Welcome to the smoky, sultry, razor-sharp mind of one Titonton Duvante. Francophile, mathemetician, and world-travelling, mixer-destroying don of Residual Records, his musical history reaches back an easy 15 years into the early days of minimal techno, sears through mazes of drum and bass, and emerges out the other side of the wormhole smack in the middle of a cosmic intersection of techno, jazz, turntablism, and broken up, sliced down, fractured, splintered beats. He devours a pair of turntables and cd mixers. You have to see the lusty hunger to believe how fonkay this boy makes the science of mathematically perfect music--pure Midfuckingwest. Oh, and sex...there's a hella lotta sex.

Titonton Duvante, live @ Candela Bar, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Ok, so what the hell does techno have to do with drum and bass, what do minimalism and syncopation have to do with sex, and what does French have to do with Math? And how does this all come together in a place like Columbus, Ohio, in a guy who is half Ireland and half Ivory Coast? Man, I spent weeks trying to figure it out. Walk with me while we scratch the surface...

You originally studied composition and you went from being a producer to being a dj which is opposite of how most people do it. How did that come about, how do you feel about how that put you on the scene and the experience it gave you, and do you think it resulted in your work being different?
Not necessarily. It actually was kind of a hindering thing at first. When I started making tracks they were just...tracks, they were just songs, they were just compositions. I didn't really think about them in context of, how would this work in a dj set. That's different now, but back then it was like, there, I made a track. And I just really had no concept of, well, maybe I should let this part play for a little bit longer, blah blah blah, in a quote-unqote format.

Can you give me a brief history of Residual?
I ran it with my long-time friend Thomas. We both worked at record stores and we were frustrated because there were styles of music we were really into and it wasn't being released. And I had some tracks that were a little off the beaten path that people weren't really willing to put out so I was like, yo, let's start a label. After a lot of work and a lot of messing up and a lot of learning, we're only up to our 17th release and we started in '97, so 2.5 records a year is not really...

It's a testament to how much work it really is to do with everything else you have going on. So, speak of Residual like a proud mom.
It's a lot of work. It's definitely a labor of love. We don't really make a lot of money doing it. That's not what it's about. It's just about having a say as far as what is out there and available.

So you just got back from another trip to Europe. Where and how long?
Feb 25-March 7 Frankfurt, London, Glasgow, Prague...

How often do you play in Europe?
It is now like 4-6 times a year

Do you like it? The instinct is to be like *gush* how fun...but does it grate on you after a while or is it still a thrill?
Well... I have a *BIG* fear of flying. I have friends there and I like seeing new places, but often I just see airport, club, hotel.

What's the best reception you've gotten overseas, or one particularly memorable one?
Tokyo was WILD, June 8, 2002. Those mugs went buck-crazy! Yeah, that was great. There have been some other parties that have been crazy. I actually just played a party, there weren't too many people there, this was in Norway last weekend, and people were jumping up and down, screaming. I've played a lot of parties in Detroit that have had the same vibe. There have been quite a few. But the last few years, Liquid Room Tokyo, 2000 Black party.

I was talking to a friend of mine who has blown up in the past year or 2, totally rockstar, and it's making him completely neurotic. People are treating him very differently all of a sudden, and he keeps saying, "But we're all ants". I've seen the effects of fame and all that, and it's pretty freaky. You've been in the public eye for a long time now. Does it get easier? Do you have to lose your head for a while before you can come back to earth? Or does the ebb and flow of the industry knock your ego back in place?
Well, I never really have had an ego. There is always a better dj or producer than me. And there is always room for improvement.

Same line of questioning though...how did you prevent that? When everyone is in your face telling you you're the shit and wanting a piece of you, making you a commodity, how do you guard your humanity, and the ability to keep that perspective?
It is all so personal for me, both djing and producing. I am glad that people appreciate it ... but all of it is about expression. I mean, I lack social skills and I am very shy. But when I am making tunes or playing trax, I can speak through the music.

How do you deal with the attention and people? And do you remember what it was like when you first started to get recognition? What it felt like and how you reacted?
Well to be honest, I was very surprised. I was just kind of doing my thing and people like it? Strange to me.

Did you discover that your thing wasn't as strange as you thought it was, or that there are lots of people as strange as you?
More of the former....but the thing is that I really just wanted to be creative, have an outlet... if someone liked it... then cool.

