Following the recent release of their album Time Machine, The Geek X Vrv is back with an exclusive river beats interview.
After dropping their stellar contemporaneous LP Time Machine in January, our favorite French duo The Geek X VRV is back on the blog once more for an exclusive interview. Axel and Vincent, riding the wave of the recent release, graciously joined us to add color to the story of Time Machine, which features collabs with Gramatik, Fakear, Balkan Bump, and many more.
Having made early waves as beat-makers, chopping up remixes for ODESZA, Kaskade, and more, we took the time to dive into the differences between the MPC world and original composition, their evolving sound and live show, and what’s next for the duo.
Check out the interview with The Geek X VRV below!
River Beats: Congrats on the release of your new LP! How has the reception been, and how does it feel to have the new record out the door?
The Geek X VRV: “It’s been a long road as we worked so hard on it; now we’re happy it’s finally out there and belongs to our fans. [The album] is based on events that really took place and fiction alike, based on the concept of a Time Machine in which we can travel to different places or times, just by listening to the sounds in the album.”
Researching the track titles adds some really interesting context to the tracks’ time and place: “Overview Effect 1972” references a NASA space mission, “Kanagawa Waves 1831” references one of the world’s most famous paintings, and “Payeng’s Ark 1979” seems to reference Jadav Payeng who spent his life planting a forest in India.
How did you land on these stories to craft the timeline of Time Machine?
“We indeed loved to associate stories behind all songs, give them a specific atmosphere. We wanted every one to be as interesting as another in the album, and the process in finding every stories behind the songs was really fun…
For “Overview Effect 1972“, we came up with that story as we love people who live for the planet before their own interest.”Payeng’s Ark 1979” is a story based on Jadav Payeng, famously known as the first man of India. He started to plant trees and years after years it became a forest. Now the Molai forest is his home for Bengal tigers, rhinoceros, rabbits, etc.. it’s a deep story, we love it! ”
What were some of the other more surprising influences, musical or historical, that helped shape the album?
“We were heavily influenced by movies from the 90’s (Back to the Future is one of the biggest references from the album’s track titles) and music from every past decade: this is the Time Machine!”
Time Machine is full of incredible collaborations with Gramatik, Mome, Balkan Bump, Fakear and more. What was your favorite collaboration to work on on the album?
“We liked to collaborate with each of them as they all have a very different way of making music. Here are a few examples: We met Gramatik in 2013 in Paris and now we’re friends, but first he was our first inspiration so we feel blessed to have him on “Royale With G’s 2013.” On “Kanagawa Waves 1831,” it’s Balkan Bump that sent us a demo and we worked on it; then we asked Fakear to add his magical touch on it too! On “Overview Effect 1972,” we sent a demo to Møme and, a short week after, he came back to us with a great version. Then we were looking for some vocals and a friend introduced us to the talented M.I.L.K.. The track was born!”
I actually first saw you guys at a small festival outside Barcelona called Artenou in 2015 when The Geek X VRV live show was just the two of you. Can you explain how the live show has evolved since then?
“It did evolved since then — now on the live shows we have a musician, most of the time our dear friend Basile, who brings a more live and organic vibe. He adds his magical touch on his saxophone and keys during the shows! It’s funktastic.”
Time Machine is full of all original tracks, but sample-based music and remixes have always been at the core of your sound, with you guys making early waves with some legendary remixes. How does your writing process differ between originals and remixes?
“It’s a totally different exercise. Writing an album is a very long process because we start from a blank page, while remixes are easier because we have all the elements we can sample and change as we used to do.”
Can we expect any flips or remixes in the future now that Time Machine is out?
“Of course, we are already working on several projects including, amongst them, several remixes!”
Thanks again to the homies The Geek X VRV for sharing more on their stunning debut LP. Dive into Time Machine below and stay tuned for more from The Geek!
Featured photo via artist Facebook
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