Jennifer Cardini Talks

For more than 15 years, Jennifer Cardini has been working the European electronic dance music circuit. Her early influences came from Chicago and Detroit, which led her to play primarily house music in the late 90s at clubs across France; but time and experience allowed her style to develop into the more experimental techno sets shes known for today. Most recently, Cardini has been spending more time continuing her production efforts, focusing on her current solo projects as well as running her own label, Correspondant, as an outlet for her musical vision.

Ahead of A Night With… this weekend, we sat down with the musical aficionado to find out what her normal approach to extended sets is, what one record she’d send into space and how recent technology changes have benefited the job of the DJ.

The simple concept behind the A Night With…series of parties, at which youre playing can be reduced to a sort of basic equation: 1 DJ/8 Hours. Whats the longest set youve ever played publicly, will this be it?

I did a couple of all night long’s at Pulp back in the days I also did one 2 years ago at Point Ephemere in Paris as well which was really fun!

When I was an active party monster it was impossible to get me off the decks most of the time , so I probably did a couple of “uber long” DJ sets, but my memories of this time are quite blurry… 😉

With such a long format, what kind of approach do you apply to your set? Have you got a few special extended versions in the bag, to cover toilet breaks? If so, what would you say is the greatest ever toilet break track? 

That’s an easy one. Any Pachanga Boys track will do On top of being highly thrilling they are always above 12 minutes. Their hit “Time” is 17 minutes, I actually plan on power napping on this one at around 4 am!

What were the key, seminal moments in your own discovery of electronic music?

Aphex Twin’s “Selected Ambient Work Vol. 2” and LFO’s “Frequencies” 

What was the first Aphex Twin record you heard and how did it make you feel?

Aphex Twin “Selected Ambient Work Vol. 2”  I remember listening to Delphium all the time. This track is so beautiful, I felt moved and happy.

If you had to send one record into space, to introduce extra terrestrials to human music, what record would you choose?

Boards of Canada – Everything You Do is a Balloon

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Do you sense theres a general trend developing for slowing down the bpms and bringing the groove back, with nights such as Andrew & Seans A Love From Outer Space being a prime example of satisfying peoples hunger for a slower tempo?

Yes sure. I’m playing and enjoying this a lot as I was never a high tempo fan but then I also need techno and house

Do you think the art of DJing has been improved upon with all the technological advancements that have come along in the last twenty years with CDJs, DJing programmes etc or do you think theres a danger software etc is sort of de-skilling DJs?

Like always there is a positive and a negative aspect to technological advancement. Playing low quality mp3’s and looping every 2 minutes of each track is a no go for me, but at the same time I am happy I don’t have to travel with so much weight anymore. It took me a while and after playing with my laptop I went back to what works the best for me: vinyl  and usb sticks! In the end what really matters is the music you choose and how you play it…

Tell us about Correspondant in 2013 and what we can look forward to in 2014 with it.

 
We have our second compilation coming out in March 2014 and we will start working on artist albums wich is super exiting. We are moving on with our Correspondant nights and I’m really looking forward to traveling with the label artists to Tel Aviv, Berlin, Paris, Madrid and Amsterdam in 2014!

If you were in charge of booking a fantasy A Night With… with any DJ – past or present, dead or alive – playing the entire eight hour duration of the night, who would it be?

Larry Levan…

Please describe the best day of your life to date?

It was in Cologne, I spent the day in the sun at the River with my girlfriend and we never left each other since.

The most you’ve ever spent on a record.

50 euros, and I’ll be playing it on Saturday!

Whats the greatest live performance youve ever seen?

Last year’s Tinderstick concert brought me to tears, it was so beautiful! 

What piece of music makes you cry?

I’m an easy target I cry on nearly everything that has emotional pads or strings! Anthony and the Johson is quite good! 

If you could spend A Night With anyone – not necessarily music based – who would it be?

I can’t answer that, it would get me in trouble 🙂

You can catch Jennifer Cardini playing her at A Night With… this Saturday at Basing House.