![]()
Agoria, aka Sebastian Devaud, is a French electronic musician whose work spans decades and genres. His name, roughly translated as "meeting place" from ancient Greek, is an apt description of his body of work and love of collaboration. With several albums under his belt, his own record label Infiné, and over 100 gigs a year, this busy musician graciously took some time ahead of his February 2nd appearance at Igloofest in Montreal to chat with Ted Krisko, a Detroit native and member of ATAXIA. He talks candidly about what and who inspires him, what it's like to play after Oasis, and memorable experiences in Detroit.
The list of artists you’ve collaborated with reads like a who’s who of today’s intellectual dance musicians. Carl Craig, Dixon, UNKLE, Gui Boratto, Josh Wink, Michael Mayer, Paul Kalkbrenner, Radio Slave & Seth Troxler just to name a few. Who would you cite as your favorite musician to work with on an original? The thing is that they are all different. Some of the people you mention are for remixes, others are for vocals, and I think the funniest one was with Carl Craig because we started this after playing in Paris together at the Rex club, and we were eating together and then he was speaking and I was like “fuck he’s got a fucking great voice this Carl…I should ask him to feature on a track as a vocalist.” I mentioned it to him and he agreed, so 4 or 5 months after that I did the beginning of a track and I sent it over and he asked me, “Ok what do you want on this?” I replied, “Oh I don’t know, something a little romantic,” and then Carl came out with these really hot, hot lyrics, which made both of our wives ask “how cheesy are you guys?” That was my favorite one- we took a stupid thing seriously, and I really like that.
What is your favorite remix project you’ve worked on? Good question! The most historical one was to remix Inner City, because the very first record I bought in my life was Inner City’s “Good Life”. So obviously when 15 years later you have the artist who made the first record you bought asking you to remix him, it’s like “what’s happened to me, wow get me some water, get me something to drink!” I couldn’t believe that.
With every single collaboration, there is a story. When you’re a musician, especially with electronic music, a lot of time you are alone. Because when you are in the studio you spend hours and hours with the sounds, composing a tune, building a track in the arrangement - it’s mainly a lot of time alone in the studio. Also when you travel, even if you are with a friend or a tour manager, you are not with your friends or your family that are close to you so, I mean, for me it’s obvious that I needed collaborations to make this thing more firm. And also because you learn a lot of things collaborating. You mentioned collaborations with people from electronic music, but also I collaborate with lots of just musicians, no matter who they are…just bassists, violinists, cellists, because I love this thing of sharing music.
The bulk of your releases have come from your own imprint, Infiné, as well as the [Pias] Recordings electronic sub-label, Different. What other labels have you had the the most pleasure working with? Recently I did one with Innervisions, with Dixon. Actually I asked him to remix a tune of mine and it finished with me making a track for Innervisions. I sent something and Dixon said “that’s great I love the lyrics of the song” and then he asked if I could make an edit or dub version of it as well. The thing I like in electronic music, is everyone is taking things kind of easy. Most of all, because in the music industry, the model of the music economy is dead, so everybody knows that there is not so much money in this thing, and there is no reason to be a pain in the ass, asking for things, making problems, putting management on everything…it’s more like, let’s do it, let’s have fun let’s try!
That’s why recently I’ve started working with a new guy, a newcomer in Leon, called Every Daze. He is making music that I found really interesting. I said “let’s do things together” and he asked “I never made music in my life, why me, I’m not experienced,” and I said “You’re making good stuff, so let’s do it, let’s move forward”. So now we are working on remixes together for Michael Meyer, Tricky and the next one is for Fritz Kalkbrenner and these kinds of artists, It really is about saying “let’s try”. The good thing about electronic music is we don’t need to reserve a big studio, or have lots of planning, it’s just like “let’s just hang out and see if something happens or not”.
The latest release on your imprint, an Agoria track called “Under the River”, is a re-release of a beautiful, lush, ambient jam with moody jazz overtones…it sounds like a moment in time captured on tape. What was your inspiration for this cut? What kind of mood are you trying to create for the listener? Infine is an imprint I created years ago, but as of recently, I’m not managing the label anymore day by day. I still support the label though. So that track was re-licensed from my album from years ago. I was working on a soundtrack for a Luke Bessoint production called “Go Fast”, I think the moody and ambient sound was something I did for the movie. It didn’t get used in the end, but I wanted to rework it for the album, and I was thinking it was missing something, so I asked a friend who is a very good trumpet guy, and he came here to improvise something and it then it was done!
That one is the jam! I Like that sentence…it’s the jam! I like that!
Yeah you can take that one for yourself! Yeah you have to give me some sentences from Detroit…(waves gang sign) “What up doe!”
