“I'm a little part of a whole infinite painting” – interview w/ CURIOUS DETAIL

The Prophet presents Hadra Records’ Clément Douillet a.k.a. CURIOUS DETAIL with some extra details about his curious journey so far.

– What experiences set you off on this journey?

– I discovered psytrance thanks to two different hobbies. On one hand, I discovered electronic sound-making and I was instantaneously attracted by the creative potential of this activity. On the other hand, I participated in festivals and parties and was and have been amazed by the colorful psytrance community.

When I started high school, I had been studying clarinet for approximately 10 years, and I had been using production softwares for a couple of years. I quickly began to compose trance-like tracks. I really got interested in sound making, it was an infinitely potential creative process. 6 years ago I was 17 years old and I participated in a workshop organised by the association Hadra. I integrated a local association and I started a psytrance project. Two years later I released my first E.P. and joined the Hadra Records Label.

In the meantime I held some parties and I began participating in the organisation of the Hadra Trance Festival. I fell in love with the people of the psytrance world and I really got into a strong psytrance project, to deliver my personal music on the dance floors.

After that, I had some private courses, I upgraded my techniques, I participated as a teacher in another workshop and I started to compose a clearer and more controlled sound. I started expanding to other parties and organisations, first in France and then in Europe.

– What stands behind the name of your project?

– I invented this name because the construction is similar to my real name – Clément Douillet – and because it represents my vision about our place in the world pretty well. I feel like I’m a little part of a whole infinite painting, that’s why I’m a detail. But in another way I’m curious about the other parts of the painting, I like to watch, ear, explore, etc.

– Who have your greatest teachers been, your greatest inspirations? Musically speaking, who has had the greatest influence on your musical soundscapes?

– One of my greatest teachers have been my clarinet and bass clarinet teacher, Pierre Lordet, he was mainly playing Klezmer music. During 10 years he taught me how to play my instrument right. Another great teacher was a saxophone teacher, Pascal Billot, who taught me a lot about the understanding of harmonic composition. He taught me all about musical theory and harmonic rules. I owe a lot of tricks I used to build my sound structure to him. After that, I began with electronic music and I met a sound master, Clément Bastiat – Storm Mastering, who taught me the art of mixing and sound designing. This man still answers my questions, does the masterings of my tracks, etc. I also give thanks to my father because I love the styles he listened to. Jazz, classic music, jazz-rock fusion, flamenco puro, cuban, puerto rican and brazilian music, roots reggae, opera, french songs, etc. I have been surrounded by plenty of styles and colors, but really little electronic music.

I think today there are many composers who forged my musical background. Bach, Chopin, Mozart, Schubert, Saint-Saens on my classical side. Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Michel Petrucciani, Miles Davis, Stan Getz on my jazz side. The Gladiators, Israel Vibration, Bob Marley, The Congos, Steel Pulse, Groundation in reggae. Queen, Van Halen, Supertramp in rock. I can also mention several huge musicians who influenced me by their unique style: Paco de Lucia, Neil Young, Paolo Conte, Bobby Mc Ferrin, Serge Gainsbourg, Ennio Morricone, Michael Jackson, etc. After that, I discovered electronic music, but my purpose in sound comes from this range of composers more than from electronic music.

– How has your sound, your taste in music developed throughout the years?

– Despite my “classical” courses, I’ve always been sensitive to a special kind of energetic psychedelic trance. Recently, I found myself being more and more sensitive to slower tempos and deeper feelings.

I was first sensitive to the mainstream artists who played powerful trance (Infected Mushroom, Astrix, Menog). After that, I discovered Ajja and his psychedelic style. I immediately loved this groovy feeling and this psychedelic-rock-like music. Today it’s still the kind of sound I try to reach. A little bit after this period, I listened to several other styles of groovy trance, and I discovered many artists that I love today (Vertical, Flooting Grooves, Eat Static, Gaspard, Pspiralife, Hedflux, etc.). Now, I’m more open to techno music, psygressive music, psydub and I really like to discover new styles of electronica.

My sound has basically followed the same path, I began my compositions with a kind of musical full-on, then I evolved into a darker and more psychedelic style. Despite this evolution I always tried to produce energetic trance (with driving leads, airy atmospheres, integration of colored samples: animal calls, machine recording, etc.) Now I’m looking forward to producing a wide range of sound (from chill, psydub to dark, cinematic and groovy psytrance).

– Which one of your releases/tracks are the most characteristic of your sounds or stand the closest to you for some reason?

– It’s a hard question! In a way or another, every track reflects my personality.

Basically, I always tried to adapt to the psytrance “rules”. So I started to compose orchestral-like songs (Yellow Eye, Isotone). I think these tracks are characteristic of my musical feeling. After that, I released some tracks closer to the dance-floor standard, they reflect my dance-floor side and I like this kind of composition.

– What projects are you involved in? (Or would love to experiment with?)

– I’m really focusing on my solo project. Now I think I understand how to produce a track correctly. I will develop the integration of acoustic instruments, harmonic orchestrations and recordings into my music (field recording, human activity). I’ve been trying to reach this for several years now and I’m really sure I can set up an interesting fusion.

I’m also focusing on collaborative projects. I would love to work with other people and to integrate real time playing instruments into electronica (or integrate electronica into an acoustic composition). I discovered the joy of playing together when I was playing the clarinet, and I really look forward to do that again.

I’m also thinking about another style of composition, which gathers the skills of an electronic and harmonic composition, just like scoring for the movies.

– Who do you think are the most cutting-edge newest sound makers in the scene? Who are your newest discoveries?

– I think the very mainstream trance is dying. We all know about standardisation. Always the same rhythms, energy, feeling, sound-design, etc. Personally, I think there are a lot of tools to play with (personally, I love the integration of harmonic music, animal calls, soundscapes, etc.). Nowadays, some people are on the way to experiment and develop a new style of trance. I personally love Ivort, Itchy & Scratchy, Mark-Day.

– Most memorable gigs, experiences?

– There is a local scene where I played, at a festival I organise, with all my village, friends, family. This time was really epic with a lot of crazy dancers moving all around, screaming, throwing straw in the air (and they don’t really listen to psytrance usually). That was epic!

I also played on the stage of Hadra Trance Festival 2 years ago. I didn’t expect such a huge sound system. It was my first big stage, I was a little bit impressed and troubled at the same time, but it was memorable.

This year I played again on this stage, I really had a more controlled sound and I was pleased by the people’s reaction. When I listen to music, my emotions are modulated by the sound I hear, and I think most people feel the same way. I mean, if you listen to a nasty atmosphere, with, for example, awful screams and inharmonic tricks, you will be guided through “dark feelings” and you might experience fear or vulnerability. In another way, if you are listening to an epic-uplifting rise, with warm leads and predictable structure, you will certainly be guided through optimistic feelings. So, as a composer, if you expose your ideas clearly, the feelings of the listeners follow your musical idea. In a way, I can control the emotional reaction of my listeners. This year my mix was quite powerful, my ideas were clearly exposed : an understandable mix of rolling psytrance with airy atmospheres. I heard the screams, I saw people dancing and I jumped all around. I thought “this time, it works” and I was pretty satisfied!

– Musically speaking what’s still on your bucket list? If it wasn’t this, what would it be?