DJ from Hungary playing on water at the Nuits Sonores festival Lyon


DJ from Hungary, Jérôme Andrieux (La Cuisine Crew) was playing at this years Nuits Sonores festival in Lyon (7-12 May). A record number of visitors were attending the festival this year, 100.000 people were partying through Lyon. 6000 people visited the Under the Bridge event, where Jérôme was playing. We asked him about his experiences.
How were you feeling? What was it like to play on the water? What was the purpose of the extraordinary setting of the DJ desk?

It was a surprise to have such a big crowd, last year for the first UTB party we had around 1500 people, and this year, with almost no promotion more than 6000 people attended. All of us were really impressed and touched by such a good atmosphere. I can say without doubt that it was the biggest feeling i ever had during a set. At the end of the party we were staring at this huge crowd and tears of joy were coming up. it's the kind of feeling you have very rarely.

The dj pool was surrounded by water, but it was not planed, there was a flood in Lyon at this time and we were about to cancel at the last minute. But apart from this, playing under a bridge in the middle of the city is a unique experience, it brought us in the old time rave party feeling.

I think this is part of the success of the event, people were interested by something new, not in a usual place or club.

We had this idea of making a party under a bridge because of our wish to bring back the rave style parties, and also to symbolize the fact that we were making a line up with french dj's and dj's living in Hungary but born in Lyon. It was a "bridge" connecting two countries with electronic music. The organizers of Nuits Sonores loved our idea and gave us free hand to make it. I won' tell you how many sleepless nights and coffees were needed to organize both events.


The accoustic was really good, and the concrete roof was actually sending the sound further than we thought.
How was the audience in Lyon? Which Hungarian festival could you compare to the Nuits Sonores?

The Audience was eclectic. You could see next to each other underground ravers, youngsters, arty faces, trendy people, kids with their parents, and of course electronic music lovers.. there was a really good harmony. About the difference between french audience and hungarian audience, i noticed something interesting. In France in general, the crowd and the dj's communicate with each other during the set, every brake, every drop, every transition is the occasion for the audience to shout, whistle, look at the dj and cheer him to push him to go further. It was like a dialog all along. i never really had this feeling here. It was a real pleasure to "play" with them.

That's a kind of tradition for us to go to a party and participate, not only dancing and drinking looking at the dj.. we always loved to express feelings, sometime in a loud way, but that's what makes a party an unforgettable moment.


It's difficult to compare Nuits Sonores to any other festival. First you have to understand the concept of the festival : it was created by a small team of electronic music lovers who wanted to gather big names and local dj's in unique places all over the city during 5 days. The festival has free events, after parties, before parties: in streets closed for the occasion, in parks, in metro trains, in swimming pools, in factories, etc… and there are paid events with the bigger names like Laurent Garnier, Marcel Dettman, Apparat, Miss Kittin, Nosaj Thing, Ben Klock, Carl Cox, and so many others ….

Therefore, around 100 000 people are going from one place to the other in the city. Starting by the free events and then going to the main ones. It's not a fix area with a stage and fences around, it's a trip in the city, following the story that was imagined for each year's festival.


But if we speak about the atmosphere, i would compare it as a city invaded by berliner clubs spread in Lyon with their own line ups and their particular decoration and music style.


That makes it the biggest and most interesting electronic music and indie festival in Europe.
Did you meet any Hungarians there? Did you attend other events?

I met some hungarians that were studying in Lyon, totally by chance and since we get in touch of course !

This year i didn't have time to go to other events, my schedule was too tight, you know, it's hard to decide between a good restaurant and a detroit party in a street :) !


But in the past years i've been at a lot of other gigs, and i remember an incredible set of Anja Scnheider in a street of the gay district, an after party in a park on the top of a hill facing the city, and a very good deep house party on a small square in la Croix-Rouse ( a hill like Montmartre in Paris).


And it's always crazy, without any bad atmosphere or anyone making trouble. In that aspect ozora would be similar to Nuits Sonores.


And of course, what about the party series in the newly opened WNDRLND?

We started a party series called NULL. After one year of silence, we built a new team with talented dj's and producers, a graphic designer and a photographer.
The idea of NULL is to make free parties in which we invite a dj from another crew, someone that we like and not especially a big name. We are more into quality , uniqueness and collaborations than making mainstream money maker parties. This summer we will have one party every month in WNDRLND, we will play at some small festivals, we'll launch a podcast in which many good hungarian and foreigner producers and dj's will have the chance to show their work.


As a foreigner living here for some years, i've always wanted to make more interactions between the different crews. As a person who also likes to go to party, i often feel that there are too much of the same thing. The same names in every venues, every weekend, it's not what i expect from a party scene in a city as big as Budapest.


For example we are really interested by Deepfields, Private Business, Excess crew, 9b0, and many others. We will try to make the night life more colorful. We don't expect to have 1000 people at our events, we expect that what we will do, will satisfy those who like us; want to discover new sound; hear unknown but good dj's, in friendly places. We don't care neither about the way someone plays. 

Our stage is open to vinyl, CD or laptops.
Whatever the medium is, the only thing the audience cares about is the quality and uniqueness of a set and the feeling they have in a party. And I guess we can say: this is our motto :)

Thank you for the interview!

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