Born Guillaume Duchastel De Montrouge, which makes him sound like an 18th century French aristocrat, he works hard to fuse his influences without overwhelming his audience. “All these influences are really good and inspiring, but it’s also a bit more difficult to make the crowd accept it,” Montrouge says earnestly. “Most of the time, they come out just naturally, I have an idea in my mind and let the flow do the rest.” Despite being on his musical journey for 16 years, the veteran DJ/producer is making his first ever visit to our shores this Saturday for the Circoloco Halloween special, alongside fellow international veterans Jamie Jones and Margaret Dygas. When asked why there has been such a delay in an Oz tour, he believes that it wasn’t in the cards until now. “[I] don’t really know, as I have been to many places in the world. I never push to play somewhere, I like to wait for the right time. I think it’s the same as with Ibiza, my first time was in December 2010.” Despite his lack of Aussie adventures so far, he has heard good things and is ready to make up for lost time. “I have heard that the parties are great and many friends of mine have already played there. I’m really looking forward for this,” he says in his somewhat broken English. While his recent ascent to popularity may appear sudden to some, Montrouge got his first taste of club life in his hometown of Dijon in the late ‘80s. Exposed to hip hop and street culture, he then got hip to the electronic sounds coming out of Chicago and Detroit, courtesy of mentor Laurent Garnier. Adopting Paris as his home in the mid-‘90s, he played at some of the biggest clubs at the height of the ‘French Touch’ sound. “It was the bomb,” he reflects in reverent tones. “Rave clubs, underground clubs, a lot of gay clubs with a special mix of music and people, with great resident DJs, just unbelievable.” A constant hustler, he spread his wings beyond Paris after growing disillusioned with the scene. “For many years it was possible to be a big artist only through DJing. Then everything changed, and it became more based upon what you produce. That was the time of electro and minimal, so I didn’t produce much.”
Wanting to focus on his DJ skills and get a change of scenery, he headed to New York and Brazil, before returning home. After years of honing his craft, he earned worldwide recognition as one-half of Catwash, his group with Parisian DJ Chris Carrier. This success was driven by his own personal desire rather than industry pressure. “I started to produce again without thinking of the market. So those people who liked my music started to book me more and more, but in a location where you have the chance to prove that you really can DJ.” Since then he has gone on to launch two imprints, Catwash Records and W Records, and has released his debut album Palace. “After doing it for 16 years, it’s easy. The market is full of guys who produce one track and are DJing for two years and have a big hype. It’s really easy for the people to see and hear the difference.”
Known to record a couple of songs a day back in his more formative years, Montrouge hasn’t slowed down but has rather chosen to be more calculated. “I always find the time, as this is the most important thing for me to do, but sometimes it’s too much. I have around 70 new and unreleased tracks ready to be signed.”
BY ANDREW ‘HAZARD’ HICKEY
