Interview translated from French into English
On the occasion of his special Halloween set, we had the amazing opportunity to interview Benjamin Urquijo, aka Le Bask, in order to take a look behind the scenes of this unique show as well as the artist’s news. We also asked him about his company Pandemic Events during this difficult period of time that the event industry is going through. Let’s take the time to discover this interview with the leading light of Hardcore à la française !
1/ How did you come up with the idea of organizing a Halloween live stream in an escape game?
Last summer, I realized we wouldn’t be able to get back to work in September as usual, so I asked myself how I could offer new content to my followers.
I began to wonder what our “usefulness” was as artists, cultural players, and so on. I’ve come to the conclusion: the important thing was to induce emotions and to convey messages. I’ve been thinking on a way to express our feelings during this time.
At first, I didn’t plan on shooting in an escape game. The initial shooting actually got cancelled right the day before, so we had to find another place and I finally set my mind to this escape game “The Grand Asylum. Patient 148’s exorcism”.
Although, the choice of the date October 31st wasn’t a coincidence. I didn’t know how people were going to react to a set that is a bit different from my usual repertoire. I thought Halloween would be a perfect occasion to sugar-coat it to them.
2/ The intro and end of your stream was shot in Zénith de Montpellier. [Editor’s note : [a multi-purpose arena hosting large-scale concerts]. What went through your mind in this totally empty venue?
It’s really weird… Especially because it was the Zénith de Montpellier… I am very familiar with this venue. First because I’ve been attending there as a spectator since I was a teenager, but also because I organized the first edition of my festival “Chronicle” in 2017. You realize just how much a venue like the Zénith is nothing without the public.
3/ What motivated you into producing a stream hardtek/early hardcore with cutting-edge mixing gear?
The main thing was to enjoy myself with a style and atmosphere that I’m particularly fond of. The mixing gear is not that relevant.
What I liked most in this set was working on the tracks, the reuse of samples and loops. I wanted to create an audio continuity in order to make transitions almost inexistent.
The second thing I really wanted to do was to cross eras and intertwine them. That’s what I’ve done when I played tracks such as Exlxaxl from Jappo & Lancinhouse with Sweet Dreams You Bastard from Teksa and The Headbanger or then again with tracks like Reset from Mad Dog to finish up with a remix of Gib Mir Die Bass (Tschabos) from Furyan. I set the tone when I opened the set with Danse Macabre (from Dr Macabre). And some may not have recognized it, but I also played Angerfist’s track called End.
4/ Will there be other similar livestreams in the coming months?
We had so much fun with our team producing that livestream that we’re going to give it another go. The public response has been awesome!
5/ Did you receive any support from your counterparts as to your livestream?
The night of the premiere, the set was posted across a wide variety of webpages, such as Hardcore France for instance, but also clubs such as the Warehouse, magazines like Valliue, shops like Etilik, artists’ pages like Suburbass, organizers and the list goes on. All in all, fifteen or so pages rallied in favor of the livestream.
It was so cool to see everyone accept to share it without knowing the content of the show.
This set never would have seen the light if it weren’t for some people’s precious help, namely my brother-in-law Rémi Jannequin (temporary show business worker and cameraman) and another close friend Jérémi Proietti (also temp, actor, creator and lighting designer). Both agreed to help me on this project.
We already had some of our own equipment and some other parts were lent to us (the lights and the console light in particular). We all worked for the fun and thrill of it. Projects can take shape thanks to these people and that type of mentality. That is just one more example that our job is a whole, we all rely on each other.
6/ Any projects at the moment?
I’m currently working on so many projects! (laughs)
7/ This year, you were to set about the “Chronicle Winter” project, which unfortunately never saw the light of day because of Covid-19. Can you tell us more on what we were to expect?
I was closing in on a date, February 5th, 2021, for an indoor edition. It was more or less a similar event to the one held in 2017, indoor too.
8/ What does the future hold concerning the evolution of the event industry and more specifically the Hard Music industry in the coming months and years?
These days, I hit the pause button. I’m making progress from day to day on short-term achievable goals that make me feel good and that I care about. I give without expecting anything in return. It’s essential that we, as cultural players, remain in a stress-free atmosphere as much as possible. We already have our fair share of stress during a “normal” period of time.
About the months to come, we must stay strong. The current situation is not always an environment conducive to creation. It is hard for some of us to head back to the studio and create music all the while knowing that you won’t get anything out of it or if you do barely peanuts. We must hang in there!
When it comes to the Hard Music industry, it’s tricky to give one’s opinion in a few lines… The silver lining is that the public will come forward when it all starts back. However, it’ll definitely be complicated for organizers, you’ll need a radical change of mentalities of all the players of the industry, on every level, in order to start again on the right foot (booking agencies, renting conditions, etc.) We won’t be able to start again with the same business model and I believe that all the industry players will have to coordinate to impose a change.
In France, Hard Music may thrive but there are limits. Before the lockdown, I think some people were beginning to exert themselves too much, accepting a pace or conditions imposed by agencies, supposedly imposed by the nowadays marketing. Thing must change, otherwise we’re heading straight for disaster. Actually when I say “we” … well, those who will accept to work like that.
9/ How is Pandemic Events doing facing this unprecedented crisis?
Pandemic Events is doing fine. We are on the lookout. Although the company is at a standstill, we capitalize on time. We signed up for a bunch of training courses, some of which are subsidized by AFDAS (Entertainment Training Courses Insurance) and issued by Legispectacle, for instance.
We also enrolled in free ones offered by the region through organizations like Illusion & Macadam. We take advantage of this free time to develop our skills in the world of events.
And finally, we are waiting on the government’s go-ahead to start planning dates and projects.
Have you missed Le Bask’s special Halloween set? There’s nothing to worry about!
It is available on YouTube on the following link: https://youtu.be/IvVtNHemBu8