What are your proudest accomplishments inside music?
Ooh, that's a rough question. There are so many things that have happened that are incredible. It's really difficult to say, "This is the pinnacle of my experiences." There have been some incredible experiences. I don't know what's the proudest or the best.

How about something early on in your career?
Even just having my first vinyl release. That was nuts, that was crazy. You know somebody called me and was like, hey, I have a record label and I want you to release some music. It was like, what the fuck, are you kidding me? Ok, yeah, here's some art. Ok, you heard my one tune and you liked it, here's some more. You want to put all of them out? Ok. You want to pay me for that? Ok. And then people are going to buy it and you're going to pay me later? Really? Ok, that sounds cool.

And then the way things have snowballed from that. People that I admire, whose work I admire, the same thing has happened. They've contacted me and they're like, hey, I want some of your stuff.

It still boggles your mind when people appreciate your work?
Yeah, it's crazy to me. Especially people whose work I admire, when they appreciate my stuff, that still blows my mind. Like, are you serious, you contacted ME? I'm in my house listening to your stuff going crazy, like oh my god!!! It still happens, I look back at some of the people I've been lucky enough to work with and I'm like, DAYUM, for real?

Examples are like, Dego--I mean dass my BOY! His stuff is...phew. This is way back in the day--he approached me a few times and was like, yo, can you make something for Deeper Shade of Techno? Ok! I'm starting a new label called 2000 Black, I want you to release something. Alright. Yeah, I've got this compilation coming up called The Good Good. Can you do something on that? *WHAT?* Ok! That's crazy to me. Or Jazzanova. There's this album coming out. You and your boy want a remix? Ok. Hey, we're putting together a compilation. Can we license one of your tracks? Who is this? Jazzanova? Yeah, it blows me away.

So the public eye never really got to you?
No, not at all. I mean, I get nervous every time before I play, but it is because I want to play well for myself. I want to feel like I am saying something.

How easily do you disappoint yourself?
Very. I usually feel like I only play a few good sets a year. I had to learn to just say "Thank you" when someone tells me they like my set, instead of an analysis of what "went wrong."

Can you listen back later more objectively? I mean, practically speaking, if you sucked, you wouldn't be where you are now.
True... but 1) there is always room for improvement 2) out in a club there is always potential for technical problems.

Are you usually happier with your production than your djing, because of the opportunity to perfect?
Well, I have more control. I usually will not send out a tune if I do not like it. But going back to my mantra...There is always room for improvement.

Right..."perfect" being a relative term. Is it safe to say you're a perfectionist?
With certain things, yes.

That being the case, how do you decide that something is "done"?
I have the ability to just let it go...I can feel when a track is *right* and is saying what I want it to say.

Do you go in with an agenda to say something concrete like "I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich today" or "George Bush is poison," or is it more abstract?
More abstract. Usually a feeling or a vibe, or just a way for me to deal with something that is going on in my personal life.

What's been your biggest success in that sense? What track has done the most to help you deal?
"Never Letting Go" ,"Enterlewd" or "The Exit" from "Selections for Intercourse", or "Afterglow" from "Voyeurism".

I'll give you the option of going into detail...but I understand that may be more personal and concrete than you want to go.
Yeah, some serious situations. Prefer not to.

No problem. And I like the idea of leaving it to the listener's imagination anyway. So, why all the sex references?
Well, I am very interested in human sexuality and the interaction between people because of it. Fetishism and what causes it. All of these things are fascinating.

Are you fetishy or are you more looking in from the outside?
There are some things that I am interested in that could be considered borderline fetish, but nothing too crazy and I do not obsess. It is more of a withdrawn observation, not intended to be crude or nasty for nasty's sake. Dont get me wrong...

Yeah, I definitely got that vibe, that this was more about curiosity than getting off. What have you observered? What patterns and what conclusions? And does it inform your sex life? Does your own music inform your sex life, or vice versa, or is it a feedback loop, or are they completely isolated?
Feedback loop for sure. I am always learning more about my sexual self and others.

Does music help you examine that in a way that straightforward thought does not?
No, it is just another means of examination. I mean I can be creatively inspired by watching someone hit on another person and trying to figure out the reasons why they responded the way they did. I mean, I wish I could read minds or ask the individual questions.

