Juno Daily – In The Mix: a dash of Parisian house magic from Cosmonection
Warm yourself with some “sunny and dreamy” vibes
Cosmonection aka Adrian Erra is a fixture in Parisian house music circles, one of the artists who helped build the reputation of new skool scene institution Pont Neuf, who put out his warmly received Hidden Places album last summer. He’s preparing to drop his debut EP for the much tipped Oath label in Turkey, and kindly agreed to roll out a mix overflowing “sunny and dreamy vibes.”
Tell us a bit about yourself – your name, where you’re from and what stage your music career is at right now…
My name is Adrien Erra, I’m a young French Parisian music producer. I’ve been producing music for 10 years, first as part of a duo and now as a solo artist with my project Cosmonection. I’ve been with Pont Neuf Records since the label’s inception, alongside artists like Tour-maubourg, KX9000, Mira Lo, and Saudade.
I’ve always loved listening to music since I was a young child, to escape and dream. When I was young, I listened to a lot of soul and funk with my father, particularly during long trips between Paris and Barcelona, and I developed a sort of fanaticism for these musical styles, especially for Marvin Gaye, who is probably the artist I love the most for his groove and his way of touching people. During high school, I met a friend (Saudade, who is also with Pont Neuf) who introduced me to electronic music through labels like Ed Banger or Bromance, and I immediately hooked onto it. Knowing that I wasn’t very good at school, I told myself that this was what I was going to do. Later, I realized that deep house was what touched me the most, especially by listening to tracks by Frankie Knuckles, Kerri Chandler, DJ Gregory, or Julien Jabre. I’ve always been fascinated by this style that combines emotions and dance.
That’s some pretty wild artwork on the ‘Launch’ EP, it reminds us of some of the classic Miles Davis 70s albums like Bitches Brew and Live Evil. Does it have any particular significance to the music?
For the artwork, I’ve always loved the brochettes do Oath produced by Ventral is Golden. I really like his imaginative collage work. For the artwork, I talked to him about two things that are important to me: love and nature. I’ve always been a big fan of the worlds of Myasaky and Tolkien, particularly for the strong roles given to women. There’s a beauty to nature, like a beauty when you fall in love, and I wanted to convey that.
Paris is known for having the biggest influence of African music on its club scene of anywhere in Europe – it feels like we can hear a bit of that in evidence here… Is that right? Is it important for a scene like the French house scene, which has already produced a number of big names and many landmark tunes, to look to new influences to keep itself fresh?
I must say that since my childhood, I’ve been much more influenced by black music than English rock, for example. I’ve always loved listening to funk and soul, and I feel much more moved when I listen to these styles. Furthermore, I’ve always liked combining electronic drums with something more organic, like percussion, and so on. In my set, I like playing tracks that are both ethereal and have a well-defined groove. African rhythms are just incredible for that.
You have a new four-track EP coming soon on Oath, tell us about that.
It’s an EP that pays homage to a story I experienced last year that changed my habits and my way of seeing life quite a bit. The tracks were produced between Biarritz and Paris with a sense of nostalgia but also something that can be danced to.
Talk us through the mix that you’ve very kindly done for us as well – what were you aiming for and who are the other names you’ve included?
I made a mix with sunny and dreamy vibes with tracks from Chaos inthe CBD, Tour-Maubourg, Madcat, Jimpster and some unreleasesd of mine.
Cosmonection – Unreleasead
Run – Trevor Gordon Remix
Cosmonection – Launch
Chaos in the CBD – Intimate Fantasy
Cosmonection – Unreleasesad
Jon Sable – Scumbag Unity
Jimpster – inside The Loop
Phil Weeks – A Man Needs a Woman
Milk & honey – United
Madcat – Cala Saona