He delivers a 3 CD mix that spans the musical flavours from the deepest house to the quirkiest electronic to full-on techno and back again. It gives a mere taster of the scope of the man’s musical knowledge, going some way to explain how he’s managed to hold diverse crowds over decades be it during spots at Paradise Garage and Studio 54 in the 70s, his own monumentally popular Body&SOUL parties on Sunday afternoons in New York in the 90s or alongside Derrick May (in his Cosmic Twins guise) blasting out the techno here at Ministry of Sound.

The mix is a Masterpiece in more than just name, so we just had to speak to Francois himself about how it came about, his illustrious history and thoughts on the future...

Tell us the story of how the Masterpiece project came about?

Francois: “During the Summer of 2006, Ministry of Sound A&R Matt Stuart approached me with the concept, which I was obviously thrilled with. We had a brainstorm meeting to put the details together during my passing through London in October of that same year. My only reservation was that I be allowed to put it together in a way that I felt would not detract from the name! So this did take time to do it properly, as you can see! But now it’s finally done.”

With so many mixes around these days, it’s difficult to stand out from the crowd, so how did you approach creating such a striking 3 CD compilation?

“It was actually a pretty easy thing, in the sense that when doing such a project, I usually try to showcase the best of what I have been doing all year long at clubs and parties. So the inspiration is already there, it just becomes more a matter of presenting these songs that have become perennial favourites of mine in such a way that it stays fresh and exciting.
From the onset, there was a decision made that each CD was going to have its own individual identity, and once this was set, it kind of all flowed easily from there to a final product. But there is no question that when picking certain selections, it felt much more important to me that they have a certain ‘timeless’ quality about them, rather than be some hot unreleased thing that no one would care about six months down the road. In my mind this had to be something that I could put on five or ten years from now and it still sound coherent and exciting.”

What do you think the listener will learn about you from the music on this mix album?

“ Hopefully the album will manage to communicate the passion I have for the songs I put in there, some of which (like the Pete Shelley track, for example) I know will be my favourites for a very long time to come. And surely, some of those listeners will realize that there is a connection between a lot of this music, new or old. That connection is what also keeps me going, the beautiful spirit that those who made these songs have put in crafting them, and the album as a whole is kind of an aesthetic statement on what I like. I am quietly confident that this will show through.”

You’ve managed to stay at the forefront of the scene while DJs, music genres and club trends have come and gone. What’s the secret?

“I am not sure on how to answer this, but I guess it’s about staying in sync with what dancers in the clubs want to hear, as well as taking the time to check out all of the new things that are going on. Obviously, hearing fresh new music has always been a very exciting and motivating thing, but maybe in my case I haven’t been afraid to then try some of it out? Altogether, it really hasn’t been part of a ‘plan’ or anything, but just always been about how I felt about certain new sounds, and the necessity to incorporate them into what I was doing.”

How are you enjoying this stage in your career compared to other highlights?

“ It’s been one long, incredible string of highlights, one after the other. I guess with some of the technology available, travelling has become quite a lot easier. But at the moment, it’s obviously quite thrilling to play for people who are willing to listen to what I have to present to them. Many times they seem surprised by their own reaction to music I play, and that part is really fun and touching. It has obviously been immensely gratifying to still be asked to play all over the world today, and I am enjoying every bit of it.”

How is DJing in New York at the moment?

“Fine, I’m doing my Monday night residency Deep Space at Cielo every week, and having a blast as always! As far as other DJs, I can’t really say that much, but with NYC having become a city of millionaires, the character and funkiness that used to be everywhere has become much harder to find, as a lot of the bigger clubs only cater to this boring ‘bottle service’ crowd. But the smaller venues are doing just fine, being selective and picky with the talent they feature.”

What’s exciting you at the moment about dance music?

“The ability to take software programs like Ableton Live and use those to do some mad recombining and heavy-duty mashing-up live in front of an audience, in an improvised kind of manner. Done the right way, this is that can really change the game!”

You’ve clearly seen technology change dramatically over the year’s you’ve been DJing and producing. What are the benefits and the downsides of all these new tools?

“The benefits are that everyone has now access to this technology, it’s cheap and ubiquitous , so it gives many opportunities to unknown talent to break through. The downside is that since everyone has access to it, it has helped create a mountain of average crap which is very difficult to sift through to find very few gems. Some people feel that the technology will help or cure their lacks of skills, and they are headed for big disappointments. It takes a long time to absorb and distil all of this knowledge, and many people who don’t have the patience wonder why it’s not working out for them... It just makes the filtering work all that much harder, to get to the good choons.”

Interview: Tom Kihl