words: charlotte lelong

With news that Cab Vol will be shutting down soon, it is time to reminisce on all the good times - and Karnival’s 6^th birthday last Saturday definitely makes that list. French producer and DJ Popof was there to play his flawless blend of minimal techno, tech-house & electro beats, which kept us bouncing all night. I managed to catch him for a quick chat after his stellar set, which you can read after the jump. When I spoke to him however, he initially told me that he’d never actually done an interview in English before and didn’t feel comfortable doing so. Thankfully, being a fellow Française myself, he agreed to have a natter… 

Popof (A.K.A. Alexandre Paounov) has been steadily gaining notoriety as an international DJ and producer with 6 major releases under his belt (and a further album in the offing, set for release in October) alongside countless remixes for artists such as Steve Angelo, Martin Solveig and DJ Rush. Needless to say that his performance was unique. The former member of the Parisian free-party underground collective “Heretik System” handles his genre without a single false note, playing Gaiser and Matador back to back at one point, which went down more than well. But for his avid fans in the room it all culminated when he played his own tracks “Serenity” and “Toxic Love” towards the end of the night. I’ll definitely be looking out for Edinburgh Rock’s TV footage of the night to hear it all over again!

What did you think of tonight?

I loved it. It’s the third time I’ve played here and its always crazy lively. Last time was 2 years ago and its always been at Cab Vol.

What are your music plans for the year?

I’m working on an album at the moment. It should be finished by Nov… October maybe. And I’ve been working on an EP for Cocoon.

Hows that going?

Well, good. Its all I do!

And where are you off to after Edinburgh?

We might be doing an afterparty, with my manager just sitting there with the cute sweater with all the colours.

Yeah that’s a great sweater, where’s it from?

[Manager] Its from Zara.

Cool. Any advice for young aspiring DJs and Producers?

For producing yeah I’d say there’s no formalities - you’ve got to do what they want, what you like… and in any case, it should appeal to others.

That’s it?

Yep, that should do. Just do what you love! No formatting in specific styles or types of music.

Alright, hopefully that can help a few!

Yeah I don’t give great advice… it’s pretty vague.

When are you coming back to Edinburgh?

Soon I hope!