Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Blip Nation Interview: Meet TheOneAndOnly

Blipper since: December 12, 2009



Pete Dulin: What part of the world do you live in?

TheOneAndOnly: I live in Lyon, France now, but I have lived in Rabat, Morocco and Freiburg, Germany before. I mention this switching between different countries and cultures, because it may explain a bit the eclecticism in my playlist. 

Dulin: Do you have a favorite genre of music or preferred era of recorded music?

TheOneAndOnly: Not really, I tend to mix Indie, Rock, Hiphop, Folk, Electro, Jazz, Reggae from all around the world... And I also love classical music!

Dulin: Do you listen to local/regional music in your much? Favorite artists?

TheOneAndOnly: Well, shame on me. Not enough, I presume. Sometimes it´s easier to find shows with bands from far away than local bands.

Dulin: Do you tend to sing along to songs on the radio, to music playing in the car or at home, or when blipping?

TheOneAndOnly: Sure, sometimes I´m singing, whistling or tapping my foot to the beat while hearing music, as everyone does I think, but not all the time and not too much in the company of others.

Dulin: What are some of your favorite videos that you like to blip?

TheOneAndOnly: It is hard to choose, I would say I have some all time favorites like Wax Tailor - Que Sera, Pixies - Where Is My Mind, Patti Smith - Pastime Paradise, The Greenhornes - There Is An End, Frankie Valli - Beggin (Pilooski edit), and some new favorites that can change more often like Fleet Foxes - Meadowlarks, Mason Proper - Out Dragging The River, and Royksopp - Senior Living.

I´ll stop here because I could add tons of other great songs! And I must admit that I´m not playing these enough, because I always find new awesome songs.

Dulin: By estimation, how much time do you spend blipping a week?

TheOneAndOnly: Maybe around 6-7 hours a week, from time to time. I´m making blip pauses of 1 or 2 weeks when I´m away from home!

Dulin: Tell us about a favorite memory or treasured possession. It doesn't have to be related to music.

TheOneAndOnly: One of the best experiences I have made was the 6 years I lived as a kid with my family in Morocco, a great country on the Atlantic coast. I met nice people. It was a bit like 6 years of holidays, great food, culture and nice music too. (Rai music from nearby Algeria, with singers Khaled, Cheb Mami ("Desert Rose" song with Sting), Raina Raï (Ya Zina)).

Dulin: How has your musical taste changed over time?

TheOneAndOnly: I have always been, well, a bit eclectic, but in later times it has increased quite a lot, also I´m not blipping my weirdest music! I´m not trying to become the one (and only!) who blips the most unknown titles in the galaxy.


Dulin: If you could blip one song that could reach everyone on the planet, what would you choose?

TheOneAndOnly: Keziah Jones - Rhythm Is Love. It has a nice beat and good voice; the message is simple. What more could you expect? It´s surely not breaking news to say that music and rhythm are related to emotions and love, but it´s still fascinating to me how a song can change our mood within a few seconds!    

Dulin: If you have a wife, girlfriend, partner, or significant other, do you have a special song that makes you think of them and a moment in your life? Tell us about the song, the moment, and person.

TheOneAndOnly: The song "Secret Heart" by Feist, originally a Ron Sexsmith (what a name!) song, but Feist´s version is just perfect. It´s about the fear of telling that you love. An ex-girlfriend of mine loved it and so do I now.

Dulin: If you were on a world tour as a Blip.FM DJ and ambassador, what three countries or cities would you visit first? What DJs would you like to meet?

TheOneAndOnly: I´m sure I will forget a lot of great DJs, so I humbly want to apologise for that.

In the US & Canada, @kungfukoala, @orangekittypie, @Counterfitt, @nemesisurchin, @tokno, @TriggerHappyJax, @rockthetropics, @nastysurprise, @Gen22, @bduubz, @ZOEBOE, @bendrix, @ladypn, @DJOutre, @DoubleDigitCatastrophe, @axefield (maybe @SlipperyDistortion to discuss about the influence of music on (French!) cooking). Then in Brazil, @santamistura, @patita and last but not least, in Australia & Malaysia @paraboschi & @kooi. (And I would make an extra, regional tour for the European DJs!) What, you mean there were more than three countries? Sorry, I´m not very good at math...

Dulin: Pick one song that encapsulates your personality, and explain why.

TheOneAndOnly: Meat Puppets - Vegetables Opinion! I especially dig the political point of view... No, seriously, hardest question ever! I´ll have to take at random, Radiohead - Creep, the lyrics and music have a universal dimension, alternating between calm and loud...   

Dulin: Since you began blipping, have you had any experiences that surprised you? Please explain.

TheOneAndOnly: Discovering Blip.fm was the big surprise, I hadn´t expected such a clever concept about sharing music instantly and worldwide!

