Étienne de Crécy

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life

Étienne de Crécy is perhaps the most influential house producer to emerge from France, and in my opinion the man that shaped the mid to late 90’s of deep house in both Europe and further afield.

Born in Lyon but living in Versailles in the mid 80’s he attended the same college as notable French producers  Air and Alex Gopher, (the pair would go on to create the Solid label). Crécy worked as a Sound Engineer in Paris at the studio +XXX (Plus thirty) where he met where he met Philippe Zdar of Cassius, with whom he worked as Motorbass for the album Pansoul.

Pansoul was the sole album released by the duo in July 1996 under the record label Motorbass. It was reissued in 2003. It is credited as being one of the first and most important albums in the French house genre and is seen as instrumental in reviving the Parisian underground dance music scene and bringing to it international attention.

The seminal, Super Discount album was Étienne de Crécy's first release, including the well known singles "Tout doit disparaître" (Everything must go) and "Prix Choc" (Shock Price).

Four years later he released Tempovision. Unlike Super Discount, which was perfectly adapted for the radio, Tempovision is a mature album, a deep reflection on the electronic music of this time and dubbed ‘digital soul’. The track entitled "Am I Wrong" used a sample of Millie Jackson's "Am I wrong to hunger...", from the song "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right".

Eight years after the first Super Discount album, came Super Discount 2 with the original team, and the addition of Cassius. The album used only old analog instruments. Super Discount 3 was released in 2015 offering a funky sound (the trademark of the first volume). This time, Étienne has worked with singers – Dave & Pos (De La Soul), Baxter Dury, Tom Burke (Citizens), Madeline Follin (Cults) and Kilo Kish all feature on the album – rather than producers, although Alex Gopher and Julien Delfaud contributed and Étienne has already begun the Super Discount 3 Live tour with them – before the album’s release!