Get to Know: Pole Position
Mixmag speaks with fresh duo Pole Position consisting of already individual established talents Jaime (Squire and ex Redbull Formula 1 driver) and Loïc (founder of esteemed events brand Brunch Electronik) to get to know their new venture together. The two dynamic artists have an exciting summer ahead with their new "Hooked On My Motion" EP and highly anticipated shows that sees them play Primavera Sound, OFFSonar, Blue Marlin Ibiza, Dreambeach Festival and more. With a partnership rooted in mutual respect and a shared passion for art and racing, they've created a unique project that blends their diverse talents seamlessly. As we delve into their recent works, including their latest "Hooked On Motion" EP inspired by their South American tour, the duo discuss their future plans with their label, Anims.
How are you both, how has your year been so far?
Hi! We are doing great!! So far the year is showing up really nicely, with some music to be released during the summer and some very cool shows that were very much looking forward to.
Can you describe one another to us in a sentence or two?
Jaime is an awesome partner and friend. Having such a positive and professional person to work with is the best!
Loïc is great fun, he is a lovely friend and a very strict and professional partner.
When did you first discuss working together, and why?
It was a year ago or so, we decided to create a project where we both fit organically, we both love art and racing and we decided to make a curated mix of both. I think there are no coincidences in life, and I honestly believe me and Loïc have a lot of similarities so I guess life has just put us in the right place at the right time to create a movement of friendship, music, love, competition...I guess a mixture of all of that..
What does each of you bring to the partnership? musically and otherwise
I personally stay in the studio pretty often and also my office but this doesn't mean at all I make the music on my own. Loïc is helping me out massively on the guidelines, the creative process, the way he views music and the way we would like to sound, so we spend some time talking about music and also about other genres and styles. We then meet in the studio to see the progression and decide where to keep working and how to carry on etc.. We both debate on every single decision as the project grows and expands itself, so literally we respect each other and try to see everyone's point of view.
Do you work differently and sound different when producing together rather than alone?
I always like to stay on my own, even when we collaborate with some other artists I really enjoy staying alone in the studio. There's only one hand to drive and move the mouse so I'd like to have my tempos and my rhythm of work. So it's better for me to start an idea and keep growing it step by step and always with the agreement of my partner or collaborators.
Who does what, is one of you more into the drums and give and the other the synths, say, do you have defined roles like that?
We don't really have defined any role actually... Loic is pretty accurate with percussion and sounding clean and simple and I'm more that kind of guy who keeps on adding layers and atmospheres and weird fx sounds around the spectrum. I love to experiment with new instruments and synths and I feel like my music is always turning into different tracks at once so Loïc is more the guy to take me back to the ground and order a simpler and probably more efficient way of sounding..
What is your sound aiming to be?
Energetic, Romantic, Hypnotic.
Tell us about your Hooked On Motion EP - when and where was it written, what was the aim?
It was written during our South American tour, we were out of home for a month or so and we stayed in so many beautiful places in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico... so we were really inspired by the surroundings. The tour was during their summer so it was very warm and the sun was out, we were feeling very happy and inspired so thought of doing something very melodic, that you can dance on the beach during a sunset, with mellow drums and romantic synthlines. I believe this is our softer side of Pole Position but obviously we had in mind great remixers like Mila Journée and Ede and we really believe they did a great job reinterpreting the originals and giving that extra dancefloor spice :)
How do you work - with analogue outboard gear or all software, always in person or online?
We work on both, even though we have much more fun working out of the box and feel the music has a different taste and movement but yes we work on both systems and we enjoy doing it like this.
Tell us about Anims - what it stands for, what it sounds like, what is the plan for the future?
Anims is our home record label, where we publish most of our music and also music from very interesting artists that we believe in. We have a very full schedule this year with our EP, Samer Soltan, Julian Koerndl, Yost Koen, and many new names that we're really looking forward to sharing. We will also publish another EP of us and a VA at the end of the season.
What else have you got coming up/what are you excited about?
We ve got new releases on Exploited. We have a new remix we made to Phoebe Killdeer coming out officially on Kwaidan records this summer, we just released a remix on Sci+Tec and we have some collaborations also coming up this year and loads of new music yet to be released after the summer.
We are also very excited with the new shows we have in the calendar such as Primavera Sound, OFF sonar, Amnesia Ibiza, and many many more , so keep an eye on us :)
Pole Position's new EP "Hooked On My Motion" is out now on Anims, buy here: https://www.beatport.com/release/hooked-on-my-motion/4557344
