Myd on Mydnight: French House, Game-changing Production, and the Future of the Club

As the clock strikes Mydnight, French DJ, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Myd — née Quentin Lepoutre — bestows upon the world his second LP, following 2021’s debut, Born a Loser. Writing and recording a full-length record is no simple feat, and the fact his breakout record made such boundary-transcending waves across styles, genres, and cultures has only made the shoes that Mydnight will fill that much larger. Of course, nothing is ever so “easy.” Just as the record was due to his label, Ed Banger Records, tragedy struck: his hard drive was lost and, with it, everything that would have become this version of Mydnight.

Now, it lives, fragmented, exclusively in the minds of Myd, his friends and collaborators, and anyone else involved with this proto-album — a myth unto itself.

Given the choice between defeat and glory, Myd seized the latter. How? A 24-7 livestream from his studio with one goal: get Mydnight over the finish line, on time, working around the clock and building a new album from scratch.

Friends and labelmates stopped by to hang out, collaborate, and even DJ, including esteemed colleagues such as Breakbot, Irfane, Busy P, Canblaster, Sam Ruffillo, Mézigue, and even the Duolingo owl (yes, really), to name a few. In fact, Myd kept a hotline active throughout the week, encouraging viewers and fans to call.

I had the opportunity to ask Myd about this saga, what he’s learned, how this experience transformed his approach to making music, and what the future holds. Considering Myd’s Rolodex of remixers, collaborators, and songwriters spans Boys Noize, Mac DeMarco, Yelle, Bakar, Two Door Cinema Club, Bootsy Collins, L’Impératrice, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Hot Chip, and Dua Lipa, the future teems with voltaic possibilities.

Read on as Sweetwater’s Jacob Fehlhaber discusses the magic of Mydnight, the gear that powers Myd’s sound, worldwide DJ culture, and breaking the mold of modern mixing!

From Losing the Hard Drive to a Weeklong, 24-7 Livestream

Personal Style, Collaborations, Sampling & Inspiration

On Gear, Process & Sound

Modern DJ Culture: Ed Banger Records, Staying Authentic & Finding Your Path

“Myd and Friends: After Mydnight” Spotify Playlist

From Losing the Hard Drive to a Weeklong, 24-7 Livestream

Jacob Fehlhaber: Were you more interested in attempting to re-create what was lost, or did you see it as a chance to try something different? How does that creative process unfold, and has it shaped how you’ll approach making music in the future?

Myd: After I lost the hard drive, I didn’t want to copy what I did before. It felt better to start again, with only the memory in my head. Like painting the same picture but this time with different colors. I felt more free and could follow my instinct without overthinking.

It taught me that music is about the moment, not perfection. You need energy, emotion, and trust in yourself. Now, I work faster, and I don’t keep ideas in the drawer too long.

Seeing Jersey appear on your stream and knowing how they play live, it occurred to me that streaming your studio experience is both a mirror to and an inverse of performing as a DJ — do you have any interest in revisiting the live-band model we got to see on Myd Live at L’Olympia, Paris or another non-DJ approach to live performances?

Streaming the studio was like DJing but reversed. I react to myself, not to a crowd. I also love the live-band format, and for Mydnight I wanted to mix both worlds. DJ sets let me change the mood in one second. With a band, the emotion builds slower, but it can be deeper.

Myd’s DVD rip of his 2022 live performance at L’Olympia in Paris

Has your vision for live performances changed, and do you have anything you’d like to explore via touring for Mydnight that you haven’t been able to do in the past?

The live tour I’m doing right now is me with my studio gear and five cameras onstage. Maybe all that was inspired by the livestream? I want my new live show to be less staged, closer to myself when I’m creating in the studio.

Was producing the album this way like an extension of your 15-day production challenge with Radio Nova and L’Impératrice? If so, how did the experience of creating “Loverini” prepare you for this 24-7 stream? What would you do differently if you had to take this approach again?

Yes, the 24-7 stream was like a bigger version of “Loverini.” That experience helped me to be more confident and not scared of quick decisions. If I do it again, I will prepare more sounds before so I can spend more time making music and less time searching.

