A CONVERSATION WITH THOMAS BLONDET
For over 2 decades, Thomas Blondet has been creating, composing, and curating a unique blend of house, dub, and downtempo sounds. His blend has international influences and has been shared and celebrated all over the world.
Thomas has released remixes for the likes of Thievery Corporation, Tosca, Balkan Beat Box, Nickodemus, Sola Rosa, Thunderball, and many more incredible performers. He’s also collaborated with Eric Kupper, Arnold Jarvis, Carol C., Ammoye as well..and while honing his unique sound, Blondet has become and remained one of the torchbearers for DC House music, Trip Hop and Downtempo, genres that pretty much sum up the music I am most inspired by.
DC is a melting pot- culinarily, artistically, musically, such a wealth of cultures. And it all influences the music scene because you get exposed to so much. It’s like, ‘ What is that? Maybe I can incorporate that into something that I’m working on.’
Thomas, thank you for joining us today, please tell us what are you currently working on?
I’m currently listening to a lot of music and working on the ESL Collection. We are creating music that informs the vibe at ESL and focusing on artists who performed or DJ’d at ESL. This includes artists like 95 North, Farid, Bill Speakman, Browntempo, Dub Africa, etc.
What’s next for you?
I am really looking forward to my new residency at the new ESL ( Eighteenth Street Lounge) in Washington D.C. No other place that I’ve played at can replicate the vibe of ESL. It’s like a fingerprint and while different places in town have a great atmosphere, they cannot compare to the original atmosphere of ESL. The new location is amazing and not only does it top the previous location that we all loved and enjoyed, its going to really surprise everyone with what it has in store. From early evening programming, to mind/body wellness sessions, an urban garden, etc -most of the people involved in the development are inspiring women.
Tell us about your greatest inspirations or influences.
I began to create music and dj at a very young age, in fact I was 12 years old. At the time I was living in South Florida so I was listening to Power 96. They had DJ Laz, Felix Sama and other local DJs. I worked at a Chinese food restaurant so that I could save enough money to buy the equipment I needed for music production. Fast forward to moving here to DC. You know, I was going to Traxx in the 90s! ( IYKYK) So I was influenced by Eric Patton's DJ’ing and of course, Sam The Man Burns.
How are current trends and technology and innovation affecting your work as a creative?
It’s just insane how fast that technology has changed. I’m not mixing 2 vinyl records on two Technic 1200s anymore. Now while I'm playing, I'll loop up to four songs sometimes. So you'll have one player with an eight-bar loop of just a beat, another is playing an eight-bar loop of a melody where I take the lows out so it’s just the highs and add a tape delay or echo to that channel. Then I have a third one with let's say a vocal with more delay or other types of effects on there and then a fourth one that I'm laying with percussion or another beat. It’s all an experiment and on the fly.
I would say that all this technology could be a double-edged sword. While it's very freeing now, you have so many things that you can do. There can be too many options, right? So how do you focus?
Something I find really interesting, very inspiring, is the iPad. I've been using Logic Pro on my laptop and then I'll use the Logic Remote app and the iPad. It’s like a theremin but with a multitude of different ways to input including with the camera picking up movements. For example, you can move your mouth and set it to use your mouth shape like a cutoff. The sky's the limit with the iPad replacing physical hardware.
There is still an element that cannot be replaced- you can replicate a lot of different instruments but you can never replicate a musician. If I'm doing deep house music, I'm not going to want a drummer, I'm going to want a drum machine because house music and drum machines just go hand in hand. But I am still going to need a vocalist or for downtempo it's nice to sample something from a musician that is vibing with me in the studio.
What does well-being mean to you?
Staying healthy is well-being to me! I stay active by running and biking a lot, I also try intermittent fasting- basically anything that is going to be good for my mind, body and soul..
Photography Violetta Markelou