Norwegian DJ/producer duo, Lemaitre, first came into the limelight in late 2010, with the musical pair releasing a number of singles, EPs, and music videos within their debut year. Having signed to Astralwerks Records in early 2014, the set of musicians have made quite a significant impact on the contemporary electronic music scene, dazzling listeners with disco-infused electro and indie dance.
Today, the Oslo natives chime in on their new EP, 1749 (purchase here), which just came out this morning, as well as their upcoming tour and Ed Banger Records. Check out our interview with them below:
FS: So, let’s talk about the beginning – what brought you two together to create Lemaitre? Tell us your story.
L: We first met at junior high school, but we didn’t talk about doing music together before the last year of senior high school. We had then been doing music on our own for a long time, and both of us had no idea what we wanted to do after we finished school.
So, we decided to go for it full time, for at least a year, to see what would happen. One of the first tracks we ever made together, The Friendly Sound (purchase here), did fairly well on blogs and went #1 on Hype Machine. That got us our first gigs and radio-play.
Actually, the first gig and radioplay began in Lithuania of all places. After that, it kinda just snowballed with each track we put out and it has all gone very step-by-step since. 5 years feel like 2.
FS: That’s a pretty crazy story, isn’t it? You know what they say – “from humble beginnings come great things.” Outside of Lemaitre, did you have solo projects that you were working on? It seems like you appeared on our radar out of nowhere several years ago, and you’ve been a hit since.
L: Not anything being released, and very low-key. Ulrik played in an indie band with some friends of ours, and dabbled with some hip-hop & electronic producing in his bedroom, while Ketil produced electro house for friends’ parties and electronic music, which some ended up being the basis for some of our earlier tracks.
FS: What about your sound? I remember when I first heard Sceptics – it had a interesting resemblance to the Ed Banger sound, though it certainly held its own, unique place – were you inspired by some of these guys and gals from the Parisian label?
L: Most definitely. When we started out, our dream was to get signed to Ed Banger. We were obviously very inspired by Justice, and we thought all the Ed Banger guys were really cool. We definitely wanted to be like them haha…Other inspirations were fellow Norwegians Royksopp, bands like Phoenix, and a lot of the other stuff we grew up listening to, like Moby, Daft Punk and Basement Jaxx.
FS: That’s really cool – we really dig that you guys didn’t copy their sound, but you took that inspiration, and made something completely new. Well, let’s talk about some of your favorite music at the moment – are there any particular artists that have been impressing you? And, what are your thoughts on today’s generation of musicians?
L: Petit Bisquit, Bryson Tiller, Anderson Paak, HNNY, Gallant, Lido, Marcus Marr, Ryan Hemsworth, Giraffage, and Galimatias are just a few off the top of our heads. There’s so much good, new music coming out all the time, it’s hard to stay updated. It’s really dope with this whole generation of bedroom producers and artists, getting an audience through the internet, especially Soundcloud and Youtube. It leads to so much innovation and different kinds of directions.
FS: Completely agree with that! I think contemporary music has reached an interesting point – almost a bubble – there are so many talented producers out there, which makes it difficult to find the “hidden gems.” Now that you’ve given us a look at some of your favorite producers, tell us what you think about some of our favorites in ten words or less.
L: Really cool, got some of that Justice vibe.
L: Also got that french touch, sounds dope.
L: Cool, sounds are really tight.
FS: So, it’s finally 2016. You just released Stepping Stone to the public and fans around the world love it. What’s in the works for the rest of the year? Tours, albums, EPs, and collaborations? We want to know.
L: Working on as much new music as possible. Release-wise we’re not sure whether it’s gonna be singles, another EP, or a full album we’ll have to see. But, we are definitely releasing a lot of new music this year. Excited to finally have our EP, 1749, out.
We got an awesome track with The Knocks coming out in not too long, very stoked about that one! We’re doing Coachella this year which is gonna be crazy. We’ve dreamed about doing that for a long time.
Before that, we head out on a small European tour in February, doing Paris, Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Berlin, and London. You can find the dates here. From fall and the rest of the year we’re probably gonna do a world tour!
FS: Wow, sounds like you guys are quite busy! Hopefully, we’ll be able to catch up with you at one of your shows. Any final words for your loyal fans?
L: Stay tuned. New music has been slow the last couple of years, but there is a lot of cool stuff coming this year. Hope you will like it, and thanks for your support!
FS: Thanks Lemaitre – you guys are brilliant! To our viewers – show your support and check out Lemaitre’s Not Too Late below, and download the entire 1749 EP here.