Yeah what up doe! Last time in Detroit, I was at a university in Detroit with Derrick May, and I can’t remember who else was there on the panel, but I was a bit intimidated to go in front of all the kids because my English wasn’t so good, and I’m some fucking guy from Europe coming to speak to the kids. I thought they would be like “man, what do YOU want?” So I say to my friends in Detroit, “Do you have something to give me that I can tell people to say at the beginning if I’m feeling bad?” So I arrive at the panel and I say to the kids “Hi how are you?” and NOBODY answered. So then I look at everybody and say “Hey, what up doe?” and everybody laughed, and then we finally were able to make an exchange. But without that it would have been very tough for me.
What up doe is still pretty common. Okay, If I was going to give you something from Detroit…If something is very good, then you would say it’s “real right”. Right.
No, Real right! Ahhh like, it’s the jam, it’s real right!
Yes! I know you aren’t day to day with Infiné anymore, but I do want to ask about some of the artists you have hosted and share company with, like jozif, Cubenx, Douglas Greed and being label mates on Different with superstars like Tiga, Felix Da Housecat and Underworld, does being in such company intimidate you ever? Always! (Laughs) No…I mean, being on the same label with these acts doesn’t mean that we had the chance to meet many times. Underworld, I was a huge fan of theirs; they were definitely massive fan when I was a kid. I don’t know though, I never felt music was a competition, so I never had a reason to feel embarrassed, or bad or good. At the record company I was thinking more in terms of business…like “Is this as big as Tiga or not?” But for me, in my position as an artist, I didn’t think like that because I always knew the kind of music I wanted to do. Sometimes the other labels would say “If you go in this direction then you could sell more records” or “if you make this compromise then maybe you could sell more records”. But I never did it, because I really still strongly believe that it’s better to always in the long term make the music you want, so you are always happy with what you are doing. For example, Jozif is fantastic, man! He’s like my little brother, man!
To be honest, I don’t mean to sound pretentious, but I’m not intimidated to be surrounded by these huge names and huge artists that sell a lot of records. I'm more intimidated to play in front of audiences with 20,000 people!
For example, recently I played a huge festival in Paris called Rock en Seine, and I played just after Black Keys and Noel Gallagher. I was thinking “Oh My God”, and I’m listening to 20,000 people sing along to the songs of Oasis and Black Keys and I’m sitting there thinking, “I have NO SONGS! What do I have that they are they going to sing along to?” That moment I was feeling very intimidated! Luckily I was surrounded by a bunch of friends who could see this so they were making fun, lots of jokes to relax me…but yeah man, that was a tough one. But then it happens just like this, when you are really really stressed, then BOOM, you’re on stage and you give everything! Also on this festival, I had a special project called FORMS, which had music and visuals, but if I had been alone and just with turntables that would have been really tough.
Do your peers’ reputation for innovation push your creativity? Do they push you to be a leader, and live up to an expectation of delivering a certain level of quality. Wow that’s a good question…I’ve never really thought about this. I’ll say this…you see Tiga making a big hit, maybe something on MTV. And you look at it and think “Wow that’s big!”. But ever since I was a kid, my goal is to always federate people. When I started, all the parties were illegal. I finished many times in the morning at the police station. They were always thinking I was the promoter of the party. But I was just DJing the afterpartys when I started as a young kid..18 years old, you know just being the guy like “Hey, come on can I put on one record or two?” And then the police would show up and say “Hey who are you? You’re coming with us to the police station”. So ever since this period, I’ve always been really, really militant. I’ve always tried to defend the music I love. We even created our own festival in my own hometown to show the music we love. I was always thinking, “how can I bring everyone with me.” Even though I’m not at the label day to day, I still am pushing all of the artists on the roster.
There is always a more intimate relationship with music that a DJ has released on a self-owned indie label. What is your favorite release you’ve put out on Infiné? (Laughs) so you want me to have lots of enemies. It’s tough, because I love them all, because I published them. But I would say this album is fantastic, Bachar Mar Khalife “Distance”, then Danton Eeprom’s “Vivid Love” I am always feeling impressed by this song. It wasn’t the biggest seller, which I’m surprised by. But there is something magical with this tune. And the last one would be Cubenx “Grass.”
![]()
How often do you include music you’ve released in your sets? There are no rules actually. Before you release it, you play it a lot. But then once it’s released, you’ve played it so many times before that you get bored with playing your own tune, so it’s tough to play it step by step. But then there is a moment where everyone who comes to see says, “Hey can you play this song?” because they know you for this song. So sometimes you play it to be nice, but sometimes you say, “No because tonight I’m going to play something much different”. But sometimes, you still are getting people 6 months later coming to see you because of the same tune, but you just can’t afford to play it anymore. But after a certain amount of time, it becomes ok to play the song out again.
What do you feel is the rule of thumb for how long to wait? Or is it more of a feeling? I would say four or five years. Because it’s like (makes a ping noise), a memory returning! It’s really how you play it, it’s how you insert it in the set. It’s not only the amount of time between the release date and when you play it, but more about when you include it as well.
