Kavinsky
Kavinsky | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Vincent Pierre Claude Belorgey |
Born | Seine-Saint-Denis, France | July 31, 1975
Genres | |
Years active | 2006-present |
Labels | Record Makers, Fool's Gold Records |
Website | facebook |
Vincent Pierre Claude Belorgey[1] (born July 31, 1975), known as Kavinsky (sometimes stylized as KΔVINϟKY), is a French house[2][3] artist whose production style is very reminiscent of the electropop film soundtracks of the 1980s.[4] Kavinsky claimed that his music is inspired by thousands of movies he watched as a young boy and that he has cherry-picked the best parts from them, consolidating them into one concept.[5] Kavinsky has been compared to many similar French house artists including Daft Punk and Danger. He achieved greater mainstream recognition after his track "Nightcall" was featured in the 2011 film Drive.
Biography
After many years as an actor, Kavinsky's musical career started in 2005 after being inspired by his close friends Jackson Fourgeaud and Quentin Dupieux, the latter director also including Kavinsky's music in his film Steak. During this period Kavinsky produced his first single "Testarossa Autodrive" which was inspired by the Testarossa model of Ferrari (one of which Vincent drives in real life).[5] Kavinsky presented the single to Quentin, who in turn presented it to a record label he had access to because of his filming career, and Kavinsky signed with Record Makers.[6][7]
Subsequently Kavinsky went on to release three EPs on the Record Makers label: Teddy Boy in 2006, 1986 a year later, and Nightcall with Lovefoxxx of CSS in 2010.[7] During this period, Kavinsky's fellow producer Surkin jokingly claimed in an interview that Kavinsky was his father [citation needed]. Kavinsky has since toured alongside Daft Punk, The Rapture, Justice, and SebastiAn in 2007.[8] He has also been remixed by SebastiAn and other notable electro artists.[9]
The SebastiAn remix of "Testarossa Autodrive" off the 1986 EP is featured in the video games Grand Theft Auto IV and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Kavinsky's single "Nightcall" was featured in the opening credits of the film Drive, and became a major hit soon after.[8]
In December 2012 he released "ProtoVision" and on 25 February 2013 released the studio album OutRun.[10][11] After a brief hiatus lasting for 9 months, Kavinsky reappeared with the single "Sovereign", released in November 2014; and has since as of 2016 released no new singles to date.
Character history
Kavinsky is a character made by Vincent Belorgey that has a striking resemblance to Vincent himself but the backstory does not follow anything in Belorgey's history. Kavinsky's story is that after crashing his Testarossa in 1986, he reappeared as a zombie in 2006 to make his own electronic music.[6] Kavinsky's songs help tell his story; Vincent claims in an interview, "'Night Call' is just about the zombie guy [who] goes to his girlfriend's house and says okay I'm not the same, we need to talk", referring to Kavinsky going back to find his girlfriend after the crash who has already moved on with her life.[7]
Equipment
In interview, Kavinsky stated that the entirety of Teddy Boy was written and recorded on a Yamaha DX7, which was famous and notable for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.[12] Kavinsky originally started making music on an old Apple computer given to him by his friend Mr. Oizo.[7]
Discography
Studio albums
Year | Album and details | Peak positions | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
FRA [13] |
BEL (Fl) [14] |
BEL (Wa) [15] |
SWI | ||
2013 | OutRun
|
2 | 37 | 28 | 38 |
Extended plays
Year | Title | Release date | Label |
---|---|---|---|
2006 | Teddy Boy | January 16, 2006 | Record Makers |
2007 | 1986 | February 20, 2007 | |
2008 | Blazer | July 1, 2008 | Fool's Gold Records |
2010 | Nightcall | March 26, 2010 | Record Makers |
2011 | Nightcall (Anniversary Edition) | November 11, 2011 | |
2013 | ProtoVision | February 11, 2013 | |
Odd Look | February 22, 2013 |
Singles
Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FRA [13] |
BEL (Fl) [14] |
BEL (Wa) [15] |
SWI | |||
2010 | "Nightcall" (featuring Lovefoxxx) | 10 | 28 | 16 | — | OutRun |
2012 | "Roadgame" | 12 | — | —* | 74 | |
"ProtoVision" | 52 | — | — | — | ||
2013 | "Odd Look" (featuring SebastiAn) | 46 | — | — | — | |
"Blizzard" | 167 | — | — | — | ||
"Odd Look" (featuring The Weeknd) | — | 18 | 10 | — | Odd Look and Kiss Land |
! scope="row"|"sovereign" * Did not appear in the official Belgian Wallonia Ultratop 50 chart, but peaked at number 32 on the Ultratip chart.
