The story of French electronic duo Bon Entendeur, they say, is insane.
"We started DJing completely by chance and had to learn in a rush for our first booking request," they say. At the time, Bon Entendeur had only been around for four months, and we were just making mixtapes using a computer mouse on Ableton—we had never really mixed before (except for fun on Virtual DJ). One day, we received an absolutely unbelievable request (we actually thought it was a prank from a friend). Someone, who wanted to remain anonymous, loved our music and was going to spend their vacation on a yacht in Saint Barthélemy, France with friends. They wanted to know if we could come and play in the afternoons and evenings on their boat. We immediately said yes and had to learn how to DJ in just three weeks on an old Hercules controller. That was our very first gig as Bon Entendeur!"
They describe their sound as, "electronic, vintage (heavily inspired by the '70s), and positive." Meanwhile, their latest release is the Rivages album.
"We imagined our album Rivages as a cruise through the Mediterranean, making stops along the French Riviera, Cairo, and even passing through Italy," they say. "It’s an album true to our DNA, celebrating dance and our Latin roots, with a vintage and disco aesthetic. Rivages blends original creations like Rome and Disco en Égypte with refreshed classics like Fio Maravilha.:
As for gear: "The equipment we use on stage is very simple and standard! 4 CDJs, 1 DJM, 2 Sennheiser headphones, and 3 USB sticks—haha!"
Looking ahead, Bon Entendeur has plenty planned for 2025.
"A lot of things are coming up," they say. "First, an incredible U.S. tour—over 10 dates across the continent! It’s always a pleasure and an honor to have the chance to come play for you. Next, we’re hoping to finish and release the final Mixtape Decade soon—the 60s mixtape! Finally, we have quite a few demos in the works and would love to release a single by summer. In short, we’re not slowing down!"
Photo by Manu Fauque
