Despite having just completed his tertiary studies in design, Pyramid aka Frenchman Etienne Copin has no plans to switch out of his current career just yet. The Lyon-based DJ/producer got our attention last year with his track Wolf, and spoke to TOM KITSON ahead of his show at The Bakery, Friday, May 16.
Touring extensively since releasing his last EP The Phoenix, Copin has also been working on some new productions for release later this year. His interest in and passion for music has slowly snowballed into a full time occupation over the last year, to the point where some of his inspiration is coming from fans of his music.
“I used to make music just for myself, but now that people like it I want to make more,” he says. “When my single Wolf came out and was doing really well down in Australia I knew that I could go for a career in music.”
“I’m really thankful to triple j and Australia in general for playing my songs and lifting my profile a lot.” Influenced by artists like Boards of Canada, Trentemoller and the Ed Banger crew, Copin identifies with darker, moodier brands of electronic music than his counterparts in the disco or deep house games.
“I’m not a big fan of deep house personally, one of the biggest genres at the moment, but I believe all types of music have their place,” he says. A habitual perfectionist who strives to reproduce an idea in his mind in sonic form, he has a few prerequisites that need to be fulfilled in order for him to go to work.
“For me, there are two things that I need to be able to make music,” he says. “Number one is being comfortable, relaxed and in a good environment. Number two is feeling like I want to make music, not doing it because I have to or for other reasons – that’s really important.”
Following a busy schedule for his current Australasian tour, Copin put together a mix for triple j upon his arrival in the country this month featuring the likes of Tensnake, Mos Def, Darius, and some of his own unreleased tunes.
“I definitely have new music for my upcoming shows, some of which I just played in my mix for triple j,” he says. “It will be really exciting to play with Chela too, since I’ve heard she’s really good live.” Crediting his label Kitsune with much of his success, Copin appreciates his position as a successful artist who’s transitioned from creating music for personal use to entertaining massive crowds around the world.
“The guys from Kitsune have been huge for my career,” he says. “They gave me a chance to be on one of their mixes when I won a remix competition, and then they wanted to play some tracks on my Soundcloud page. Now they’ve organised this tour for me, so I’m really grateful to them.”
Tickets here