Remixes
Year | Artist | Title |
---|---|---|
2007 | Klaxons | "Gravity's Rainbow" |
M.I.A. | "Roder" (A-Trak Re-work) | |
2008 | Sébastien Tellier | "Roche" |
2011 | SebastiAn | "Embody" |
Music videos
Year | Title | Director | Release date | Label |
---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | "Testarossa Autodrive" | Jonas & François | June 23, 2006 | Record Makers |
2009 | "Dead Cruiser" | — | February, 2009 | |
2012 | "ProtoVision"[16] | Marcus Herring | December 12, 2012 | |
2013 | "Odd Look" | August 6, 2013 |
Soundtracks
Year | Title | Director | Song |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | The Lincoln Lawyer | Brad Furman | "Nightcall" |
2011 | Drive | Nicolas Winding Refn | "Nightcall" |
Video games
Year | Title | Platform | Song |
---|---|---|---|
2007 | Gran Turismo 5 Prologue | PlayStation 3 | "Testarossa Autodrive (SebastiAn Remix)" |
2008 | Grand Theft Auto IV | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows | "Testarossa Autodrive (SebastiAn Remix)" |
2013 | Kavinsky | Downloadable app, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows | OutRun album |
2013 | Gangstar Vegas | Downloadable app | Nightcall |
Filmography
Year | Title | Director | Role |
---|---|---|---|
2001 | Nonfilm | Quentin Dupieux | Pattt |
2003 | Aaltra | Gustave Kervern and Benoît Delépine | Agent SNCF |
2004 | Atomik Circus, le retour de James Bataille | Didier Poiraud and Thierry Poiraud | Boon / Ricardo Bello-Radio Skotlett |
2005 | Ultranova | Bouli Lanners | Verbrugghe |
2007 | Steak | Quentin Dupieux | Dan |
References
- ^ As credited in the film Drive.
- ^ http://www.camdennewjournal.com/reviews/music/2010/aug/rock-and-pop-interview-french-house-dj-kavinsky
- ^ http://www.droid-life.com/2013/07/08/kavinsky-game-lands-on-google-play-french-house-music-and-ferraris-forever/
- ^ "Portishead's Geoff Barrow to release 'Drive' soundtrack on vinyl | News". Nme.Com. 2012-03-02. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
- ^ a b "Kavinsky on BIGSTEREO". This.bigstereo.net. 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
- ^ a b Rhoads, Celeste. "Kavinsky - Music Biography, Credits and Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
- ^ a b c d Belorgey, V. (2011, October 5). Kavinsky (Interview by A. Mendoza & R. Oh) [Blog post]. Retrieved from BIGSTEREO website: http://this.bigstereo.net/2011/10/05/kavinsky/
- ^ "Kavinsky biography". Artistwiki.com. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
- ^ Staff. (2012, December 10). Kavinsky: "ProtoVision" (Steam/Official Video) [Editorial]. Retrieved December 14, 2012, from Prefixmag website: http://www.prefixmag.com/media/kavinsky/protovision-streamofficial-video/72418
- ^ "Timeline Photos". Facebook. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
- ^ "Kavinsky Interview". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
- ^ a b LesCharts.com: Kavinsky discography
- ^ a b Steffen Hung. "Kavinsky page". Ultratop.be/nl/. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
- ^ a b Steffen Hung. "Kavinsky page". Ultratop.be/fr/. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
- ^ "Kavinsky - Protovision". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-02-27.