Names: Jean-Yves Prieur aka Kid Loco, Guillaume Metenier aka Soul Sugar
Nationality: French
Occupation: Producer, songwriter (Kid Loco), organist, keyboard player, producer, arranger (Guillaume Metenier)
Current release: Kid Loco and Soul Sugar team up for Kraft Dub Werk, their collection of spaced-out versions of selected Kraftwerk compositions. The album is out now via Echobeach. About the song choices, they remember: "We first chose some tracks we wanted to covered and then Nicolai @ Echo Beach gave us some ideas. It’s a team effort. The idea wasn’t to do a complete Kraftwerk’s catalogue rework, so the first choices were the deepest."

If you enjoyed this Kid Loco and Soul Sugar interview and would like to stay up to date with their music, visit Kid Loco on Instagram and Soul Sugar on Facebook.

For a deeper dive, read our earlier Kid Loco interview.



Jean-Yves, what do you remember about why "Radio Activity" hit you so hard at the time?

Jean-Yves: I guess it sounded so different from what we used to listen to at this time.

Remember, I was 11 years old and the radio was just playing music with French lyrics. This was Sci-Fi in the Charts. Just amazing.

You mentioned you recorded your own cover version of “Radio Activity” at the time What did it actually sound like?  

Jean-Yves: It was a friend on bongos and me doing the dot dash with an Action Joe radio. We recorded it using a speaker as a microphone.

Do you still have that tape?

Jean-Yves: I don’t have the tape anymore but I remember playing it many times. It has an amazing feel - like something you just do once.

Guillaume, what was your personal history with Kraftwerk like?

Guillaume Metenier: I never really listened to Kraftwerk closely at the time it was released. I was mainly listening to reggae and soul music.

I was seeing Kraftwerk as something like new wave. And as a teenager I was too busy discovering reggae and soul to care about anything else.

Kraftwerk has been covered many, many times. Which Kraftwerk cover versions do you particularly appreciate?

Jean-Yves: I just remember The Members covering "The Model" in a reggae style.



There are so many different ways to cover a track. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I don’t think there’s a magic piece of advice.

Guillaume Metenier: I quite like Senor Coconut Y Su Conjunto's Kraftwerk covers because of the contrast they bring. It’s a real trip.



I also like the cover of "The model" by Prince Fatty, Horseman and Shniece, an excellent rendition in a classic reggae style.



"Radioactivity" by Taggy Matcher is also a cool Kraftwerk cover … that’s what comes to my mind now - but I know there are many more.



Are Kraftwerk a hard band to dub?

Jean-Yves: Gee is a master at it.

So Guillaume, what are the specific challenges for a Kraftwerk cover version in a dub arrangement?

Guillaume Metenier: In order to be able to provide  dub mixes for the Kraftwerk covers, we had to come up with a solid rhythm section with a fat drum and bass. Since that is not really the case on the original versions we had to find the right angle to add some heaviness and low frequencies to our re-interpretations …

Jean-Yves: … how we achieved that bass sound is a magic and secret trick, however …

Guillaume Metenier: … true, we can’t let you know more about that! Then, when you have the right ingredients, cooking a dub mix is not that hard if it’s your thing: You just play wisely with effects like delay, echo …

Jean-Yves: … and maybe a little bit of smoke ...

Guillaume Metenier: … Right! The mixing board becomes an instrument you use to create a different arrangement to the song, it has to be musically well structured, adventurous and tight at the same time. It’s not just a “jam.”

What do you still remember most about the recording- and dub sessions?

Jean-Yves: How easy it was having a go on the tracks. We started by each of us working on 4 tracks, sent them to the other one and had a final meeting in the studio. Easy, easy going, which is always a pleasure.

Guillaume Metenier: And the reason it was quite easy to achieve is that Jean-Yves and myself are a complementary team used to working together and the original songs were very inspiring … there were many possible options to make it work.

Kraftwerk were all about futurism. Yet today, they are approaching their catalogue almost as if it were classical music … On a line between Futuremani and Retromania, where would you place them?

Jean-Yves: Yes loads of musicians into electronic music - which was futuristic some time ago - really dig classical music.

Don’t know why - maybe it’s a way to connect with "real" music. For years new movements in music have been catalogued as "not real" music. Fuck the critics.

Guillaume Metenier: I find that they sounded futurist at the time of their first big hits since they were quite ahead of everyone else in terms of using electronic instruments.

Now, to me, they sound like something specifically German.

What did your studio set up for this project look like and what were important tools and instruments?

Guillaume Metenier: The studio set up was an hybrid of old and new technology. We used a bunch of virtual synths and drum machines, as well as real Hammond organ, original Mini Moog model D and a few other synths.

After immersing yourself in Kraftwerk for so long, what do you think the reason for their ongoing magic is – the songs, the sounds, the mood, the ideas? What did you discover about them that you may not have realised about the band before?

Jean-Yves: I guess what I discovered is that it wasn’t just electronic music - but simply good music.

Guillaume Metenier: I think the reason for their ongoing magic is their uniqueness and originality. Their music doesn’t sound like anything else I know … cold but cool!