It has been 5 years since St-Germain, aka Ludovic Navarre, has released an album. His debut,"Boulevard", on french powerhouse label F Communications, was an instant classic, having sold over 200,000 copies with barely any radio play or promotion. Since then, Ludo has signed on with credible jazz label Blue Note, and has released his second LP, "Tourist", which has already sold 150,000 copies in France alone. St-Germain was recently in Montreal for the annual Cream festival. He performed live at the Spectrum. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to meet the man behind the soul:

D/V: Why is your album entitled "Tourist"?

St-Germain: With respect to the album cover, I had found an old picture of Paris. The story behind that picture was that a long time ago, the docks in Paris, which were near St-Germain boulevard, were completely flooded due to torrential rains. However, the only thing that hadn't been completely envelopped by the water was a sign that read "tourist/st-germain". When I found this picture, it made me smile. I thought it was kind of funny.

D/V: I heard rumours that, in terms of your productions, you'd be steering more towards a pure jazz/downtempo sound, and less house?

SG: No, I plan on doing what I've always done, which is mixing it up with both house and down-tempo. I'm not in the mood to always stick to one style. I like touching upon everything, whether it be soul, latin, or reggae. Maybe one day i'll even go back to techno. Who knows!

D/V: As a house music aficianado, I really do appreciate your mellow-er work, and I feel that your downtempo tracks accentuate your house tracks, especially when the latter is split between two downtempos.

SG: For sure! It becomes less redundant. It's not always "clubbing". When you mix up the moods, you create a more atmospheric and coherent sound.

D/V: Presently in France, there is a smorgasbord of producers who are sort of in the same vein as you, such as DJ Deep, Shazz, Julien Jabre, Pascal, Next Evidence, DJ Gregory...

SG: ...you know your stuff!

D/V: With respect to house music, most folks would put all of you in the same basket and label you as deep/jazzy/latin. How are you different from these other producers?

SG: I see myself as less "clubbing". At home for example, I listen to alot of reggae/dub, and these influences may be even more sonically evident in my productions. There's less of a disco influence.

D/V: What's your favourite cuisine?

SG: (astounded and chuckling) Are you serious? OK! My favourite plate is called Veal Roast of Roquefort!

D/V: What nationality are you?

SG: I am French, but I have some Spanish, and some Basque. My last name, Navarre, is a Basque region!!

D/V: Do you live in Paris?

SG: In the suburbs, near Versailles.

D/V: One of my all time favourite St-Germain songs is "what's new" (from the Boulevard LP), as well as "muse q the music", a 1996 collaboration with Shazz, featuring Derek Bays. What is your St-Germain fave?

SG: I would have to say "thank u mum(4 everything you did)" from the Boulevard LP.

D/V: Any hobbies aside from music?

SG: Well...music!!!(laughs)

D/V: I knew it!

SG: I do nothing else. In the mornings, with my coffee in the studio, and at night before going to sleep! The last thing I do before going to sleep is step out the studio...literally!!!

D/V: I can relate totally! I'm not at the production stage yet, but I'm stuck at the vinyl buying stage. I am a vinyl junkie.

SG: That's a big stage of the process. I can relate also. You've caught the "virus", luckily!

D/V: How did your collaboration with Ernest Ranglin on "Montego Bay Spleen" come about?

SG: I actually met him at a reggae festival in Paris. Before that, I had only heard some of his music. We hung out a little bit and then I just simply asked him. To my surprise, he knew of St-Germain, so he said yes. We actually recorded the song during a weekend in Montreal at the Divan Vert in November 1999. So we travelled half the distance and met midway: him from Jamaica, myself from France. He is adorable, always smiling, a music veteran who has lasted the test of time, having gone through many periods and styles of music, whether it be 60's jazz, the 70's and now, afro-reggae.

D/V: Are you a sports fan? Do you like soccer?

SG: No, not really! I'm more into solitary sports, such as wind-surfing. There was a time when I was destined to go into sports, but when I reached the crossroads, I veered towards music.

D/V: Compared to "Boulevard", how do you find "Tourist"?

SG: It's the continuation. It's the same type of work, same inspiration, same musical direction. There's more emphasis on instrumentation, more arrangements; whereas on the debut, there were more "leads", meaning you'd hear, for example, a trumpet or a sax playing throughout the song. The new album is more complete, it moves a little more.

D/V: The aforementioned French producers release 12" on a regular basis. With respect to St-Germain, this is not the case. Don't get me wrong, I feel that the scarcity of releases can boost sales even more, but why the long waits?

SG: Well, I had some "problems" with my old label (F Communications), hence the 5 year hiatus. If not, I would have produced more. Now, I'm on Blue Note and everything is swell!

D/V: So more 12"s on the horizon?

SG: Yes, yes!!...that's it...we're back! Don't get me wrong, the 5 years off were not wasted.

D/V: What do you listen to nowadays?

SG: I returned to reggae, jazz, dub. Basically, essential 70's like Fela (Kuti).

D/V: Who are your favourite artists?

SG: (long pause) This is difficult. I'm always scared of forgetting.

D/V: OK. For one million dollars, choose one ultimate fave!

SG: I guess it would have to be Lightin' Hopkins, a bluesman (the voice behind St-Germain's "Alabama Blues" and "Black Man")

D/V: I'll give you the name of an artist, you give me one or two words to describe that artist:
Gil-Scott Heron: ?
Fela Kuti: "Africa"
Dennis Brown: ?
MAW: "latino"
Kerri Chandler: "house style"
Marvin Gaye: I'm in no shape to answer this question (laughs). One word is so difficult(long pause)...."soul"...not too innovative heh!!
Prince: "le grand"
Juan Atkins: "underground resistance"
Eddie Perez (from SMACK productions): ?
Larry Levan: "deepness"
(Matthew)Herbert: the name rings a bell..."?"
Duke Ellington: (he tenses up) Very difficult..very, very difficult!

D/V: Don't worry, you'll do fine! Just take a deep breath (for some strange reason, I start feeling as if I'm Regis Philbin).

SG: (laughs)..."big".

D/V: How do you like Montreal?

SG: A good mix! Very impressive: a little NYC, a little Paris, a little England...C'est rigolo!


Michael Terzian sinister@deepvibes.org Copyright 2000. All rights reserved.
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