and yourself since you started your musical journey?
Laurent : Wow, that question is an interview in itself haha. I learned that you have to work hard and never stop, believe in your job, surround yourself with the right people (friends, family, colleagues), don't think too much, stay on your feet. There are ups and downs, for sure. But hard work and patience always pay off in the end.
Laris: Laurent says it very well ... We have to work, which is not easy, with our lives of residents and personal, but we must believe! And Bossé !!!
We can be refused by a label, it's good to take, because that's how we question ourselves and move forward even more.
But the industry is complicated all the same, especially since the opening with the web.
Before, you had to send your artwork by post, now, the most relentless people can claim that their tracks don't pass through thousands of emails.
Tell us about your new single "Keneda" with Phoebe on Way Of House and how it came about.
Laurent : Laris came to me with a demo that looks nothing like the final version haha. But he brought some fantastic ideas which are still in the final version. I changed a few things until Laris suggested that we needed a vocalist. I was 100% on board with this idea. We both had a very clear idea of the kind of voice we were looking for, a sensual, ethereal voice, and honestly, we had a hard time finding the right one. I shared the instrumental with a few singers I had worked with in the past and none of them could read our minds and grasp the idea we had. Laris found Phoebe, in Thailand. We never met her. We shared the 'direction' we wanted for the lyrics (which Laris had started writing) and the lead line. We were already enamoured with her voice but when we sent the vocal demo, I think we both cried lol. It was just perfect, exactly what we had in mind without even being able to describe it.
After that, it took us months to find the right balance, the right mix. Wielki also helped. The title was released in June 2022 but we started this project in September 2020.
Laris : I wouldn't know what to say after this very detailed description.
The little story maybe that will allow me to go straight to the next question.
You had the opportunity to collaborate with many different artists, especially during the lockdown, how was this experience? Do you like to exchange ideas with other producers?
Laurent : I've collaborated with a few artists remotely because I obviously "had to". I had to learn how to do it, because I'm a very old school producer and I like the chemistry and the organic approach with the people I'm working with while they're sitting next to each other in a studio. Working with remote artists was definitely out of my comfort zone but Keneda is an example that it can work.
Laris : The Lockdown was very beneficial in terms of inspiration and distance work.
The proof is in the pudding with KENEDA, but also Cuban Anthem, which we had released earlier.
For the small history thus, it turns out that I have musical tastes very varied and this day there in November 2020 I believe, passes to the radio Résiste of France Gall, I found this piece appropriate to the period which we were living " Résiste, Prouve que tu existe " and there... The flash of Genie (if I can say) Lol.
The lyrics were perfect for our KENEDA, so I got inspired and in a few days I translated the lyrics and put them in my own style.
And VOILA !!! KENEDA was born !!!
You have played in many clubs and all over the world, do you have a favourite place or venue?
Laurent : Without hesitation, my favourite club was the Ministry Of Sound. There are energies in that club that you can't explain.
Laris : I didn't have the chance of Laurent to play in a club as famous as MOS, but if I had to give a name, it would be CUCKOO in London.
What else do you do apart from music?
Laurent : I run a record label apart from the music part. I have a weekly and monthly radio show in which I host great artists that I interview. I also had Delon on not long ago. But 90% of my activities are related to music (including recording, mixing and mastering).
Laris : So I'm a producer, which already takes a lot of my time (because I'm too much of a perfectionist)
Dad, of a little boy of 4 and a half (Yeah it's important for him, the 1/2) Lol
Residents in several clubs, bars, hotels in Geneva and Switzerland.
And of course, I'm still learning home studio techniques.
Are there any further releases planned for 2022?
Laurent : Absolutely. We've been working on the next album with Laris, but I don't want to give away the news, because it's going to be amazing. As for me, I have 3 or 4 other projects in the works, including a collaboration with Derrick McKenzie (Jamiroquai's drummer) that should be out in the next couple of months. I will definitely be sharing all the updates on my social media channels very soon (https://linktr.ee/laurentschark).
Laris : Rooooo, Laurent we said we wouldn't say anything!
So yes, preparation of an album with my partner and some projects I'm finalizing, Afro House and Melodic House
But you can also follow all my news on www.larisalexandermusic.com
Merci Laurent & Laris
