Caffeine collection

Stéphane Cocke speaks about the road to
Café Méliès Volume 3

by SCOTT C

After sifting through piles and piles of CD submissions, and a long night of listening at the studio, Stéphane Cocke is just a little bit groggy. This local DJ and man about town has been very busy lately, cultivating the next crop of musical talent that will be featured on the Café Méliès CD compilation, a collection of loungey, laidback grooves - connected to the café of the Ex-Centris complex - that has proved successful for two volumes now. With the third volume in the series very close at hand, the Mirror spoke to compiler Cocke about the impending release and how this project came about.

Mirror: So was the idea for this compilation your baby, or did someone hire you for the project?

Stéphane Cocke: After DJing for so long, I felt that the next logical step for me was to do a comp. So I was asking around to see who would be interested in doing something like this, and I came across Yann Errera, the owner of Jajou Records, and he was already looking to do a project like that. He had already been in touch with the people from Café Méliès, and it seemed like a solid place to work with - we knew it was gonna be there in 30 years. So the two of us sat down with the co-owner, Paolo Oliveira.

M: So was the original concept for this series to focus in on Montreal talent, or was it really wide open?

SC: Originally, it only made sense to collect as much talent as possible from Montreal, and honestly, I didn't think we could do it with simply Canadian material, let alone Montreal.

M: C'mon, really?

SC: Yeah, I wasn't sure.

M: Tell me exactly what you're looking for this compilation to sound like.

SC: I'm looking for music that can stand the test of time, and that will appeal to as many people as possible even though it's not well known at all, and it's got to have that vibe. It's really hard to describe. I know that when I hear music, it moves me in a way that I can't easily explain. It gets to me, and that's the sound I'm looking for on Café Méliès. If I hear it once and it gets me, I know. If I can listen to it 10 times in a row and it still sounds great, then that's exactly what I'm looking for. These compilations have to sound great five years from now.

M: So, has it been that difficult to find songs that have staying power? There's lots of talented people around, y'know?

SC: Extremely difficult! (laughs) It's really hard!

M: You say that like I should feel sorry for you.

SC: (laughing) No, you shouldn't, but it's a lot of work. Even though I received a lot more material for volume three, it doesn't mean that it's all good.

M: You have both established artists with full production and arrangement, and bedroom producers submitting their first beats, right?

SC: We have a lot of bedroom producers, but even some of the better-known artists are working from a setup at home. Really great music can come from just about anywhere.

M: Who has the last word on songs that will be included?

SC: Ex-Centris owner Daniel Langlois has the last word. He's not going to let a compilation with a name he owns on it happen without being a part of it. Plus, he has good taste.

>> Music Listings