So in your music are you recreating that interaction as a work of fiction?
Is some instances, yes. Sexual tension is rather interesting, don't you think? I mean, a person is sexually attracted to another, and there are so many factors and layers as to what could happen. Is the attraction taboo?

And does the taboo knock the potential in that relationship off in a different direction like billiard balls...
Exactly...

How much taboo do you observe? I mean, in a sense, what is even taboo anymore? Are people inventing taboo for their own pleasure?
It is all relative but this goes back to fetishism, and of course that is happening. I mean, simply put, people are looking for different ways to receive and experience pleasure. Some take it to "extremes"... this once again all being relative.

Ok, a little bit of a tangent, but somewhat related. You're talking about describing an intimate interaction with sound, maybe just a touch on the elbow at a bar. Yet the music you chose to tell this story is synthesized.
Most of the time, yes.

But listening to "Fetish" for example, you use percussion sounds as melody. You use scratching as percussion. You take sounds and put them in a new context, like a new position.
Damn! You understand...

Are you examining and feeling out the potential for the juxtaposition of those sounds? Are you taking a synth and touching the back of its knee to see if it falls into pleasure?
Exactly... that is why I enjoy "electronic" music.

Expand...talk about how you do this.
It is all about exploration.

Why does electronic music lend itself to that exploration? The exploration you are embarked on?
You are not limited by the acoustics of a particular instrument. Nothing to replicate the sounds of a cello, for example.

So you have all the potential of a trillion electrons to work with, the ultimate playground. Do you prefer that because of the convenience, or because you are trying to describe something that doesn't exist until you describe it? Therefore existing tools would be inappropriate?
Not exactly. I like acoustic instruments. I am a sucker for strings and they can do the job for concrete sensuality for sure. But, given more abstract ideas, more abstract sounds feel appropriate. But not just noises for noise' sake.

How much do you go in wanting a particular sound or noise, and how much of it is random discovery and serendipity? How much do you leave open to chance I guess?
I would say in the beginning of writing a tune, there is much more exploration. Then once things start coming together, there are more specific desired outcomes. This also mimics the whole sexual attraction and interaction deal.

Ha!!!!! Yes!!!! Heh, you rub up on your instruments sometimes, don't you? =) I want to talk about percussion. For one, we talked about how you use it for melody, how you use scratching as percussion. Yet you have an unwavering love for styles that are minimal and 4 to the floor, as well as broken. Tell me about your relationship with percussion.
Okay...Let's look at rhythm. Minimal percussion is good, as well as complex. Relative to good straightforward sex and freaky nasty kinky times. There is a time and a place for each. Minimal beats can be hypnotic. In their starkness the changes actually have more emphasis.

You don't have a perference? In either music or sex?
No preference in either. It all depends on the moment.

Do you find yourself in a state of coitus interruptus when you're booked to play one thing but you're really in the mood for something else?
That has happened before, but I really try to take bookings where I can play whatever I want to. I mean, if I play at a techno "venue", I am going to play mostly techno but there is going to be some house and some broken in there.

Cuz you gotta get your freak on just a little bit. =) Do you find that people come to your shows expecting the unexpected?
Sometimes yes. Like, I wonder what he is going to play tonight. I mean, there are so many good trax, I have to play some of those. Someone at a Detroit techno night may really like a Seiji track if they are exposed to it.

Yes, absolutely!!! And I think of someone like Matt Bandy who mixes house and techno with utter perfection. No one knows they are getting their techno vitamins with their house cheesecake. Or they know, but it is just so damn funky.
The lines are getting very fuzzy... and this is a good thing.

Indeed it is. Overwhelming, but healthy.
Yes.

And I don't even have to pose this as a question, I can state it as fact: you are one of the people actively blurring those lines and I appreciate it.
Thank you... and it is all related to me.

I mean, intellectually I appreciate it and have ever since those days in 97 and 98 when techno was informing dnb...I didn't understand it at the time because I didn't know anything about techno, but you and Ed [Luna of ele.mental] were able to break it down and make me see that whole scene in a new light. People like you help push people like me out of our conventional wisdom and the world needs that desperately.
Well, this crossing of styles brings about new ideas.

