Talent: Hadj Sameer
Photo: Rise UP Duo
"Vinyls are like fine wine, they’re pieces of art, their appeal stands the test of time. They are mystical artifacts. I started collecting them when I was 16, playing them was natural".
Parisian flea markets are modern archaeological sites, exotic bazaars resettled in the shadows of mesmeric futuristic sites.
Curiosity and research. Hadj's whole life gravitates around these concepts, forges ahead, pushing through like a Bateaux Mouche on the ripples of the Seine, cleaving the musical shore from the apparently antithetical biomedical field.
Hadj is an engineer as well as a DJ, and associates the careful study of vinyl with the design and development of biomedical instruments.
"I feel like a researcher in both areas. After finishing high school, I didn’t want to give up an academic career, I didn't want to waste my parents' sacrifices. For immigrants who came here in the 1960s, it was important for the new generations to get ahead in their studies, to make something of themselves.
Certain social classes really struggled to let their children study; today, fortunately, the situation has changed, and more young musicians are pursuing university careers. These two worlds can be intertwined. You can do hip-hop and be an engineer at the same time. In my case, there are enormous similarities between musical and biomedical research: they are opposites only in appearance. Curiosity is the foundation for everything".
And in this overall evolution two other factors have played, play, and will continue to play a crucial role in Theo's human and professional construction: cross-cultural friendships and his record label.
"Being in contact with many people engaged in different fields helps to broaden my identity, to enriches it. Illustrators, visual artists, graphic designers... Thanks to them I explore new dimensions and nurture my relationship with music.
Having my own record label allows me to focus on an entirely personal space and work. I’ve always been of the opinion that working for a major label is somehow equivalent to working for someone else's dream. Growing yourself and your own musical vision, I think is the right and challenging thing to do."
