The 17 Year-Old Rising French Phenom – Madeon

Talk about Talent Rising, how about this 17-year old French native electro-pop artist and producer know as Madeon! Hugo Pierre Leclercq (born May 30, 1994), has been quickly climbing up the ranks and gaining lots of attention in the music scene with his new mash-ups and remixes. His uniquely identifiable sound can be simplified as infectious, happy and definitely French. He has been touring the US, playing at Ultra Music Festival most recently and scheduled to play day 1 at Coachella (both weekends) coming up this month.

Leclercq started composing music at the age of 11, and adopted a nu-disco style under the name “Madeon” in 2010. In the fall of that year, he gained popularity for his award-winning remix of “The Island” by Pendulum.  Last year, he created a remix of Yelle‘s “Que veux-tu”and then went on to remix Deadmau5 “Raise Your Weapon.” In the summer of 2011, a YouTube video of his live mash-up “Pop Culture” went viral, which combines 39 pop hits into one song (it currently has over ten million hits!). It’s safe to say this kid’s future is very bright!

In a recent interview with Rolling Tuff, Leclercq explains some of his current musical inspirations: “I think I had three main influences as far as the music I produce today. The first would be Daft Punk, which would be my introduction to French music. Second would be The Beatles, for the way I structure songs. Instead of doing nine minute club mixes, doing like three-minute songs that are straight to the point; that works well. They are my favorite band, so even if it’s not enough of a straight influence, it’s still quite vital to the way I structure songs and work the melodies. Lastly would be Stuart Price. He’s a pop and electro producer from the UK. He did the Madonna album “Confessions on a Dance Floor.” He sort of demonstrated that he could do amazing pop music while still being elegant, well produced, and refined. Those would be the three main influences.”

When asked what it’s like playing here in the US, Leclercq had this to say, “The thing is – playing in America, I sort of felt the freedom to play other tracks that I love too. In France, it’s still quite new and people are a bit secular about what they like. It’s very split into genres and categories; but, in the US everyone is very open to every genre so I can play whatever I like. It’s a lot of fun. America just really opened up to electro in such a huge way. It’s leading the mainstream electronic scene away from Europe and that’s super exciting.”

So, what’s next for this rising prodigy you ask? Leclercq explains, “I’m just finishing up a selection of tracks, which I’m going to release as singles, but quite close to each other. It’s quite nice because there are some tracks that sort of reflect work I’ve been doing recently with remixes, but in a more free single original track way. Some really new stuff that is unusual, like the last song I played, which is one of those tracks with a slower tempo and then drum and bass, which is very different from what I’ve been doing; so, it’s quite fun. It’s a way to sort of encapsulate what I’ve been studying and trying to achieve, and at the same time open up my sounds to new directions. After that I’m super excited to do more tracks and ultimately there are so many things I want to express right now. I’m excited to go back into the studio to do tracks.”

Madeon definitely has his stuff together, and his eye on the prize; it will be very interesting to see where he will be five years from now. It’s really incredible what this new generation of music producers are starting to create, and at such a young age! They must have kicked ass during “computer lab” in grade school.

Have you seen Madeon live? And what are some favorite rising artists that you are watching right now?

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