Recently I had the great pleasure of connecting with Hélène de Thoury of Hante., Minuit Machine and Synth Religion. I am a huge fan of her work and she was gracious enough to answer a few questions.
GM: Tell me a bit about your production background. Are you formally trained or did you teach yourself?
H: I learned how to compose songs all by myself on Cubase when I was younger and especially when I was part of the London band Phosphor in 2012/2013 (they were working on Ableton though). But when I moved back to Paris and created Minuit Machine, I started to work on Logic Pro. I thought it was so much easier and intuitive, I’m still in love with this software and still composing on it. From our first EP « Blue Moon » till now, I’ve been mixing on it and improving slowly release after release. I took some courses in 2016, one week on mixing and one week on mastering. I learned a few more stuff but most importantly it showed me I was doing the right things, which you can never entirely be sure when you are doing it all by yourself!
GM: You have a beautifully unique sound and an incredibly rare talent. While there is a progression of sound between records, you have stayed amazingly consistent from album to album. The moment you hear a Hante. or Minuit Machine track, you know who it is within a matter of seconds. How do you stay so consistent across records? Do you have a secret sauce?
H: First of all, thanks so much for the kind words! To be honest, I don’t have an answer to this question. Like lots of musicians, for each record I feel like I’m doing something a bit different and that the sound is evolving; I never know if the fans are still gonna love it or think it’s too different. And then, you release your album and people are like « it’s so Hante. » or « it’s so Minuit Machine » haha. Maybe my music and the way I’m producing it is such an extension of my being, my feelings that I just can’t help it.
GM: Nerding out on gear for a minute, what DAW do you use?
H: As I said before, I have a particular relationship with Logic Pro X lol. I just love it! But I know lots of projects from the scene are working on Ableton and sometimes I feel like I am missing something, that’s why I just started to work on it. It’s hard to learn a new way of doing things but I think that if I want to improve the electronic and techno sounds in my projects, I need to focus a bit more on Ableton. At least for the composition/mixing parts. I had the occasion recently to compare a mix done with Logic and then, with Ableton and I have to admit, for the kind of music I’m doing, there’s something in Ableton that helps you create a very powerful sound.
GM: What are your three favorite pieces of equipment?
H: My Korg Monologue and Minilogue synths, my keylab essential 49 to compose easily, my DT 770 Pro headphones from Beyer Dynamics, I love its warm sound. I live in a small apartment in Paris and with my neighbors we hear each other pretty well so I’m used to working with headphones most of the time.
GM: The most important question: what is your favorite reverb and what are your settings?
H: For a while I was using the reverbs on Logic, the « Silververb » and « Space designer ». Then I tried to find other plugins, I tried « ValhallaVintageVerb » which is pretty good but the one that was a real game changer for me was « Replika XT » from Native Instruments. There are some reverbs on it but the delays and FX are really amazing and transform the sound. But I’m still using the Logic reverbs a lot.
GM: Any other go-to or “can’t live without” plug-ins or effects?
H: For mastering, I’m using Ozone 9 and this plugin is such a dream! All the tools are really good.
GM: How do you set the tone for your recording and mixing sessions? Any rituals? Or is it “come as you are”?
H: I have no particular rituals but I usually try to focus on my feelings, emotions. I’m a pretty sensitive person and it usually helps a lot to set the tone and know where I want to go. As you can hear, it’s almost never very cheerful lol
GM: I know that this could go on for days, but in a paragraph or two, tell me the most memorable experiences you have had producing for Hante. and Minuit Machine.
H: I have lots of amazing memories while producing. And it often involves tears. When everything comes together perfectly, when I can feel the song like it was almost painful to hear, I know I did something well. I love when it happens! I remember composing « Living in a French Movie » for my solo project Hante. I did it in an afternoon, working in my bed. It was my birthday and it came so quickly. And I was listening to it again and again, crying, a mix between pain and relief that I was able to compose something that still moves me. Also, this song is part of an EP I wrote right after the attacks in Paris in 2015 and this is still very emotional for me to listen to those songs.
GM: Also, tell me more about Synth Religion. When did you found the label?
H: I started the label when I released « This Fog That Never Ends », the 2nd LP of my project Hante. I thought it was the right time to do it because of all the contacts I gathered from touring and promoting the previous works from Minuit Machine and Hante.
GM: What inspired it?
H: It’s pretty comfortable to have a label that works for you but at the same time, for me it was pretty frustrating to not be in charge of how your work is gonna be presented, how it’s going to be put out there. It’s also pretty satisfying to be able to release something you entirely created. And also, I’m not gonna lie, it’s obviously more interesting financially. And since I don’t have another job besides music, it was pretty essential for me. It’s a lot of work but it’s worth it! Also, I think I’ve been pretty lucky on how devoted my audience has been during all those years and I wanted to help other projects in introducing their music to this audience.
GM: Do you do any mixing/mastering/production work for any of the other artists on the label?
H: I was doing some mixing work for Box and the Twins a few years ago but unfortunately I don’t have the time for it anymore. But I still do the mastering for all of the projects! It takes less time and I LOVE it! This is for me the moment where the track takes all its dimension and potential.
GM: How do you choose your artists?
H: Obviously I need to love the music! And also I really like to work with friends or people I already met and know they are trusty and nice people. I would like to create a collective where all the members are helping and supporting each other.
GM: Any parting words or anything you want to promote?
H: I released a new Minuit Machine EP on October 16: « Don’t Run From The Fire » which is one of my proudest works so far! I’m also working on a new Hante.’s album at the moment and I’m super excited about the direction it’s taking! There will be plenty of amazing news pretty soon for both projects! This year has been really tough for everybody but lots of positive stuff went out of it and I’m very hopeful about 2021 🙂
And thanks for this really nice interview, I don’t often get questions on the technical part of my music, even though I love geeking out!
GM: It was a joy, Hélène! Thank you for sharing!
Now, all you fine readers, go out and buy « Don’t Run From The Fire » and pick up a shirt while you are at it!
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