Agoria, an eclectic equilibrium

Frenchman Sebastien Devaudaka, aka Agoria, has a well-deserved reputation as one of the more innovative individuals in the electronic music sphere. Highly respected by dance aficionados, Devaudaka has a multi-faceted musical sensibility that is encapsulated on his latest mix, Balance 16, his third compilation after previous outings Cute and Cult and At The Controls. “It really goes further,” Devaudaka says through his thick French accent, positioning the new compilation as an expansion upon his earlier contributions to the format. “Every time I make something I try to do something different, something that represents all of my taste. I tried to put all the music that I love on this mix CD.”

Balance 16 ranks as one of the more eclectic and ambitious mixes in recent memory. Spanning a concoction of classical, ambient, techno and house tracks from artists such as The Field, LCD Soundsystem, Vladislav Delay and even a 1970’s cut from Greek prog rock outfit Aphrodite’s Child, Devaudaka used the balance title as inspiration to construct a double CD mix based upon the concept of equilibrium. “It’s like a cycle mix. I wanted it to be like a song installation, because you can’t appreciate it comparing it to other DJ mix CDs. It’s not a DJ mix, it’s more a song installation,” Devaudaka elucidates with the sort of poetic turn of phrase one would expect from a French impresario. “It’s good to have a concept in mind because in the end it gives you more freedom,” he continues. “I was really mathematic with each disc, starting and finishing with the same track, and the middle is really the climax. It’s like going to the top of the mountain and then going down - it’s the concept of symmetry. Selecting the tracks to do this was a bit like a puzzle, a rubix cube, but it really was quite exciting to make it like this and not just do a ‘classic’ DJ mix. So many DJ mixes are available on every website, and you have podcasts too… there is so much information and mixes around so it’s good to do something to excite yourself.”

Devaudaka has been experimenting in different realms in order to excite himself of late, scoring his first soundtrack to the Luc Besson produced action flick Go Fast. “You have to forget everything you know about making music when you’re working on a soundtrack,” he asserts. “The music has to be behind the story, it can’t be too present. In the beginning it was difficult, I was going too musical, trying to show too much. Sometime a few notes are more relevant than a big orchestration. That’s what I learned with this; to forget about me and focus on the story.” When pressed, Devaudaka – himself a former film school student – admits that Go Fast “is not exactly a movie I would watch myself because it’s a bit too commercial”. Nonetheless, he is overwhelmingly positive in discussing the experience, and states that he wishes to do more soundtrack work in the future. For now though his priority is working on his third artist album, a follow-up to 2006’s The Green Armchair. “I’m really focused on it at the moment,” Devaudaka affirms. “It’s going to be really eclectic. I can’t do a concept album with just one sound, one approach. I’m someone who always tries to do different kinds of music because this is what I love. I have to finish recording the album in September, and I’m glad the French team did really bad at the World Cup; it meant I spent less time in the bars and more time in the studio!”

Devaudaka also reveals details regarding a forthcoming high profile collaboration, which may or may not feature on the album but, either way, will be released as a single around October. “It is called ‘Speechless’ and it’s a track with the vocals of Carl Craig,” he divulges. “We played together last year and were speaking about music and [Luxembourgian pianist and composer] Francesco Tristano, who recorded his album with Carl in Detroit, and then I asked Carl if he’d like to sing on a track. He was like ‘yeah’, so I sent it to him and he did the vocals. It’s going to be cool.”

It is no surprise that Devaudaka’s bold sonic ethos as a DJ and producer is also paralleled by his approach to managing his record label, InFiné. He describes the label as a counterpoint to the ‘quantity over quality’ approach of many other dance labels, asserting that too often it becomes “not about art, but consumption”. InFiné has cultivated a reputation as a subversive and daring imprint, and this is epitomized by the imminent release from Lebanese singer Bachar Mar-Khalifé. “We always try to release something special. I receive so many tracks that are ‘DJ food’. There are so many good labels releasing ‘DJ food’ every week that I don’t see the point of me doing the same thing,” Devaudaka avows, coining a wonderful new phrase for a generic club track in the process. “We are in to signing all kinds of things. If you asked me five months ago I would have said it’s not pleasurable for your ears to hear someone singing in Lebanese but it’s a fantastic album. I don’t care if it’s slow or classical or progressive or house – it’s all music we’re going to sign.” There is however one proviso overriding the affable Frenchman’s method of label managing. “I try not to sign too much DJ food; there is already a lot of it going around!”