Multi-instrumental Norwegian duo, Lemaitre, have snuck their name onto the Stereosonic bill next month, bringing their ideal mix of disco-infused sounds from their Relativity EP series. TOM KITSON spoke to Ketil Jansen and Ulrik Denizou ahead of their visit.
Sharing an interest in disco-house influenced production, the guys got together straight after high school to start the Lemaitre project, named after Belgian physics Professor Georges Lemaitre.
In four years they have released five EP’s, with songs like this year’s Continuum earning considerable online attention and radio airplay. The feel-good nature of their music fits perfectly within a summer setting, as does their relaxed attitude, despite the swift-making of a global name for themselves.
“We were influenced originally by Daft Punk and Justice,” says Jansen. “Now we like to think we’ve become our own little niche in a way. We didn’t have many expectations to begin with, but we were really confident in the music we wanted to make and are really proud of it so far.”
“We’ve always made the music we wanted to make,” Denizou elaborates further. “We just find grooves and really don’t think too much about it.”
The chilled vibe of the band shows they have the utmost confidence in their music and are simply doing what they like, bouncing off the influences of music they like and coming out with a disco-pop sound that seems to have broad appeal.
Their formation came from the decision to commit to music for at least a year together to see where it went, and this early focus and drive has reaped rewards. “We decided to take a year off to do music,” Denizou explains. “It just went uphill from there and continued, so here we are.”
As many musicians do today, they found an early following through social media and online channels.
“We just put our music out there from the start,” Denizou says. “We had a Soundcloud and Facebook page to feature our music. Pretty soon we got picked up by blogs, with a lot of help from the videos that our friend Joe makes for us, and eventually we went to number one on iTunes.”
Speaking about their career as if they just fell into it, it seems the band best express themselves through the music they create together. Both sing and share duties on the various instruments and on the electronic side of things as well.
Choosing their name also seemed obvious to them, since they like to utilise scientific influences in their music videos. “Georges Lemaitre came up with The Big Bang Theory,” Jansen says. “So from that, science has been a recurring theme in our music and visuals.”
They’ll be aiming to produce an album in 2014 or as soon as they have time to, with their hectic touring schedules they have to balance playing shows and making new music.
“Hopefully we can make an album next year, but we will need quite some time,” Denizou says. “We are working on some stuff now which will be finished in time for Stereosonic – so we’ll see; we might premiere a few new tracks.”
LEMAITRE
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 1 @ STEREOSONIC, CLAREMONT SHOWGROUNDS
Get your tickets here.
