A Certain Je Ne Sait Quoi: Getting To Know Point G

Point G, aka DJ Gregory, has mastered many a beat during his fortuitous career - taking influence from Africa he became renowned for his iconic Afrobeat productions. But the topic of conversation today looks back to some of his earliest records rediscovered with a help from his Parisian peers D'Julz and Dan Ghenacia who encouraged the reissuing of classic tracks and Gregory's freshly found focus on Point G. What gets us about a Point G track is the stripped back energy he seems to capture so well, so last year when he announced the launch of his Point G focussed imprint as well as unleashing a fresh series of tracks into the record stores, we got very excited indeed. It also prompted us to invite him to present the project in its full live glory in Room One this coming weekend so of course we jumped at the opportunity to find out more about this resurgence for the a project we admire so much. Hey Gregory thanks for speaking with us, I know you’re a man who likes to travel around a lot but where are you currently based? I am in Paris again after 3 years in Amsterdam doing Point G music as I was jammin back then in 90’s. I know you’ve enjoyed living in a few different cities over the years…What’s good about your current location? It’s good to be close to my friends and family again and Paris has a certain je ne sait quoi. Just how important do you think taking influence from your locality is to you? In the past you’ve spent time in Brazil and Africa to influence the music you create… Every place as his own vibe that’s where I get the inspiration from I really like the fact that my music is not gonna sound the same if I’m in Rio or Paris The Point G sound has to be made in Paris for sure , a lot of new kids on the block like Lazare hoche , Brawther, Antigone... What would you say is influencing and inspiring you the most now? Recently like so many producers I’ve been getting obsessed by modular synthesis, it’s not in my tracks that much yet as I’m still in the learning process but hopefully it will used be more & more. In our digital days it’s pretty amazing to see the amount of analogue gear I suppose it’s a reaction. Last year saw you launch your new label and release a wave of new Point G tracks –what made you want to revisit this project? About 3 or 4 years ago D’Julz told me that a few DJ’s were playing that old Chicken Coma track that I did on yellow prod back in 97 again and that it would be an interesting idea to put that project back on the map, a while after Dan Ghenacia told he was starting Apollonia , he wanted to licence Underwater I felt the idea was cool, then Mana Gaire phenomenon Lionel Marciano suggest to release a version of chicken coma and a track I did in 98 when I was living in New York called confusion that features Emily’s spoken word (John Ciafone’s wife) on Real Tone, it was Time to re-launch that Project that’s why I started the vinyl only Point G label. How involved are you in the artwork it seems pretty stylistic with references African art and instead of your own image are preferring to be represented by the illustration, what are the ideas behind this? As the project is kind of basic beats on vinyl I didn’t wanted to have photos. So I found this old draw I did back in 89, after school i did art studies for a while before I got into music, I could even say that I make beats the same as I draw. So this Saturday you’ll be performing a live Point G set – how have you been preparing for it? Can you tell us a bit about the set up you’ll be playing with and if we can expect to hear our favourite classic Point G tracks? You’ll hear it for sure and a lot of unreleased and forthcoming tracks, the live is evolving all the time that’s what I like about it, giving a picture of the moment by trigging stems and samples with a party feel. What’s your focus going to be for the coming year, more Point G or do you have a few projects under way? Point G is the main focus this year, right now I'm finishing up the next release also I slowly start to work on other stuff but it s way too early to say about it.