RFI Musique: How did you get involved in the electro scene in the first place?
Chloé: When I was in my teens I used to have a big thing about collecting LPs. I collected all sorts of music, the style didn't really matter at all. My Dad was into stuff like Velvet Underground and Pink Floyd and he had all these original editions of Kraftwerk albums. As for me, I played a bit of guitar and I liked singing, but I never had any formal training. I've always had a very intuitive approach to music. Anyway, in the early '90s when I was a law student I started going out in Paris and hanging out on the club and rave scene.
Ivan Smagghe: I've always thought of electro as a musical style just like any other. Before house came along, I used to listen to stuff like Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode. My parents were into Tangerine Dream.

What would you say if someone asked you to define the style of records you play?
Ivan Smagghe: Well, I always refuse to answer questions like that. That sort of question really winds me up, in fact! I don't mind other people defining my sound. But as far as I'm concerned, it's simple. I play the records I like and that means electronic, machine-based stuff.
Chloé: I think it's difficult to answer that. Putting labels on things is a very French concept. Over in the UK, there are all kinds of electro 'sub-genres', not just four like there are in France! That was one of the main ideas behind this compilation, actually. This is about our sound, the records we love, exploring different sounds which all tend to revolve around the same idea. It's not about pinning things down and trying to define our sound in any way. It's like the album cover – this is an alternative take on the family and it's meant to be dark and disturbing.

Talking of families, dysfunctional or otherwise, would you say that you and Ivan are part of the same musical family?
Chloé: Musically speaking, I think it's true to say that we're pretty much on the same wavelength. We're on the same record label, we play at the same club - Le Pulp – and we often play at the same club nights organised abroad. We actually met each other seven years ago at Le Batofar (a floating nightclub on the Seine) when we both played at the Quality "after parties."

These days, after the big buzz in the UK and France, it looks as if the electro scene's moved to Germany. Over the past five years, Germany has really become the world's new techno Mecca…
Ivan Smagghe: Yes, it has. I don't know why that should be the case, but it is. There are a lot of record labels and producers happening in Germany right now. But the really amazing thing is that there's such a wide variety of different styles and records coming out… I don't know if you can really talk about a 'German' sound because there are all these very different things going on in Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich and the rest. You can certainly talk about major trends, but I'm not interested in going with the most obvious. And right now I'd say that's minimalist techno. Unfortunately, it's become a standard formula where there are no surprises, no-one takes any risks. I'd say only one in fifty records are any good…
Chloé: Six years ago, the only record store in Paris that actively promoted minimalist German techno was Katapult. They were the only ones defending it, with labels like Kompakt and Playhouse. I released my first maxi-single with the people from Katapult and after that I got regular invitations to go and play in Germany. They were all absolutely fixated on this one sound, this minimalist style that's totally hypnotic and very repetitive. I guess it was a bit of a reaction to the big American productions that came out in the early '90s and the celebrity DJs that came over from the U.S. to play in those gigantic European clubs.

Then, of course, there's electro-clash – a new style mixing rock and electro influences – that's also came out of Germany…
Chloé: Electro-clash passed me by really. I've never been into it, but at least it's helped break electronic music onto the mainstream. Lots of people have discovered electro through that. It was a big wake-up call for people who weren't familiar with music from the '80s, but I think musically speaking there's not much to it.

There's a bit of a dark side to your compilation The Dysfunctional Family…
Ivan Smagghe: You know, I've never understood why people are scared about the idea of dance music having a dark side. This is electronic musi made with machines, it's not exactly Carnival in Rio! Actually, one of the things that interests me most is groove and that's definitely not an antinomic sound with dark undertones or a cold atmosphere. Honestly, this 'dark side' isn't intentional. It's just what we are musically speaking.

How did you go about putting this compilation together?
Chloé:  We listened to a lot of records and spent a long time deciding what to leave in and what to take out. We put a lot of effort into research, trying to get off the beaten track and include things people wouldn't really have heard before. There's a track by a guy called Jason Edwards, for instance, who hasn't released anything on record before.
Ivan Smagghe: We're always trying to look further afield and find out what's going on beneath the surface. And that's exactly what we've tried to do with this compilation without getting too obsessed about making a weird, off-the-wall record at all costs. Our main concern was to avoid anything too obvious. There's a certain faction on the underground that avoid risk-taking and opt for the easy way out. Personally, I'm really into the idea of discovering new things. And don't forget DJs are primarily playing records for themselves. That's why I regularly have a good clean-out of my DJ box and throw out the stuff I've played too much!