Yes. Miscegenation. =) When straightforward and funky-kinky get down, their children are bizarre and wonderful.
Nicely put. I think this why I am so into what they call broken beat.

As you know, the first time I met you/heard you play, one of the things that struck me the most was this particular scratching routine you did. I know this is ancient history, but it has stuck with me so strongly. Talking to you now, I don't think I was reading more into it than what you were putting in. Talk about how you communicate with scratching.
Scratching...hmmm... I really just use it as another way to compose. The mixing of two tracks makes a third.

Some of your work seems so bombastic as to seethe with sarcasm. Am I misreading?
A little yes, a little no. Sometimes I do make fun of things through sound. The end of the "Fetish" track pokes fun at the everlasting end of a tune at a rock concert. The element of surprise is always nice though. I think it is funny when the end of tune goes on for 5 minutes. I mean, sometimes it works. Other times it is WAY over the top. And over the top can be some funny business, even if it was meant to be serious.

Yeah, prog rock. =) Which I like in a lot of cases, don't get me wrong.
Right...some wicked key solos in there, even if they lasted 15 minutes.

Heh =) How do your studies of composition and opera influence both your djing and producing?
Not very much at all. I learned the names of what I was trying to do and some of the people that formalized these ideas. I mean I would play a minor 7th chord even if I did not know what it is was called.

So it just gave you a technical framework?
Sure, and even that is thrown out the window most of the time.

Was that part of your education a waste of time?
Not really... but I do not really use it for making purely electronic music. It helps when I do work with string players, singers, etc.

For each of the following, give a color, number, or shape:

Techno
Blue

Broken beat
Yellow

Jazz
Orange

Hip hop
4

Debussy
Pink

Titonton
6

So, I have some questions about collaborations. How'd you hook up the Domu and Volcov on Residual?
Domu and Volcov was a happy accident. I was crazy about the tune "Nutsuki" when I first heard it. I charted it like a mf and played it out as much as I could. It was supposed to be on Good Good vol 2, but Dego had too many songs and Dom and Enrico both knew how much I liked it and asked if I wanted to put it out.

Who would you love to work with?
Long list of people I would like to work with...
Kaidi Tatham
Domu
Afronaught
Seiji
Mark Force
Arvo Part
Derrick Carter
Matthew Dear
Pepe Braddock
Somatik
Jeff Mills
Stereolab

Singers I would like to work with:
Bembe Segue
Vanessa Freeman
Ursula Rucker
Alicia Keys
Nicola Cramer
Rasiyah
Beth Gibbons
Bjork

What's been the most rewarding collaboration that you've done?
No collaboration really sticks out more than another. I like working with other people, getting a different angle. Normally I would do this next on a track but it gets taken in a different direction.

How do you approach a remix?
Well, if it's a vocal tune, first I take that isolated vocal track and I'll spit it up in a bunch of little pieces, pick out the best parts, then I'll see what kind of tempo I'm going to work with. If it's a vocal track, the vocal is important so you have to work around that, whether it be your chord structures around that, even your beat structures. But always focus on the vocal. Then it's usually the rhythm, the beats. The vocals and the beats. Then figure out the chord structure with the vocal, bassline, blah blah blah. It's straightforward. I like remixing, it's fun. I'd like to do them more.

How much of the original elements do you tend to use and how much do you add in, and how much do you manipulate it?
If it's a vocal tune, I'll use a good chunk of the vocal, and after that, not too much else. I totally rework that shit. Strip it down to nothing and build it back up. I don't use very much. If it's an instrumental tune, I try to keep the main melody, but not really too much else. Where it's recognizable but definitely my own.

What are your favorite sample and sound sources, and do you use found sound?
I don't really do like ....

You synthesize sound more than you find it?
Yeah, I don't sample a lot. It's fun to do, and I use samplers as instruments, but I haven't goetten that abstract about it like, I'm going to sample a piece of this movie or I'm going to sample the sound of a fork falling on the floor and manipulate it. I haven't done so much of that stuff. I wouldn't mind experimenting more but unfortunately my time is really limited in the studio, so I get to the meat of the subject and I don't experiment as much as I would like to.

