Etienne de Crécy looks back on the creation of the Motorbass album “Pansoul” reissued for its 25th anniversary

Pansoul by Motorbass, is one of the rare albums that we never tire of since its release in 1996. Because with this deviant house record of an incredible sound density, both dancing and meditative, we always have the impression of entering in another dimension. Twenty-five years later, while being re-released in a freshly remastered version for the occasion, this album retains all of its power and mystery intact.

Its authors, Etienne de Crécy and Philippe Zdar, meet at the Parisian studio PlusXXX (pronounced Plus30) at the dawn of the 90s. Together, the first as an assistant and the second as a sound engineer, work on the first two fertile albums of Mc Solaar (Who sows the wind reaps the tempo in 1991 and Prose Combat in 1994) with Hubert Blanc-Francart alias Boombass. Roommates for five years, Etienne and Philippe listen to hip-hop during the week and go on board the first rave parties on weekends. In their free time, nourished by this double sound material, they passionately make music on their machines.

After two noticed maxi, the collaboration of the tandem reaches its peak on hypnotics Pansoul, the first and only Motorbass album. It appeared in 1996, at the very moment when the techno effervescence was reaching France, igniting, in the footsteps of Detroit, but in the French style, a series of fires on the dance floor that the conquered English press had just named French Touch.

This record, which bridges the gap between house music and sample-based hip-hop asbtract (then practiced by Philippe Zdar in parallel with Boombass within La Funk Mob), quickly sold out, and almost instantly became cult. Especially since the two accomplices do not show themselves, and do not defend him on stage. After a first reissue in 2003, this eight titles so far not found on streaming platforms, finally comes out. Philippe Zdar is no longer of this world following an accident in 2019, Etienne de Crécy responds alone today.

Between the release of the first two Maxis of Motorbass, Visine and Trans-Phunk in 1992-1993 and the release of the album Pansoul in 1996, had the context changed?
Etienne de Crécy : In three years, the context had changed a lot. When we started working on the first EPs, this music did not yet exist in France. There were two techno record stores, BPM and Techno Import in Bastille, but no French made this music. We had not yet heard of Laurent Garnier, Les Daft Punk still rocked under the name of Darlin ‘and St Germain had not yet released their first album (for which the term French Touch was coined by the English press. Editor’s note). Our influences were techno from Detroit, and at that time we were still going to raves. And then little by little the thing got bigger, people got interested, French DJs emerged and suddenly all the pieces of the puzzle came together when we released the album.

How did you work? What explains why the music of “Pansoul” is so dense, that it teems with sound details?
With Philippe, we have always worked in the same way, with a sampler and a single synthesizer. Between the first EPs and the album, the difference in sound comes from the fact that we had made progress in three years and spent a lot of time making music. We also bought lots of soul, funk and jazz records, where the raw material was, the samples. If the album is so rich in textures, it’s due to the samples. Because in every sound we used there was already a whole orchestration. In the first sample you had a bass, drums and guitar. In the second there were the same ones plus a piano and in the third, the same ones plus a trumpet…

You were crazy about techno but the album is also very hip-hop.
When we started making music, we listened to hip-hop like all producers of electronic music, it was the interesting music of the moment. There are also scratches by Jimmy Jay (Mc Solaar DJ) on a song from the album, Flying Fingers. But Philippe, in his sessions with Mc Solaar, hid that he was doing techno, because in hip-hop techno was poorly regarded, it was a shameful thing.

You had released music under various pseudonyms before Motorbass, such as La Chatte Rouge, L’Homme qui est trois billion. Were you looking for yourself?
At the time, the nicknames were done a lot in techno. We also put lots of logos on the back cover of Pansoul. The idea was to muddy the waters as much as possible while conforming to the techno culture in which we wanted to integrate. Moreover, for Superdiscount, I made the mistake of using a lot of different nicknames and then I spent the rest of my career explaining that all those nicknames were me! (laughs)

What was your state of mind for “Pansoul”? Were you aware that you were doing something new musically?
There was no stake. No order of efficiency on the dance floor, which is today the main constraint of an electronic music producer. And no commercial issue either, since it was music that did not exist commercially. In electronic music, there was a desire to be innovative, it was really research music. But at the same time with the objective of being popular, to be understood instantly. That’s what I loved about this music. There was a great search for modernity and economy of means, simplicity. It’s not virtuoso music, so no one was demonstrating virtuosity or complexity. On the contrary, it was up to whoever succeeded in doing the most innovative thing with the fewest elements.

Did you try to make music with Philippe later?
In fact, the exit of Pansoul corresponded to the end of our collaboration. I set up the Solid label, I released my Superdiscount album, I met my wife. We always saw each other regularly, and in the early 2000s we reworked on songs. But it didn’t work anymore. I think that being in a roommate for 5 years had caused a particular chemistry. By the time we tried to work together again, the album already had an aura and it put a pressure that did not exist before and that did not match the innocence of the beginnings.

How do you explain that this album has aged so little?
Even if I am very proud of it, I think it has still aged a bit. Afterwards, it’s a question of initial freshness. But it is dated for young people in their twenties, used to super clean sounds. They, I think they are hearing an old record.

What do you regret most about this time?
The ease, the freshness and the excitement with which we did things. I find that the experience, the weight of the experience, is something that clutters in making electronic music. Those whose music I like are generally young people who have not taken the lead. At my age it’s more difficult. The songs have to be kept simple but I tend to complicate things otherwise it seems too easy to me. Today, I work so that people can’t hear my job, but it’s less fun. It’s quite a job to make people believe that I’m still innocent (laughs).

If you were begged today to do a Motorbass song, could you?
Well that’s pretty much what I’m doing right now! The album I’m working on, which is just waiting for featurings, it’s just samples. I have a new plug-in which allows using samples in a fairly easy way. However, I realized that this old-fashioned way of working, which young people do not know how to do, is a proposition that practically no longer exists in electronic music. In this area, I have no competition (laughs).

Does it make sense for you to come out of Pansoul today?
Yes that makes sense. First of all because this album has never been worked on. At the time, we didn’t DJ together and we didn’t defend it on stage. It was Philippe who was the owner of the masters and with his crazy side he never worked it properly. The album was released in 2003 on Virgin and then the master was unavailable for years. Pansoul has never been available on streaming platforms so far but it will be very soon, I’m working on it. And then I remastered it for the occasion with Alex Gopher. The album didn’t sound good, it lacked bass. I was amazed at the work that had to be done. But don’t worry, listening to him, we’ll think he’s always been like that.

The album Pansoul by Motorbass is released at Ed Banger in a remastered version Friday, October 22, 2021. The first album of La Funk Mob (Philippe Zdar with Hubert Blanc-Francart dit Boombass) and that of Superdiscount, which are also celebrating their 25th birthday, are being reissued at the same time.