Pablo Nouvelle

Pablo Nouvelle is a Swiss DJ, filmmaker and producer.^[1] A former architecture student turned film maker and musician, Nouvelle makes songs from a combination of new and old samples.^[2]

Pablo Nouvelle’s debut album, PABLO NOUVELLE, self-released in 2013, was crafted meticulously in his home studio and was deeply rooted in his fascination with the history of American soul music.^[3] In the UK especially, it was received with great enthusiasm. Mixmag described it as "Essential Listening" and ^[4] BBC Radio 6 , Radio X and Wonderland Magazine ^[5] shared a similar view. Two EPs were later released by the London-based Black Butter Records.^[6]

Pablo Nouvelle’s first musical love was hip-hop, especially the Wu Tang Clan. He describes discovering them as “It was like looking behind the curtain of hip hop and understanding where it all came from”.^[7] Marvin Gaye , Donny Hathaway and Willie Wright also became his constant companions on his Walkman.

Performances at festivals such as Paléo Nyon, Transmusicales Rennes, Great Escape Festival in Brighton,^[8] or the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg proved that Pablo Nouvelle with his band was more than capable of making the transition from studio to stage.

Pablo Nouvelle has also managed to build a strong reputation as a remixer, working on tracks by Marina & The Diamonds, Aurora, Coasts, Sailor & I, Gorgon City and Joel Compass.

“All I Need” was released by Dutch label Armada Music on January 29, 2016 around the world with the exception of Switzerland where the album was released on domestic label Bakara Music. In Switzerland the album entered the album charts on no 12.

Asked to pin-point some influences on his work with keyboards and drum machines, he lists the likes of Bonobo, The xx and Radiohead.^[9]

The First single of the album “I Will” was written by collaborator Bruno Charles and on vocals it features up and coming UK singer Sam Wills.^[10] The album also features the collaboration with rising UK songwriter Dan McDougall ‘Wish You Were Here’ which also features Pablo’s drummer and live vocalist Rio on vocals.

Any samples that still do pop up on “All I Need” are taken from sessions conducted, recorded and edited by Nouvelle himself: “To conduct a session is a similar process as directing a film,”^[11] he says. There is one exception to the “no-outside samples” rule: Like a dessert, it follows right at the end. Album title track “All I Need” is based on a sample from “If This World Were Mine”, a song Marvin Gaye once sang in a duet with Tammi Terrell. “That sample is an important statement for me,” says Nouvelle. “It pays homage to my musical roots as well as to the act of sampling, a true art form in itself.”^[12]

Discography

References