With an industrious and productive vigour, French superstar Sebastien Leger has over the last decade become one of the most assured techno producers around. Eschewing the more obvious French filter house cliches his productions have taken on the robust dancefloor edge of his beloved Chicago/Detroit heroes and twisted them into his own electronic masterpieces.

With an impressive decade long discography that started from the first EPs under his Deaf 'n' Dumb Crew alias and now rests squarely on the shoulders of his blossoming Mistakes imprint, Leger has become one of France's most revered DJ/producers and a frequently requested remixer.

 As a consequence of his continued progression in his production work, the great variety of house music colour in his tracks, the construction and arrangement of his electro and funk-infused rhythms, the now Amsterdam based Sebastien Leger has established his position at the forefront of reconstructing contemporary electronic music. From Germany, the UK, Japan, the US and the Netherlands Sebastien Leger is well on his way to conquering the electronic music world in the same way that his Chi-town heroes have done before him.



How did first you get into music and DJing?
In 1989 when I was ten I saw Lil' Louis - French Kiss and Technotronic - Pump Up The Jam on TV and that's how I first became a fan of dance music. Then in 93/94 I went to a club when I was 14 I was like WOW, I want to be a DJ. I then went on to start producing my own music 12 years ago in Paris.

Who were some of your early influences?
Definitely Daft Punk because what happened with them was so big at that time. It was a  brand new way of producing and a new fresh sound. There was Chicago house, French House, Dutch all together.



How have you seen your sound progress over the years?
I have always liked underground stuff; house, techno, tech-house or even disco funk whatever, its all together and I don't think I have really moved from that. I'm not doing any hits with cheesy singers so I'm kind of staying on that line and I'm pretty happy with it.

What have been some of the highlights for you this year?
I've done a couple of really good festivals during the summer and one of the highlights was playing before Ritchie Hawtin in the Ukraine at Global Gathering. That was a pretty amazing moment for me as I played with him ten years ago and always wanted to play with him again.

Have you been doing much work in the Studio recently, and if so is there any upcoming releases you would like to tell us about?
Always...actually every week. I'm a production machine making one, maybe two tracks a weeks. I have a new EP coming out next week on Beatport and next year I have an artist compilation coming out with my label. There will be two CDs, the first disc will be a DJ mix and the other will be a compilation of all my tracks and some exclusive stuff just for the CD.



Who would you love to work with in the studio?
That's a difficult one because I'm not really good with someone around me in the studio. I'm a little shy and its intimidating to have someone around you so I don't really know who I would like to work with. Daft Punk would be fun although not really my kind of taste musically at the moment but it would still be fun and interesting being in the same studio together.



Which famous person (dead or alive) would you invite for dinner?
Michael Jackson for sure! He has to come to my dinner for sure.

And what would you cook?
I'm a really shit cook so we would have to order something in.



Who is your all time hero?
Michael Jackson again for sure, he is by biggest hero no doubt.



What makes you happy?
Dogs make me happy. Sounds like a stupid answer but I love dogs and they make me really happy. I can't have a dog because I'm always on tour but if I wasn't I would probably have about 5 or 6 dogs in my house.



What pisses you off?
People who say stuff to make themselves look good but don't actually believe in what they say.



What do you spend your money on?
Nothing at all, I have nothing other than music.

What's the coolest thing in your house?
[Laughs] Maybe a synthesizer. There is nothing in my house apart from a studio and a couch. It's all about the music for me.



When was the last time you were really proud of yourself?
I'm not sure as I don't really pay attention to that stuff really. Maybe when I played at Ministry of Sound in London because when I was 14 and started to DJ it was my dream to play there.

CHECK OUT HIS SET RECORDED LIVE FROM MINISTRY OF SOUND HERE

Tell us something that we don't know about you?
I'm never drunk or on drugs. For some reason people think I'm either drunk or look like a junkie [laughs] so I would like to say to the world I never drink alcohol and I never touch drugs.



You have been to Australia a couple of times now including a Future Music Festival tour. How did you find the Australian crowd?
They are fucking brilliant, the weather is amazing which works for me and I had one of my favourite gigs ever in Perth for Future Music Festival. I had an amazing moment with the crowd and I'm really looking forward to getting back there. 

I love the weather and looking forward to getting back to Sydney, I think I will live in Sydney when I finally retire.



:: QUICK FIRE QUESTIONS ::

Who or what is your favourite...
 

DJ ::   Marco Carola

Artist/Band/Live Act ::    Lenny Kravitz or Jamiroquai

Album ::    Michael Jackson - Thriller

Gadget :: I'm not really a gadget kind of a guy
Food :: Junk food for sure

Restaurant :: MacDonalds

Drink :: Sparkling water 

City to play in :: Vienna

Way to relax ::  Making music

TV program :: Man vs. Wild

Movie :: Blood Diamond

You can catch SEBASTIEN LEGER perform at Summanights NYE and at Summadayze across the country...