The first thing to know about rising new French DJ and producer Brodinski is that he doesn’t necessarily relate to the filtered house or distorted electro his countrymen are known for.
“I like techno and electro, but not distorted,” says the 21-year-old who adopted his great grandmother’s name as his tag. “I don’t make noisy sounds — I prefer acid, techno, ’88 summer-of-love music or stuff like Baby Ford, Aphex Twin and the M_nus scene.”

Like many of his generation, Brodinski has been heavily influenced by DJ culture. He was raised on a steady diet of mix CDs, and the influences he points to include Brits Damian Lazarus and Erol Alkan, Belgium’s 2 Many DJs and Parisian house and tech chameleon Ivan Smagghe.

Having started DJing only four years ago, already Brodinski finds himself spinning alongside many of his idols and receiving invites from high-profile clubs and promoters in the UK and Europe. Much of this has to do with the success of his first EP, Bad Runner, released last year on Mental Groove.

Created with production partner Yuksek — an established creator of electro, pop and French Touch techno who, like Brodinski, calls the region of Reims/Lille home — the song “Bad Runner” has been played and charted by many dance-music heavyweights.

“Yuksek and I produced that in maybe three hours and I thought it was good, but it was more of a DJ tool for me at first,” Brodinski allows. “Then I started to send it to my idols, like Erol, Boys Noize, 2 Many DJs, Pedro Winter and all of the guys on the new scene and they all played it a lot so it became a really big song in 2007. Sven Väth has even been playing it for the last two months, and he said it’s amazing!”

Although “Bad Runner” does veer towards the distorted end of the electro spectrum, the flip, “Solaris,” is a slice of deep techno. The two songs — and subsequent Brodinski and Yuksek remixes for artists including Klaxons, Das Pop, Heart Revolution and Boys Noize act D.I.M. — have shown great range and promise. With a remix of Brazil’s Mixhell — former Sepultura drummer Igor Cavalera and his wife Laima Leyton — also about to drop on Boys Noize, I ask Brodinski if he considers that label home.

 “I don’t really have one official label in France because, with Ed Banger and all of the scene, in all of the world if you are French, you play Justice,” he says carefully. “The press and other people will say ‘Oh, he’s French. It’s like Justice,’ but I’m not. I don’t play really hard techno or pop.

“Turbo is my official label now, but not really in France,” he says, referring to the techno and house indie run by Montreal DJ/producer Tiga, which will soon put out Brodinski’s Oblivion EP.

“It’s totally techno. I made it just for Tiga’s DJ sets,” Brodinski giggles.
Now touring under the Turbo banner and having remixed Toronto’s Crystal Castles and Ottawa’s Jokers of the Scene, Brodinski is feeling the Canadians.

“I really love the new scene of Canada with people like Jokers of the Scene, Thunderheist, A-Trak and other guys. It’s like a little scene where all the people know each other, like in my country too. I really love the mood of that.”

This time around, Toronto is the only Canadian date on Brodinski’s brief tour of North America, but he intends to return. Production work calls first, with a new original EP and a remix of DJ Mehdi to be completed come September.

Brodinski is eager to expand on the skills he’s picked up during his two years spent in studio with Yuksek.

“First, I want to learn how to produce on my own as well as collaborate,” he shares. “I want to learn to make really good bass because in England the people really love bass. Also, as much as I like making DJ tools and tracks for blogs, I want to study music and learn more about what is really good and fun for clubs. Maybe after, I’ll add new elements and also make pop tracks or more melodic, deep, vocal music.

“I’m here to learn, to DJ and to produce,” Brodinski summarizes. “I want to make music for the next 25 years of my life and participate in our culture. I think the best is to come in my future.”