Personal Style, Collaborations, Sampling & Inspiration

The first time I heard your music and wanted to share with a friend, I think I said, “Myd is like the Mac DeMarco of Ed Banger,” prior to your collab with Mac. Adding this to your roots as part of the multigenre electronic group Club Cheval illuminates an impressive diversity across songwriting, remixing, and production.

How did your experiences working with and remixing for artists such as Nero, Boys Noize, Theophilus London, and Brodinski shape what you wanted to do with Myd as a solo project? Did this influence Mydnight, being your next full-length record?

Working with Nero, Boys Noize, Brodinski, and others gave me a strong base for production. It taught me precision and punch, but I always keep a human side in my tracks. For Mydnight, I wanted club energy but still with personality and humor.

Can you discuss any artists — past and present — or experiences that inspire you but that may be surprising for fans to learn?

People might be surprised that I listen to a lot of French chanson from the ’70s, like Michel Berger or Balavoine, and also Japanese electronic music.

How have your experiences producing for rappers — e.g., Alonzo, Lacrim, SCH — intersected with or influenced your own releases?

Producing for rappers made me love imperfections even more, the small things that give life to a track. The weird groove of a rapper on a track can enliven the whole track. Imperfections are charismatic.

Photo credit: Alice Moitié

Your sense of fashion pairs well with your desire to push into the wonderfully weird of the world. Are there ideas you want to explore that haven’t made it onto an official release yet?

In style, I want to connect more with my music. Maybe one day a clothing drop where the music is hidden inside the product. I just made a wonderful collab with the French brand A.P.C. — yellow, of course.

You were nominated for your work on Bloody Milk and received the Valois de la musique award at the 10th Angoulême Francophone Film Festival. How do you differentiate scoring and your own production? What has film work revealed for your creative process, and how does that appear on Mydnight?

When I work on films like Bloody Milk, I write for the director’s vision. You need to be part of the story without taking all the space. On Mydnight, I use this in the way I build atmospheres and transitions. Making an OST [original soundtrack] is not that far from DJing — you’re telling a story.

“Won’t You (Be There)” by Nero, remixed by Club Cheval

On Gear, Process & Sound

Which hardware and software tools and instruments were essential to bringing Mydnight to life? What is one piece of gear — instrument, software, studio tool, etc. — that you can’t live without?

I have my iPhone Dictaphone [app] always with me. I have a really bad memory, so that’s my notepad. Also, for me it’s the best “cheap” recorder when there’s no mic around.

My essential gear for Mydnight was my Rupert Neve 5059, my Moog [Minimoog] Model D that I bought in Tokyo, my JUNO-106, my Apollo interface, my voice, my iPhone Dictaphone, and a few tape machines.

Nir Yaniv, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Do you have any instruments you’d consider your “grails,” and what makes them so special to you?

I bought my vintage Minimoog Model D in Japan. I love how this piece of gear is alive. I got it repaired out of the studio last month, and I felt lonely without it.

You met the rest of Club Cheval at La Fémis. How did studying sound engineering at this notable film school influence your studio gear and sense of artistry? I’d imagine this was essential to Club Cheval’s and your personal successes, oriented around a holistic approach to music, where image, vibes, and presentation are part and parcel with the studio work and compositional capabilities — very curious to know more about that!

Let’s say that, apart from the technical side that was game changing (how to record, what mic and recorder to use, mastering the software), I learned how to be part of a project from start to finish. And making an album or making a film is not that different in the mindset. I finished school ready to work with a team and make my ideas in real projects.

Mydnight’s “The Wizard” features an exceptionally deep cut of a sample, pulling from a rendition of Vera Hall’s “Another Man Done Gone” — how would you describe your approach to sampling music?

As a French musician, I’m gifted by the “sample magic fairy.” I listen to music like everyone, all the time, but sometimes I feel something in my belly, like butterflies.

I get the hypervision of what I can do with these two seconds of a song. It’s like when a chef smells a new spice and gets all the recipes in mind, in only a second.

How have changes in music technology affected your use of samples?

I use lots of tapes and samplers, so I’m not sure it changed anything about the sampling itself. On the digging, let’s say the library is even wider with internet.

Modern DJ Culture: Ed Banger Records, Staying Authentic & Finding Your Path

In your interview with Luna Collective, you discussed how Ed Banger’s role as a tastemaker label and its legacy taught you to be bold, seeing yourself as “the weird uncle” of Ed Rec who’ll nap during Sunday lunch.

