An Interview With Jacques Renault

We have for you today, an interview with the man behind the brilliant Brooklyn based record label On The Prowl & one half of the very talented Runaway. Mr. Jacques Renault

When you moved to Chicago some 13 years ago to continue your studies of the viola, how soon was it before you realised that you wanted to establish yourself a "dance" DJ and Producer?

Well, since High School I knew I wanted to do something in the studio, the music direction just kept changing. I was attracted to DJing not only because of the 'dance' music I was discovering, but I saw it as something I could do on my own. At the time, after countless times of doing collaborative projects, I saw something I could do without having band mates. Now of course I collaborate with multiple friends, but then it was a bit different.

Was it the sheer vividness of the dance scene in Chicago that inspired you to dig deeper into the roots of dance music and come across Disco, or did it merely make you love something you already knew about?

It was a feeling of "this is what I've been wanting to hear" - String stabs I've been making for years, drums I like, horns... it was great hear it all come together, when it was there the entire time.

When you moved to New York City in 2002, was this a decision based purely around music and the fact that you wanted to be in the heart of a city that is built around the classics of disco?

I always wanted to move to NYC, I loved the vibe and would visit often but kind of waited for the right moment. I moved to Brooklyn with my girlfriend. We both were given job opportunites in NYC, so we went for it. Great timing..

Do you believe that your technical skill as a DJ has played as much of an important role as your level of production?

If you're asking if DJing has helped my production I would say you're dead on. There are reasons why some records don't leave my record bag. They work. These are the ones that influence me and my music. I want to play what I do too.

On the topic of DJing, how important is vinyl in todays underground music industry?

Like anything, it has it's own market. The back and forth on serato vs cds vs records vs this vs etc are whatever these days. If you like what you use, use it and try to make it sound the best you can. I think records sound the best and as a visual person, I buy records and I like to play records. I also have my own record label,On The Prowl Records, so I will continue to support vinyl. I play CDs a lot too, sometimes turntables don't always work at clubs these days...

Apart from your own On The Prowl, what other labels are you vibing at the moment?

Let's see it's too easy to forget someone so I'll pick 1 label at the moment that I like: it is called No More Hits. It's an Italian label featuring Nicholas, Simoncino, Daniel Solar. We're actually doing an OTP Party Breaks record with Simoncino and Nicholas has done a remix for our artist Andy Ash which will be out in January.

A relatively young label, how did the idea of starting On The Prowl come around? And where does the name come from?

The Label was something that Marcos and I always wanted to do, have our own brand out there. We had the opportunity to work with Above Board Distribution in the UK so we said yes. The name is just a play on words, like most of our titles roar

It seems as though yourself and Marcos Cabral have a good relationship, with Runaway and OTP. Where did you guys meet and when was it obvious that you had to start collaborating?

Marcos and I met at Sonic Groove records pretty much when I moved to NYC. We were always friends even had a few events together. He had a few techno records out so when I bought ableton I asked him to come over and show me a few tricks. We worked on two songs and they became our first Wurst record. We were just like, ok let's keep at it and we have not stopped..

You have been quite consistent in delivering good quality disco and house for a while now, what do you think the future holds for Jacques Renault?

I'm going to keep going I think, I like what's happening in music and how great NYC is at the moment. I really enjoyed producing the band stuff, I'd like to do more like that next year as well as kick off Runaway Live with Marcos.

What producers do you believe are doing good things right now, and do you have a favourite Australian producer?

That's a tough one, I like what Mic Newman does, Sid Sidhu, The Canyons, Andee Frost had an ep this year that I liked a lot. Still always tough like I'm forgetting someone...

And when can we expect to see you back on Australian soil next?