While blipping, I haven´t been really surprised by something, but it´s interesting to observe the variety of blip habits and differences you can find, for instance some DJs blip several songs in one minute, some blip one after the other all the songs of an album, some don´t interact at all with others (or it seems so at least!)... It´s a culturally diverse world and this makes Blip.fm interesting. You´re confronting different tastes, characters, languages and types of humor! 

Dulin: Think of another Blip.FM DJ. You don’t have to reveal who it is. What question would you most like to ask him or her?


TheOneAndOnly: I would ask: Why are you so damn serious all the time, you know you can blip good songs and also make some jokes. It´s not incompatible at all!

Dulin: What artists and/or songs would you want to hear on the soundtrack of your life?

TheOneAndOnly: Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams, Jeff Buckley - Lilac Wine, The Postal Service - The District Sleeps Alone Tonight, Nina Simone, Danger Mouse & Jemini - Medieval, Radiohead, Björk, Jack Johnson - Angel (Kid Koala Remix), Etta James - At Last, Edith Piaf, Nirvana, Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun, Caesars - Jerk It Out, Luz Casal - Piensa en mi, Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit, Nancy Wilson - For Once In My Life, Dr Dog - My Friend and Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms (Anoraak Remix).  

Dulin: What influences your blip picks? Mood, nostalgia, new artist/song, social interaction, or other factors?

TheOneAndOnly: Everything you mentioned fits for me. It depends a lot on the mood I´m in. Sometimes I feel like following and getting inspired by what other DJs blip; sometimes I´m just looking randomly for a new song.    

Dulin: What is the earliest age that you can remember listening to music? What artists/bands did you like in your youth?


TheOneAndOnly: I don´t really recall one specific moment, because in my family there has always been a lot of music played. My dad is into classical music, jazz, and any kind of great voices. My mom likes pop, folk, world music, and my sister brought some reggae, punk, ska and rock. I liked Michael Jackson, Daft Punk, U2, De La Soul, Queen, France Gall, Rita Mitsouko, UB40, Sade, Billie Holiday, Madness, Bob Marley, Alain Bashung, Nina Hagen, Blur, Stevie Wonder, Cesaria Evora, Angélique Kidjo, Paolo Conte, Serge Gainsbourg, Jean-Michel Jarre and many others.

Dulin: What is your dream job?

TheOneAndOnly: I would love to be a writer or/and journalist, so maybe I´ll do that, one of these days...

Dulin: What French recording artists (singer, musician, band) in any genre should the rest of the world know more about?

TheOneAndOnly: Anoraak, Wax Tailor, Rita Mitsouko, Alain Bashung, Ben l´Oncle Soul, Françoise Hardy and General Elektriks.

Dulin: What prompted you to join Blip.fm?

TheOneAndOnly: I literally stumbled upon Blip.fm while searching the Internet. I hadn´t heard of it at all, but I found the idea to share music in this interactive way great! After that, I joined Last.fm [http://www.last.fm/user/LeOneAndOnly] to get more information about artists and bands, and share even more!

Dulin: What song reminds you of being in love? Of being heartbroken?

TheOneAndOnly: Being in love: The Airborne Toxic Event - The Book Of Love (Magnetic Fields cover).

Heartbroken: the monumental song called Ne me quitte pas (If You Go Away) by Jacques Brel, covered by Nina Simone, Sting, Frank Sinatra, Yuri Buenaventura, Sophie Hunger, Dusty Springfield and countless singers. The French lyrics are very poetic.

Dulin: You're in a vault at a major record label. You get to pick a secret album by any artist never before released that will be shared worldwide in 2011. What artist/band would you pick? What would you want the music to sound like?

TheOneAndOnly: I would pick Modest Mouse, Angélique Kidjo, The Pixies, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Jeff Buckley, Miike Snow and Lissie (I hope the dead ones will make an effort and be a bit cooperative). Well, expect it to give soundgasms at least...  

Dulin: Any other thoughts to share?

TheOneAndOnly: First of all, it was a great idea to start the Blip Nation blog, it gives some spiciness to our random blip dish!

Second, this is the time, I suppose, for something a bit like an Oscar acceptance speech, so I`d like to thank all the great DJs for blipping courageously whatever may come, and so on, but as Jane Fonda once said, "There´s a great deal to say, but I´m not going to say it tonight." Thanks and let the music play!
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Pete Dulin is the co-publisher and editor of www.presentmagazine.com and writes freelance for magazines, websites, and newspapers. He can be found in the Blip Nation at http://blip.fm/slipperydistortion. He can be reached at Twitter.com/petedulin, http://www.facebook.com/pete.dulin and www.petedulin.com.

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