Introducing: Louis La Roche

Back in February a track titled 'Love' by the mysterious TB caused a storm of speculation over at Headphone Sex regarding its authenticity as a new product of Thomas Bangalter. As humble as he was shocked that his work could be mistaken for that of his musical hero, a young Brett Ewels piped up to inform us of the mistaken identity and in fact that it was his material produced, under the soon to be named alter ego; Louis La Roche.

So how long have you been Djing?
I've been a bedroom DJ since the age of 10 (year 2000) and I've been playing in clubs seen the age of 16 (early 2007)

Where did your DJ name come from?

Louis' name came about when I started making French House tracks instead of Electro as Night Facilities. I needed a name for a side project, I sat down with my girlfriend and decided I wanted a French name. Like Jacques Lu Cont (stuart Price) I decided on a name followed by 'the something', so 'Louis The Rock' in French became 'Louis La Roche'

Can you name a record that first sparked your interest in dance music?

In dance music? hmm, must of been either 'DJ Shadow - Midnight In A Perfect World' or 'Daft Punk - Da Funk'

Do you have any residencies or events you play regularly?

I love to play Superfilth at Catch 22, if you haven't heard of it yet, please check it out, the night is really up and coming and they've had some great acts play in the past.

How/when did you first begin making music?

2004 maybe? Must of been 13/14, I made some songs under the name 'Stronghold'. That was went I didn't really have a sound, I was experimenting and finding my style.

Your previous work under the alias Night Facilities was a more electronic sounding project, what made you turn to the French disco sound as Louis La Roche?

Well I've always loved French House and also disco. I grew up listening to Daft Punk, Les Rythmes Digitales, Alan Braxe, Micheal Jackson, Motown. So i found myself making songs sampling old disco records and using techniques, filters and sounds of 90's French House. I chose the best and released them on a EP, whether I'll release more...we'll see.

Your track 'Love' was mistaken as a new Thomas Bangalter track, how did it feel having your music respected on a similar scale as Thomas?

It was nice but thats not what I'm all about. I'm trying to bring back French House, not trying to sound like Thomas. Fair enough though cos he is the grandaddy of it all, but if someone said I sound like The Buffalo Bunch, DJ Falcon etc then I would be amazed.

Has the hype surrounding this confusion changed your motives or musical direction as an artist?

Not really, its fading away. I'm just proud to say I've made people realise that French House isn't dead, and its here to stay. People have got so obsessed with 'that Justice sound' and forgot about what was before.

As Night Facilities you've remixed other artists tracks, do you intend on putting the Louis La Roche touch to any tracks in the future?

I've had a 2 or 3 artists ask me, so why not. It gives me a chance to use synths instead of samples.

Who would you most like to work with on a track and why?

Hmm thats a hard one. Any legend of mine, Aloud, Raw Man, or Sedat. I've heard that Fred Falke has checked my stuff out.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?

I don't really think about it too much. Just still making music, trying new styles, new projects. I'd love to work with a band or with another producer, I've only worked with vocalists so far, who knows!


Check out his recent mixtape for No Love Lost Records:

Louis La Roche - NLLR Mixtape.mp3 (zshare)
01 - Daft Punk - Cresendolls (Soulwax Edit)
02 - Bjork - Alarm Call (Alan Braxe & Benjamin Diamond Remix)
03 - Cassius - Feeling For You
04 - Modjo - What I Mean (Aloud Remix)
05 - Surkin - Next Of Kin (Todd Edwards Remix)
06 - Strip Steve - Tommy Boy
07 - The Disco Boys - B-B-Baby
08 - Simian Mobile Disco - Tits & Acid
09 - Headman - Song 8
10 - CJ Bolland - Sugar Is Sweeter (Twocker Remix)
11 - Like Woah - Oh I Like (Whitenoise Remix)
12 - Louis La Roche - Peach + The Streets - Has It Come To This (acapella)
13 - Busta Rhymes - Dangerous (Night Facilities Remix)
14 - Heads We Dance - My Heart Is Set On You (Louis La Roche Remix)

You can also download his new EP for free here:
Louis La Roche - The Peach EP.zip (Sharebee)
01 - Peach
02 - On The Floor
03 - Love
04 - Do You Remember?
05 - Get On Down

Louis La Roche Myspace
Night Facilities Myspace