Claude VonStroke

When did you first discover that you could sing, and which vocalists are your biggest influence?

Long time ago, I was 13. Maybe less..singing was the only thing I could do in my friends band.
My biggest influences are Michael Jackson and Jim Morrison.

You released an EP of tracks (July 7) as an album teaser for: Midtown (due late Sept) which features a host of collaborations. How long did it take to complete such a mammoth project, and can you tell us about some the locations it was recorded in?

It took me 3 or 4 years to complete this project with my friends. MIDTOWN is the middle of the world, where everyone from everywhere is passing by; you have Art Department, then my dear Italian friend Piers Faccini, then Rose Ryot from London… then my sister…then Cassius .. then Brodinski.. then a DJ Pone remix … Claude VonStroke, a new dOP track …. it’s un predictable .. it’s my all seasons dream compilation, recorded in SF , LA , Paris , Berlin , Beirut , London , Tel Aviv..

https://soundcloud.com/circus-3/sets/jaw-friends-midtown-ep-preview

Where do you find inspiration for your words and subject matter?

In what I’m living, and other people’s lives ..
or sometimes it just starts with a good title.

Can you describe the process of how you wrote one of the tracks from the EP/Album?

The one with Steve Smyth is funny, it’s kind of an interlude, we wrote it while eating a big piece of meat, and recorded it direct around the table.
We are both into poetry so I leave you the pleasure of trying to understand the meaning of this track: Talking Lonely

You have also sung on big crossover hits such as Claptone – No Eyes. How do you see the importance of songs in electronic music, especially after the lack of melody in Tech House etc?

I think it’s good… there are more and more good singers into House Music… for a long time it was hard for me to be a singer, people were not happy to listen to me in the club. It was not normal. They made me get better and better… now with dOP we do 100 shows every year.