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Favorite ThisExclusive interview with Wax Tailor

Published: August 26, 2013
By: Jordan Calvano

Wax TailorThe Untz got a chance to interview Jean-Christophe Le Saoût, better known as Wax Tailor, as he prepares to embark on his North American tour through September. The French hip-hop producer is a legend in the industry, and is taking his full live band, The Dusty Rainbox Experience, out on the road wit him for this tour.

It’s been almost exactly a year since Dusty Rainbow From The Dark was released. Has your perception changed regarding the finished product since then?

Not really, but you know it’s been such a long process that it really need more time to be able to take enough distance from the project and see it with a different eye. I’d been working 18 months nonstop on that studio project
 
More recently, you released “Lonely” and “Bah Bah Bah.” How did these tracks come about, and can you tell us about working with Voice and Mattic?

Those two tracks were part of my studio sessions during Dusty Rainbow From The Dark recording. I really loved both instrumentals but making an album for me is like defineing the right final cut for a movie, and I couldn’t find the right rhythm with those two inside the scenario. So I’ve decided to take them off the the album but to record them anyway. I really had the idea of doing it with Voice; We’ve now worked together several times & it’s always challenging trying something different with her. With Mattic it’s a 10 year friendship and strong partnership on the road so we can do things together with strong discussion, it's really efficient.
 
September marks the start to an exciting series of tour dates for you. What can fans expect to see when attending a Wax Tailor show with The Dusty Rainbow Experience?

That one tour is really build around the Dusty Rainbow concept.It doesn’t mean that I don’t play older tracks but I wanted to keep the link, the mood, and the story. I think I’ve found a way to recreate it live. I’ve worked with 20 directors on the visual part for about 9 months, then with the musiciens to recreate the live tracks, and at the end I really love that show.
 
Are there any specific cities or venues that you’re especially jazzed to play?

Do you want me to create troubles with those I won’t name? (laughs) More seriously I see the full thing more like a whole trip, and I’m really excited about that coming tour. Those last 10 years I’ve [put on] about 500 shows in more than 50 countries, and I really feel blessed about that.

Wax TailorWhat about this summer? Any festivals or shows you played that were beyond unforgettable?

I've had many fantastic moments on stage that summer but if I had to keep one hat would be probably Montreal Jazz Festival. They offered me a fantastic opportunity playing a special event concert on the outside stage in front of 50,000 people in Montreal. That was absolutely unbelievable also because I knew that a lot of people there were discovering the whole thing for the first time.

You’re originally from France, but are currently living in New York. How long have you been living in the States, and has it taken some getting used to?

No, I still live in France, but yes I feel like home in New York, try to come as often as I can, and consider more & more the idea of moving overseas, not because I dislike France but New York is really special to me.
 
What do you love the most about your home country?

Many things, it’s a bit of a cliché but first I would say the food and after that I would say that France is a really beautiful country with very different atmospheres when you go from a region to another one. 
 
We know you’ve been busy touring, but is there any new music in the works you can tell us about?

Yes, and it’s not a studio project but another live project. I'm [working] on a new symphonic orchestra for 2014. It’s a special project with some high technology integrations. It’s a bit fresh to tell you more but I’ll work hard on it as soon as I end that fall tour and the first shows are programmed for May 2014.
 
What artists or releases have you been especially fond of in any genre lately?

I listen to many things but if I had to give you two names those last years I would keep Adrian Younge and Danger Mouse.
 
Thanks for your time! Any closing thoughts or exciting new you’d like so share with us regarding the future of Wax Tailor?

Thanks to you, and just a word to say that all my albums are available in double LP vinyl version. They are in my basement so please buy them!
 

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