Agoria (musician)

Agoria (born Sébastien Devaud, January 16, 1976) is a French electronic record producer, composer and DJ. He made four albums including the soundtrack to the movie Go Fast. He is one of the founders of the record label InFiné. Since he is attached to the city of Lyon, he also took part in the creation of the French indie and electronic music festival Les Nuits Sonores.

Background and early life

Sébastien Devaud grew up in Valencin, in the French district of Isère.^[1] As a child, he was already exposed to an artistic and musical background since his father was an architect and a record collector and his mother was an opera singer.^[2]

His passion for electronic music started in 1988, at age 12 when he bought the record of Big Fun by Inner City. This record is the beginning of his love for Detroit techno. Chicago House, Acid House and Belgian New Beat, which hit "Rock to the Beat" by One O One is the epitome of the genre, are also a huge part of his inspirations, as well as French DJ Laurent Garnier.^[3]

Around 15 or 16 years old, he attended a Jeff Mills' DJing performance. Impressed by the technique of the American DJ who uses three phonogragh turntables,^[4] he buys a TechnicsSL-MK2 turntable and learns to mix.

Agoria started out as a DJ himself, quickly followed by organizing his own parties together with a group of friends (who also gave Sébastien Devaud his artist moniker loosely named after Agora – the title of their party series, meaning "meeting place" in ancient Greek). In 1993, at age 17, he opened in a club for the DJ Richie Hawtin and Carl Cox show.^[5] He decided to dedicate his work to music only at age 23.^[6]

Career

He started producing and releasing his own tracks in 1999 with Influence hivernale on the Kubik label and first gained international recognition with a series of 12's called La Onzième marche on Pias Recordings in 2002, which were followed by the acclaimed album Blossom a year later.

His second album, The Green Armchair, was released in 2006. The same year, along with Alexandre Cazac and Yannick Matray, he founded the label InFiné.

In 2008, Agoria composed his first soundtrack for the French movie Go Fast, produced by EuropaCorp.

He released his third album Impermanence in 2011 under label InFiné. The album features artists such as singer Kid A, DJ Seth Troxler and musician Carl Craig.

In addition Agoria has compiled three mix-CDs that present his ability in pairing tracks of very different origins and layering them in creative ways. Resident Advisor named his contribution to the At The Controls series from 2007 as one of the best mix-cds of the past decade.

Apart from his own work as a DJ and producer, Sébastien Devaud has also helped to establish Nuits Sonores, an ambitious electronic and indie event that takes place all over the city of Lyon every spring.

Discography

EPs & Maxis

• 1999 - Influences Hivernales
• 1999 - Puppet Masters 3
• 2000 - Bel Air Street
• 2000 - It's Up
• 2000 - Euro 2000
• 2001 - La Onzième Marche
• 2001 - Frying Pan
• 2001 - Hors Serie EP
• 2002 - Manchild On The Streets
• 2002 - I'm Simply Not There Remixes EP
• 2002 - Radio City Remixes
• 2002 - Sky Is Clear/Kofea
• 2002 - Fab (10) & DJ Speep VS. Agoria - East Coast Fresh
• 2003 - Spinach Girl
• 2003 - Touched By
• 2004 - Stereolove
• 2005 - Les Beaux Jours
• 2006 - Code 1026
• 2006 - Baboul Hair Cuttin
• 2007 - Les Violons Ivres
• 2008 - Dust
• 2009 - Diva Drive
• 2009 - Solarized
• 2009 - Magnolia/Libellules
• 2010 - Speechless
• 2011 - Heart Beating
• 2011 - Panta Rei
• 2011 - Singing
• 2013 - For One Hour
• 2013 - Crystallised
• 2013 - Scala
• 2014 - Hélice

Albums

• 2003 - Blossom
• 2006 - The Green Armchair
• 2008 - Go Fast (Soundtrack to the Motion Picture)
• 2011 - Impermanence

Remixes

• 2005 - Cute & Cult
• 2007 - At The Control
• 2010 - Balance 016
• 2011 - Fabric 57
• 2012 - RA. 299
• 2013 - Benga Benga - Tsugi Sampler

References