Klingande taking the world by storm. Interview.

Whether you’re an EDM fan or not you’ve most likely heard “Jubel” by Klingande over the last few months. This upbeat track proved to be the anthem of the summer topping #1 charts across North American and Europe. But Klingande is not a one hit wonder. Cédric Steinmyller, 20-something French DJ/producer, bears more gifts than just “Jubel.”

Inspired by Swedish house music, Steinmyller crafts electronic music with a melodic instrumental base supercharged with positive vibes. We had a chance to catch up with Cédric shortly after he completed his North American tour to chat about the tour, his fans, and what’s to come in 2015.

Kateryna Topol: Hello Cédric, have you made it home yet? How does it feel to be back after a lengthy tour like you just wrapped up? 

Cédric Steinmyller: Hey there, I made a stop at home and left for Asia where I’m now. Just played in Hong Kong and Singapore. Jakarta and Bangkok in the next few days.

KT: Speaking of the tour, it seems to have gone very well, what are some of your favorite, most memorable moments? 

CS: In North America, the whole tour was a memorable moment: in Vancouver we had a very big show, the finish in Toronto maybe was the best memory, it was insane!!

KT: Having played massive festivals and fairly small venues which do you prefer…?

CS: I love both. Small venues for the proximity with all the people who come; I love to be close to people dancing and enjoying my music. Big festivals are a pleasure because it brings so much powerful feelings, it’s totally different, but the audience is quite the same, just having fun and sharing love and happiness during the party.

KT: Playing live you have a saxophone and a flute on stage, would you ever play with a full band? Some of your tracks have strings in them…

CS: I’m preparing a show in my hometown with 3 musicians + 1 singer on stage. I can’t tell you more right now, but yes I’d love to have more musicians with me. The cool thing is that my sax player Arnold can play different instruments, which is really useful for the show.

KT: Your track “Jubel” blew up this summer across the world. As much as everyone hopes for an outcome like that, did you expect it, was it a validation in a way? 

CS: I didn’t expect it, and in the beginning I didn’t want to release it!! It was a surprise to see this massive support and success. The success isn’t really a validation. I have to release more songs, but it was of course a great pleasure and honor to see what happened.

KT: Klingande music is very joyful which is exactly what you aim for, I wonder if that results in a more engaged fan-base, do fans stop you on the street? 

CS: No, fans don’t really stop me on the street yet, but occasionally when I’m in a city where I’ll play or in my hometown. I don’t know if joyful music means a more engaged fan base. Look at hard rock and metal fans, they are maybe some of the most engaged fans you will ever see!

KT: Very true! Ok, if you were to produce a soundtrack for a movie, what kind of movie would it be? 

CS: Tough question! I don’t know, could be an animation movie, or a romantic thing or even a comedy. I’m open to everything!!

KT: I heard you are mostly focusing on singles for now, can we expect a full length album any time soon?

CS: Yes I’m focusing on the next single, and in the new year I’ll think about the album. I wanted to do it quick, but with all the shows and travels I did this year, I didn’t manage to produce all the music I wanted to.

KT: When is the next single dropping? 

CS: Hopefully I’d say January [winks]

Photo by Yvan-Grubski