Home Uncategorized Exclusive Interview: Feder discusses his roots, success and future plans
In 2014, a new producer

Exclusive Interview: Feder discusses his roots, success and future plans

Home Uncategorized Exclusive Interview: Feder discusses his roots, success and future plans

In 2014, a new producer by the name of Feder broke onto the scene by way of a crafty and already immortal track titled ‘Goodbye‘. Melding pop-savy songwriting with unblemished production, Feder quickly found himself at the forefront of the dance music scene.

Though he appeared seemingly out of nowhere, ready to dominate the crossover dance space, Hadrien Federiconi’s ascension was primed by previous efforts of his initial electro swing band as well as the successful completion of his sound engineering education. Having forged a considerable path in the French music culture, the launch of his Feder project presented an opportunity to apply his enhanced studio prowess to the more mainstream remits of club music. Fortunately for the Frenchman, it’s proven to be a winning formula, and Feder has grown to be an indomitable force in the dance world.

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We Rave You had the chance to meet the high-flyer at this year’s Exit Festival and talk about his background, his biggest influences and his upcoming plans. Exit, one of Europe’s biggest crossover festivals, presented a phenomenal lineup this year with acts like The Prodigy, Bastille, Wiz Khalifa, David Guetta, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and many more. Feder’s excitement was palpable: “I feel definitely good! I just saw the stage, the whole festival takes place on an amazing fortress. Something historic you know, so I’m very excited to do my show tonight.”

Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Federiconi’s quick, thorough ascension to his current level of success is his ability to balance his high output level, demanding touring schedule, and stylistic integrity with his fundamental humility and honesty. But first thing’s first. I wanted to know who the guy behind the worldwide hit “Goodbye” really is.

“I’m just a simple guy. I’m 29 years old and I started producing when I was 20. Back then I was living in London and I decided to move back to France to study sound engineering. And then just 4 years later – I started my project Feder. Everything progressed slowly. We decided to release Goodbye 3 years ago, and then the whole thing just blew up.”

It is not uncommon that many established producers attended sound engineering classes, where they had the chance to develop their own style and learn essentials about the art of producing. Feder’s recognisability, however, originates from the time before commencing the sound engineering school. Furthermore, Hadrien states that he would not align himself to one specific genre.

“Before Feder, I had an electro swing band. And we were mainly focused on groove and swing. So when I produce nowadays, groove is something that still takes a big part within my productions. The other thing I mainly focus on is the percussions, cause it keeps the track bouncy. But look, music changes all the time and therefore I change as well. I can’t say I’m gonna do this type of music all my life. But I can’t hide that it was my obsession in the beginning.”

At its core, every facet of the Feder project relates back to Federiconi’s personal roots. Growing up in Nice, France, he decided to leave his hometown behind and explore the open widths of France’s music culture.

“I grew up in Nice. Back in the time when I left Nice wasn’t the best city for music culture. There was simply a lack of culture for me. So I decided to move firstly to London and practice my English, because obviously today you just need it. So I lived there for one year and then decided to move to Paris. Because for me it was simply the capital of the music culture.”

In fact, Paris is the city where most of his influences came from. The French capital was home to some of dance music’s biggest names. Artists like Daft Punk, Bob Sinclair, David Guetta and Justice helped shape the dance music scene we have come to relish today.

“There was Modjo, Martin Solveig, Bob Sinclair as well. Basically the whole Parisian dance scene had a big influence on me and my music. Daft Punk is a huge influence too, but only music wise. For me they are not DJs, they are brilliant producers. When they do a show, it’s obviously not a DJ show, it’s a live show. I like that you never know what to expect from their performance.”

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Now based in Paris, he’s fallen in with the timeless German deep house elite like Nico Stojan, Sascha Breamer and Super Flu. But as our chat became delved deeper, I came to the conclusion that the city of Paris is quite a creative bubble. The city is still responsible for some of the industry’s greatest exports like DJ Snake, Tchami and The Avener. As The Avener’s music reminded me a lot of Feder’s, I couldn’t resist but to ask about a potential collaboration.

 “We became good friends over the years. We never tried something together, but I think it could be nice. And yes we are from the same city. But for now we don’t have anything scheduled yet. Honestly I think we have to. And if people want to, we will do it I think.”

Talking music, this year saw his track “Blind” reach insane heights of popularity, while his other originals like “Lordly” emerged as anthems in their own right, with Hadrien playing packed venues all around the globe.But Feder is ready for an even bigger, more difficult challenge in his still young career. The essence of being an artist is to put your colourful world into one wedge of pleasure. What follows, he tells us, is his debut album.

“You can truly expect my whole unique universe being transformed into one album. I try to mix underground and mainstream. I’m really working hard on it because I truly want to present my own universe to my fans. But the album is also here to show a certain style shift of mine. You might hear my songs on the radio today, but I don’t want to forget my underground roots. But yes, I have a great feeling.”

And we have too. Check out a snippet of his spectacular sunrise performance at Exit Festival earlier this year and keep an eye out on Feder. With a massive worldwide tour schedule and a forthcoming album we anticipate big things ahead for this talented Frenchman.

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