Have you scored any films?
Yes. A short film called "Substance Turndown." It was a student film by Lisa Warren. It's the only film that I've scored. It was a long time ago...that was 1990. Back in the day! I would like to do more but I don't know if it's where I live, there are limitations or what. I've also collaborated with photographers, poets, choreographers. I like working with people from other media quite a bit.

What do you like about it? What do you find that you draw out?
How their work can influence your work and vice versa even though the mediums are different.

How do you feel about free music and mp3s?
Hmm, it's kind of out of control, out of hand. It's nice to share with your friends, but some people will kinda take advantage of that. I know personally, I'm very protective of my music and mp3s are cool, but if they're gonna be one of the main ways that people get music, the industry needs to be reformatted. If everybody gets their mp3s before the music comes out, you're not gonna make any money. Of course, it's not all about the money, but if that's what you do for a living, which right now, it's what I do for a living, I play records and I make music. So, that's part of my income.

Do you feel like the music industry has kind of brought this on itself out of customer dissatisfaction?
I mean, there's definitely some DIY. There can be some frustration with customers...they can't find what they want at a record store so yeah, they're going to look for it on an mp3 site, or there's some track they really, really like that hasn't been released yet and people don't have any idea when it's going to be released and someone happens to have it. So yeah, out of frustration, consumer frustration, some of it's come out of that for sure.

I'm almost tempted to say that on a broader level, the quality that's been coming out of the music industry has been such crap that people don't even feel guilty about grabbing music.
Well, it's definitely flooded and in some regard, actually, this is messed up to say, but with all the distribution companies that have gone bankrupt, I hope and think that it's a good thing because a lot of the crap needs to be cut out. That's really what is killing the music industry. When there are 200 pieces of vinyl that are being put out every week, that's too much. And when you come to expect that you'll only find...800 records a month and you'll only find 10...that ratio is bad. There definitely needs to be some higher quality control.

What's your proudest accomplishment outside music?
School, definitely. I'm rockin' that shit. I mean, I'm sure my GPA's about to fall, but I still have a 4-point. I'm proud.

What are you up to? How's school going?
I am double majoring in French and accounting and just started back last winter. Who knows what I am going to do with that? But I love math...don't really want to be a math teacher...so that just sounds practical.

What do you love and hate about Columbus?
Columbus is cool. It's a good place to not have too much shit going on. =) That's what I love and hate about Columbus. There's not really an "underground scene." But at the same time, it's a good and a bad thing. It's a good place to get an education. The cost of living is low. It's not super stressful. It's not full of traffic. There are haters there, but there are haters eveywhere, so that's not a thing to hate about Columbus because that would happen no matter where I lived. I guess I actually don't mind it so much. When I really break it down it's not that bad of a place. It's close to a lot of major musical cities. It's close to New York, Chicago and Detroit.

Are there other places you'd like to move or would consider moving?
There are a few other places I've tried to move and it never seems to pan out. So, I'm not going to say that I'm moving anywhere. There are lots of other places I'd like to move, but we'll see what happens. Berlin's nice, Barcelona's nice, south of France is nice, western Switzerland is nice, southern Belgium's nice, Denmark's nice, Sweden's nice, all sorts of places. Puerto Rico's nice...

Actually, speaking of Puerto Rico, this is your second time here. You played @ Candela, you played at the Gamma Soul party yesterday, you're recording today and tomorrow with Chucky (Rojas) for Amalgama, you're banging out at least one track, right?
It looks like, depending on how late we stay up tonight, two is possible. At least one, yeah.

What was it like the last time you came here? And briefly, quick sketch of your impressions of Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico's the shilzlizlurrr! Hot damn!!! Nah, like cool people, total tropical, Caribbean vibe, and the people that I know down here are like Mu-Sic-Heads, which is nice. I've played for some quote-unquote promoters who were just like, yeah, people like what you do, you're gonna make me some money, I'm going to give you some money, what do you play again? And it's definitely not the case here.

Yeah, the scene is so integrated here. The people who are producing are the people who are throwing the parties, are the people who are running the clubs, and everybody really has a very deep understanding of what they're doing.
That's the type of people I like to work with, I normally do work with. I'd rather play something small and vibey than 5000 people that don't understand what the fuck is going on. Pardon my French.

Ok hon, I could keep you here for hours, but you gotta get back in the studio. Thank you!