Martin Solveig to Gwen Stefani: 'Dial My Number!'

Posted on Nov 7th 2011 4:00PM by Kia Makarechi
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Tristan Seguela

Rumor has it that when Madonna went shopping for producers for her upcoming studio album, she called up Martin Solveig. Dance-music aficionados know why: The Parisian DJ and producer created the dance song of the summer in 'Hello,' a collaboration with Dragonette. The infectious track -- which has been remixed by the likes of Sidney Samson and Michael Woods and opened one of Tiesto's 'Club Life' mixes -- charted well in a handful of countries and was certified gold in the United States. Its live-action music video, featuring Solveig battling fellow DJ Bob Sinclair on the clay courts of Roland Garros, has been viewed millions of times.

The good times were temporarily put on hold in August, when Solveig scrapped a U.S. tour after throwing out his back in the studio, but now he's back in action and embarking on a 13-date run that begins this week. During his recuperation period, France's eminent party boy traded emails with Spinner, dishing on his health and otherwise very good year.

First off, how's your back? How long before you'll be back on tour?

Thanks for asking! It's getting better. I'd been telling myself all summer that it was really great how I'd not gotten ill, as the schedule was so hectic. It was just terrible bad luck that, of all things, I managed to put my back out doing something so normal. But I am getting back onto my feet now, so all is well.

Every house DJ I've seen perform in the past few months has played 'Hello.' What does it feel like to have a track that's that celebrated by your peers?

It's an amazing feeling and one I'm still not used to at all! Hearing that people I've always admired are playing my records so frequently is insane.

When you build a song like 'Hello,' what's the process? Do you find the vocalist first and build the beat around that, or do you start with the track and find someone that can complete the vibe you're looking for?

Actually, I wrote 'Hello' as the theme to its music video! We got the opportunity to film at Roland Garros and went there with an idea of what to film, but not as a music video, just for fun. After we got back, edited the footage and made it into a short video, the idea for 'Hello' came to me. It was a completely different process for me but a great way to do things. I wrote some lyrics to the instrumental, sent them over to Martina (from Dragonette), who changed them around, and from there, it came together really fast. And the rest, as they say, is history.

What was your best memory from this past festival season? Do you prefer festivals or club gigs?

Both give a completely different feeling. At festivals, I can play Skrillex, dance like a madman and stage dive to 50,000 people. In a club, I can still dance like a madman and potentially stage dive, but the atmosphere is a lot more intimate, and you really get into the mindset of the room a lot more, as you can see the reactions of everyone up close. So they are both great experiences for different reasons. Best memory recently has to be Tomorrowland in Belgium -- an enormous crowd, all doing a dance in unison, and then I jumped into all of them!

Martin Solveig's 'Hello' Video

Can you give us any details on your upcoming work with Madonna? Have you guys entered the studio yet?

Sorry, I can't comment on that.

If you could build a song -- or even a full record -- with any living vocalist, who would it be, and why?

I say this time and time again -- and one day, she's going to call me, I can tell -- but Gwen Stefani, if you're out there, dial my number and let me know. She's the person I've always wanted to work with. Her attitude and her style are just incredible, and I think it was Perez Hilton who even said we'd sound amazing together. I know that with her, I could make the best record I've ever made.

How about other producers -- if you could collaborate with any living DJ on a song, who would it be?

Sonny [Skrillex] and I speak quite often, and I'm hoping that we end up in the studio together at some stage. His music, for me, really is the future -- when you see him play, you just think, "Whoa!" The energy goes through the roof. I've honestly never seen anything like it.

Do you have any interest in expanding your sound to emergent forms of EDM like dubstep?

My album experiments in a few styles. There is a slower dubstep ballad on there called 'Let's Not Play Games,' featuring Sunday Girl. 'Ready 2 Go' had more alternative elements to it, and my song 'Can't Stop' kind of picks up on the pop-step vibe from producers like Dr. Luke and Max Martin. But I still want to stay me, so when I say I incorporate them, I mean I take the elements I like and put them in with what I already have to take the song to the next level. I would never sit down and say, "Right, the next Martin Solveig track is going to be drum and bass." That's never going to be something I would release.

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