Should we be taking more naps? What do you do to prevent creative burnout and keep the artistic juices flowing when you’re not working on music or sketching ideas with your tape recorder?

You have to take care of yourself and try to stay grounded. Being an artist is a lot about thoughts, fantasies, ideas, projects, parties, travels... all that can make you forget you’re a human being on earth for a short amount of time.

So, you have to take care of your life, your body, your family, your entourage: what’s real! So, I meditate, I nap, I spend time with my friends and family.

Photo Credit: Alice Moitié

In the age of streaming platforms, it’s difficult to imagine a label like Ed Banger emerging today, as aspects of music culture ebb and flow seamlessly across mediums. Paradoxically, those layers seem like a natural extension of the modern era despite how technology overwhelms us with the feeling that “everything is possible all the time.”

With all this in mind, what advice would you give someone young today — who’s just beginning to make music and is inspired by the lovely weirdness of Ed Banger, who feels stuck dealing with a world that’s desperate to cram them into a box and put a neat label on them?

I would tell them not to fight to be in the box but also not to spend all their energy trying to break it. If the world wants to put a label on you, let them, but keep changing so it never really fits. The strange parts of you are the ones nobody can copy, and that is your real strength.

Today it feels like everything is possible all the time, so it is easy to feel lost. You don’t need to try everything. You just need to follow your own path.

When I started making music, people didn’t know if I was doing pop, electronic, or comedy because of the videos I made. Some told me to choose one style if I wanted to be taken seriously.

I didn’t.

I mixed humor with serious tracks, sunny songs with darker ones, DJ sets with live shows. It confused people at first, but it became my identity.

If you try too hard to be understood right away, you risk becoming someone else’s idea of you. If you let your identity grow slowly, people will follow you for the right reasons.

Which artists should more people be listening to?

Myd

Antoine Bourachot

Contrecoeur

Who on Ed Banger has had the biggest influence on your craft since signing to the label?

Busy P [a.k.a. Pedro Winter, the founder of Ed Banger Records]. He’s both my dad and godfather at the same time in music.

Who is your dream artist to remix your work, and whose work would be your dream opportunity to remix?

My dream artist to remix my work would be Four Tet because he can turn a simple loop into something hypnotic and emotional.

I would also love to see what Moodymann could do with one of my tracks, bringing that deep and soulful touch.

For me to remix, I would dream of working on a Björk song because her music is already a world on its own; or Tyler, The Creator, who mixes humor, emotion, and groove in a way I really connect with.

Is Ibiza overrated? What has international touring revealed to you about the DJ landscape, and which cities have excited you the most about the future of dance music?

Ibiza is not overrated if you know where to go. The big clubs can feel predictable, but they’re not, and there are still places on the island where the energy is pure and the crowd is there for the music, not the Instagram post.

Touring has shown me how different the DJ landscape is from city to city.

In Seoul, the crowd is so open to new sounds that you can play a track nobody knows and feel the room light up. In Tbilisi, the energy is raw and emotional; it feels like the whole city is breathing with the music. In Mexico City, the passion is unmatched; people dance like it’s the last night of their life. Those places make me excited about the future because they remind me that club culture is still alive and evolving.

Where do you see the DJ art form going next? Stem-separating technologies seem at odds with the turntable-style approach despite the value it has for “standard” DJing, but imagining an alternative that preserves the spirit of the turntable model is a challenge.

I think DJing will keep moving between technology and tradition. Stem separation is powerful, but if you only focus on the tools, you can lose the feeling of playing for people in the moment.

The future for me is not to replace the turntable or the CDJ but to mix the new possibilities with the old way of performing. Maybe it means using stems live but still keeping the physical act of mixing, touching the music and reacting instantly to the crowd.

The real magic in DJing is not how perfect the mix is, it’s how you connect with the room. Technology should help that, not take it away.

“Myd and Friends: After Mydnight” Spotify Playlist

Looking for more after Mydnight? Listen on the go with Sweetwater’s “Myd and Friends” playlist! Hear tracks from Myd, Club Cheval, frequent collaborators, labelmates, remixers, influences, and beyond!

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