Julien Chaptal is one of the key players of the blossoming Amsterdam music scene: a multitalented dj, producer and live-act with a string of quality club hits to his name on labels like 2020Vision, Intacto, Remote Area, Suara, Wedig and Moodmusic .
One of his biggest releases so far was the stunning ‘Mamdaye’, a funky house track with an irresistible hook line, which became a big clubhit in the summer of 2009. Other highlights in Chaptal’s recent work include ‘Garden Secrets’ (Intacto) and Apple Woodoo (2020Vision) as well as remixes for artists like Jimmy Sommervile, Slam and Underworld. Also worth to mention are the Prince-bootlegs Chaptal released in 2012 under the Chapsy-alias for the Foot N Mouth-label, which were played by all the big names, from Villalobos and Monika Kruse to Seth Troxler and Heidi.
Originally from Paris, France, Julien Chaptal moved to Amsterdam some ten years ago and started to produce groovy French house- and disco-tinged tracks that eventually led to a first release on the young Amsterdam imprint Remote Area in 2007, around the time the label propelled a whole generation of Amsterdam producers to fame. With several of them (Kabale Und Liebe, Lauhaus, Boris Werner, David Labeij, Quazar) Chaptal formed the electronic live-band Amsterdam 661, which never released a record but only performs live on special events and festivals.
Performing live always has been one of Chaptal’s main strengths, from the time he started out some eight years ago with his first group Le Clic to the recently formed live-duo with producer David Labeij, MFD. (MFD is also the name of the brand new vinyl-only label the duo have started). As a solo live-act he’s made quite a name also. One of the most impressive live-gigs so far was his slamming live-set @ Fabric, London in early 2012.
Yet playing live (and traveling with a lot of equipment) is relatively rare in Chaptal’s busy tours chedule. Internationally renowned as one of the the best dj’s Amsterdam has to offer – with a funky and diverse style that ranges from deep house and house to tech house and even techno – he really has played all over the world, from San Francisco, USA to Seoul, South Korea and Cape Town, South Africa.
In the Dutch capital Amsterdam Julien has a dj-residency in one of the hotspots in the city: the famous Studio 80, where he is a regular on both the WKND Thursday nights as the Welcome to the Future-parties.
So what’s next for mr Chaptal? Although he already has his hands full producing tracks for several upcoming releases (on both underground- as mainstream houselabels) and already runs the MFD-label, there’s still more to come, like another label he’s setting up right now with another Dutch techno heavyweight, Quazar.
So that’s going to be a lot of fresh, new music coming up in the near future.
