Balance Selections 261: D-Sens

Matthieu Delepau is an electronic music producer evolving across many artistic projects. Humble, passionate and actively part of the underground electronic scene for decades.

D-sens is his main musical project and DJ moniker, spread on stage a wide spectrum of deep progressive and technoid hypnotic beats blended with lots of love, warm energies, smiles and a little bit of acid twist.

Hailing from the 90ʼs Electronic French scene, Matt is now a Melbourne local by heart.

His productions and unique DJ style offered him to play over the world for the past 20 years… From the dusty desert of Burning Man to the ash and dry Rainbow Serpent, high tech Japanese club Ageha, across good ol’ Europe and tasteful Asia, all those years behind the decks have made him a highly accomplished DJ and producer.

His productions are featured on labels like Armin Van Buuren‘s Arva, D-nox’s Sprout records, OPIUOʼs own imprint Slurp Music, Phunk Investigation‘s Miniatures Records, and so many more.

Matt is also an accomplished studio and live sound engineer following an international career as FOH and production manager, touring the world supporting the like of OPIUO and DUB-FX, you will find him operating at some of the most prestigious venues and festivals around the world.

Balance Selections 261: D-Sens

Tracklisting:

1. Midnight Meeting (Gui Boratto’s “La Chapelle” Mix) – Gabriel Brasil
2. Pink Floyd – Breathe (Hernan Cattaneo, Jamie Stevens and Anton Tumas Remix)
3. Riddler (Original Mix) – Pig&Dan & Siavash
4. Sordid Affair (Maceo Plex Mix) – Royksopp
5. Flying Doves – Mike Griego
6. Coruto (Original Mix) – Jiminy Hop
5. Flores (Original Mix) – Emanuel Satie & Maga
8. Breathe (Frankey Remix) – Lazarusman & Florian Kruse
9. Solitary Daze (Original Mix) Maceo Plex & Gabriel Ananda
10. Always (Monkey Safari Remix) – RÜFÜS DU SOL
11. Metal Dreams (Original Mix) – Guy J
12. The Man (Original Mix) – Kevin Yost
13. Visions (Tim Engelhardt Instrumental Remix) – Rodriguez Jr., Liset Alea & RJLA
14. Child Inner (Jamie Stevens Remix) – Freek Strano
15. Liquid Nights (Original Mix) – Quivver & Dave Seaman
16. Resilience (Original Mix) – Emanuel Satie, Tim Engelhardt, Maga & Sean Doron
17. Feathers & Bones (Original Mix) – Rodriguez Jr.
18. New Paragraph (Original Mix) – AFFKT
19. Bayen (Original Mix) – GMJ
20. GMJ & Matter – EXT 135 (Ambient Reprise)

Balance Selections Q+A

Name: Matthieu Delepau
Location: Melbourne Australia
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Alias/Producer name: D-Sens
Labels affiliated with: Sprout records, Flow records, Bus records

My last 3 releases:

D-Sens – Douceur Ecarlate

D-Sens – Vibrante Lumiere

D-Sens – Le Pic des Ames

What music did you listen to as a child?

My parents were listening to all sort of music from Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Otis Redding, Bob Marley, lots of classical, disco and a bit weirder music like Laurie Anderson, Kate Bush, and Just a poke. Music was applied at all time and also during long car trips. I remember going to bed and asking for Bolero from Maurice Ravel which is a 20mn classical piece, amazing journey to fall a sleep.

When was the first time that you realised that you liked electronic music?

I was about 17 and completely lost myself into experimental music between psychedelic rock, Pink Floyd, and Depth Mod, recording all sort of things through a little 4 channel tape player, like Hendrix re-recording 3 tracks in one to free another 3 channels and doing weird stuff Fx etc… Then my best friend brought me to my first rave in 1993 and I realised that it was exactly what I was trying to do myself on my own in my teenager bedroom, I sold some instruments to buy my first pair of technics turntables and here it is …

When was the first time you saw a DJ in a club?

It was a rave in 1993 not a club, it totally changed my life. I don’t remember exactly who played that night, as in the 90s it wasn’t really about names, it was more about the journey and experience, but then I kept on seeing all those big names we know now

Which producers/artists/acts inspire you?

I find inspiration in all sort of art and things of life, there is so many that I couldn’t name one in particular, in 48 years I have been through too many style and stages that my music journey is just full of those amazing people and melodies that I carry with me at all time

What was the last album that you downloaded/bought?

OTT – HEADS

Why? It’s because he’s got a very interesting stray, he was on top of his game then produced for a lot of people and kind of disappeared for a while, many creativity stuck or too much working for other, then he came back with some fresh material that proposed back into touring and I saw him multiple times touring USA and stuff and I was so happy because he deserve it so much he is an incredible producer and human. I use to listen this style of psychedelic dub a lot and it was very nice for me to dive in it again few years after.

What is your current production and DJ set up like?

I DJ on CDJs, NXS2 or 3000 and DJMA9, I really like the V10 of course but I’m not super use to it.
As producer I use Ableton and got quite a fair few plugs it’s amazing how good sound you can get from digital emulations but I still got my old TB303 that I bought in 1995, I love my Juno60, Novation bass station.

I started DJ’ing on vinyl, then CDJ100 playing CDs, then I went tractor for few years I loved playing with loops in the middle of DJ’ing and creating hybrid sets, and I jumped on the USB stick wagon as it is so much easy to carry and load, and now 3 CDJs and a good mixer you can do incredible things. But, to me those are only tools the creativity reside in the heart and soul of the performer.

What releases do you have on the horizon?

I’m actually way too busy as production manager and sound engineer to have any time recently to produce music but I’m building so much inspiration that it will have to come out soon or I will explode… Haha

Where can we hear you perform?

I playing soon at festivals in Australia, starting with Dragon Dreaming in NSW for a special sunset set, then Subsonic near Sydney and few other things that I can’t announce yet

Tell us more about the podcast you made for Balance?

I recorded it live in my studio using 3 CDJs and a DJMA9.

It took me weeks to prepare, I put a lot of effort into it, I had flash back of working on it as hard as my first mixes in my teenager bedroom in the 90s, it’s not about the technicality but the meaning behind it, I wanted to take this opportunity to produce something very special that will mean something and stay in my memory as a landmark in my artist journey, there is a lot of reflection, I’m 48 and did thousand of mixes and some have a theme but this one is very special, it is a reflection on life, its duality the light and dark the love and pain, the changes and stages you go through, the people, the travel, what make who we are etc… and I really want to draw the difference between reel life and what we see on social media that in my opinion damage the perception younger generation have of the music industry, the artist and also simply the reality of life and how simple things are the ones that will make you happy instead of that always shinny superficial fake happiness we get served all the time.

I’ve delved deep into my heart and soul, to create a mix that tend to reflects on life as it truly is, far beyond the delusional filtered version we see on social media, through carefully selected samples and melodies all those tracks represent the ups and downs, the light and dark, the joy the pain, all a part of this incredible journey.

This mix is filled with memories and inspirations, highlighting the duality, the adventures we embark on, the different stages we are going through
And in the middle of all this hurricane of sensations and emotions that life throws at us, there’s one ultimate force that holds it all together… Balance.

My Recommendations

The top tracks in my DJ wallet currently is:

Alex Kenno – Blinding lights (Joris Voorn remix)