Paris (AFP)

The face of The Avener is in the light for the release of his second album, "Heaven". But who knows the features of other French figures of electro with national or international influence, like Feder or Joachim Garraud?

"It's true, there was a wave of French DJs / producers like David Guetta, Bob Sinclar, Martin Solveig, who are known and recognized in the street", comments for AFP Antoine Baduel, CEO of radio FG, who helped bring these actors out of the electro scene. "And then we have a new French touch, with people like Synapson, Petit Biscuit, Feder, whose faces the general public does not know".

Antoine Baduel notes that "the first French touch was very Parisian, and here we have a scene that comes from the south of France". Kungs, or Valentin Brunel, is originally from Toulon - a little better known because he was given an affair with a famous singer - and Feder, or Hadrien Federiconi, comes from Nice, like The Avener, Tristan Casara of his real name.

The songs of the latter won until the Obama couple who placed their remix "Fade Out Lines" in 5th position in their summer playlist 2019. The Avener will perform at the end of April at the Printemps de Bourges, festival which will welcome another DJ / popular producer, SebastiAn. Sébastien Akchoté, whose real name is also in high demand internationally, since he worked with the American Frank Ocean and will be playing at the next Coachella, in California, one of the biggest festivals in the world.

A scene trodden in 2018 by Petit Biscuit - Mehdi Benjelloun, a native of Rouen - in the wake of his hit "Sunset Lover". Feder, him, comes from the deephouse but touched the general public by co-producing an album of the French singer Mylène Farmer.

- Exiles in the USA -

"For me, Feder and Synapson (Alexandre Chière and Paul Cucuron, from Paris and Toulouse, who rubbed shoulders on vacation in Biarritz in their young years), dominate the French market, in terms of scenography I have not seen better so far outside Etienne de Crécy ", exposes to AFP Matthieu Noé, sound engineer and journalist at his spare time at DJ Mag. SebastiAn also made a strong impression with his show at the Pitchfork festival in Paris, where he came to defend his second album "Thirst".

And then there are these French DJs / producers who have gone into exile in the USA where they have a career. In the galaxy of DJ Snake - now world famous and who plays in his clips - there is also Malaa. "It occurs internationally, it has an intriguing side with the general public, it has a hood of the gangster type on stage", describes Matthieu Noé.

- To hide your face -

Hiding your face has already been popularized in electro by Daft Punk, with their famous robot helmets. "It can be part of an approach which is to protect oneself, to put the music forward. After that, it can become a marketing tool, sometimes exploited to the dregs like Marshmello (American DJ who wears a helmet in the shape of a marshmallow giantess, editor's note), dissects for AFP Antoine Buffard, president of Trax magazine.

Matthieu Noé also quotes Cédric Gervais, originally from Marseille, author "of collaborations with Lana Del Rey and who settled in Miami". The sound engineer, still slips the name of Joachim Garraud, Nantais now based in Los Angeles, who is "behind Guetta tubes, worked with Jean-Michel Jarre, Kylie Minogue and also produced his own songs". "He is also an entrepreneur with his Electric Park festival," adds Antoine Buffard.

© 2020 AFP