Are you involved in running a label at all right now? No, but I still get so many demos and go through so many. I still send out demos I get to other labels as well, even just to say “Check it out, what do you think?”. Some of the people that I work with say I should stop spending so much time working for other people. But I like that. They say “you are sending me too many emails”…and I like that. It isn’t just me, we are not alone, I’m taking everyone with me. There are always acts I could tell you about at the moment. Let me tell you about 3 bands right now that I love! Paradis, Villanova, and of course my friend Everydayz. Paradis just did two singles on Tim Sweeny’s label, Beats in Space. They are from Paris, they are just finishing the album, they’re fantastic. I really like them. I’m pushing them for remixes and parties. I’m trying to do the same thing for Villanova!
What is your process for going through demos? Where do you start with a new artist? Do you give feedback and guidance or do you just say if it’s for you or not? I give guidance that the artist is free to follow, or not to…because I’m not imposing on anything. I remember when I was working with Infine, Rone had a track named “So So So”…and I said “this tune is good, and has big potential, so if you work more on this, it could explode! it just needs something a little more to make it really big” and then Rone sent me a track named “So So So #33” and I’m thinking “Oh my god, these 33 versions are because of me!” I mean, that’s really a lot. And I remember, we used the 25th version, and I was feeling a bit guilty because they kept working and working because I had something in mind. But in the end, we were both really happy, because even if you did 20 or 30 versions just to be sure, the best one was #25, and it really helped him a lot. And now, in France and in Europe he is really becoming an artist of the moment, and I’m really happy for him.
So sometimes yes, it works to give advice. But sometimes not, because I could be wrong, or the artist could be unhappy with it”. But if a new artist, like Everydayz is sending me new demos, I don’t give any advice and just let him do what he wants, but I make him listen to tunes that he might not know, classics from Carl Craig, for example. He (Everydayz) comes from more of the hip-hop and dubstep scene, so showing him new tunes can help him work more with the sounds. When you start you need a good melody and good arrangement, but what you need most of the time, is the quality of the sounds, the quality of the production. You also need some equipment, so it is one of the hardest things to improve. But it takes time, and after a while like this, new artists improve! But
Do you play a role in critiquing the songs before releasing them on someone else’s behalf? Especially when the song is close. In the end, with an agreement with an artist, the artist always has the final cut. To me, a good track is something written very fast. It’s the quality of the production that I spend time critiquing, not the melody or arrangement. You could do a shit melody, but if it sounds good on the record then it’s good. You can have a great melody, but if it sounds like shit it’s a shit record. Also, sometimes by luck, the album or single is perfect, and you have nothing to say. For example, the 3 releases I said were my favorites, there was nothing wrong with them. They were perfect!
February 02nd, you join us for a Pulse Radio Presents night at Igloofest. Montreal has been booming with their import of global superstars for various festivals throughout the year…what excites you most about playing Igloofest? This is going to be my very first show in Montreal, and also my first time in Canada. I’ve played almost everywhere in the world! I saw the photos for Igloofest with all the snow, and thought “Wow what’s that?!” I’m very excited for this one!
How do you approach preparing for a festival gig versus preparing to play a club gig? What is your process like for sorting out cuts you’d like to play out? Sure…it’s definitely not the same job. Especially if you play at a festival after Oasis! Or in Spain, I played a festival after New Order, and also played another festival after David Guetta, so the gap between sounds is big! Obviously when you play in front of 400, 500, 600 people in a club, they can get into the soundsystem, they can get into the club atmosphere, and the people are specialists in the music. I never prepare in this condition, and instead try to read the crowd and let them bring me to the right point. But at a festival, you are in the role of the entertainer. In a way, you are a model, you need to initiate the party. The people want to receive something. In the club, the energy is more fluid, with more things in common. At the festival, there is always a gap, between the stage and the people, and obviously 10,000 people can’t have the same mood at the same moment. So you need to be more like the doctor, and make a diagnostic about what the main mood is and how to bring more people into that mood. There are some tricks in track selection in starting out at a festival that will for sure help you.
![]()
What kind of vibe can your fans expect from Igloofest? It has a lot to do with who I am playing with and what time. Last act, first act, in the middle. If I’m the last act, I will for sure try to make people leave with a huge smile and saying “that was a great night”. In the beginning, I would play some new tunes, and you aren’t the main headliner, so you want to bring the people to the best condition for who is following you. A night of electronic music is all about how you build it. If everyone wants to be “BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM” then it’s a bad night. It’s much more about the flow you want to create for the night and it’s all about the lineup.
Well for our event at Igloofest, it’s you with Chase & Patrol, Audiofly, HEAR, Fu Ancko & NoD. Oh cool. That’s a good lineup! Ah well it’s going to be a great night! That means we are going to get to go further and play really good music then!
Question, do you know if I need to put a snow thing on me?
Well they might have space heaters, but it is called Igloofest, so I’d imagine you want a winter coat. So I don’t want to go in my jean one?
(Laughs) No man , you’re probably going to need a serious jacket! Thanks for taking the time today to sit down with Pulse! My pleasure!
Listen to Agoria on Pulse Radio
.jpg)
