Electric Zoo Artist Spotlight: Kavinsky
Vincent Belorgey, aka Kavinsky, has been at the heart of the French-electro scene for the better half of a decade. An indisputably talented artist, we see Kavinsky as one of the real dark horses of Electric Zoo. He’s toured supporting Daft Punk and his music has been compared to that of Justice, Danger and SebastiAn. If you consider yourself a fan of any of those artists we strongly recommend you check out Kavinsky’s set at Electric Zoo. Click past the break for more on Kavinsky and to hear some gritty French electro with deeply rooted 80s vibes.
Editor’s Note: Much to our disappointment, Kavinsky is no longer on the bill for Electric Zoo but he is still an artist worth checking out – hopefully he will make an appearance in the NYC area sometime soon.
Vincent Belorgey began professional life out actor before finding that to be too intellectually boring. His entrance into music was somewhat by happenstance. Vincent’s close friend and fellow producer Mr. Oizo was about to throw away an old Mac computer when Vincent asked him if he could have it to try and make music on. It took him a year or so during which he was making “nonsense, it was really bad (music),” Vincent finally made his breakthrough with the infamous “Testarossa.”
He took that track to the French label Record Makers who loved it and signed him for his 2006 Teddy Boy EP. Similarly to Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk, Vincent shied away from the new found fame he discovered as a musician and created an alter ego with an invented backstory. Thus Kavinsky was born.
Having been obsessed with horror films, B-movies and comic books from a young age, the alter ego that Vincent created is extremely imaginative. Think of it as a combination of Daft Punk’s robotic resurrection and Major Lazer’s zombie theme. Below is the official press release. Read it and you’ll see what we mean:
The first thing to know about Kavinsky: He’s a zombie. Legend says he was killed in a car wreck in 1986, speeding through the back roads of France at over 120 mph in a Ferrari Testarossa before veering off the road and being hurtled through the windshield. Though pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, he quietly got up off his stretcher and left, never to be seen or heard from again…until 2006.
When he isn’t inventing creative backstories, Kavinsky is hard at work in the studio and has seriously impressed with some recent efforts. His single “Nightcall” (co-produced by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo) was featured during the opening scene of the 2011 blockbuster Drive and became a sensation overnight. The music video to “Nightcall”has racked up over 20 million views and has been sampled by Lupe Fiasco and Childish Gambino.
As many of us miss the days when French-electro dominated the electronic music scene, we’re definitely going to be sure to catch Kavinsky at this year’s Electric Zoo!
Categories: Music