Kavinsky

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Kavinsky
Kavinsky in 2014
Kavinsky in 2014
Background information
Birth nameVincent Belorgey
Born (1975-07-31) July 31, 1975 (age 46)
Seine-Saint-Denis, France
Genres
Years active2005–present
Labels
Associated acts

Vincent Belorgey[2] (born July 31, 1975), known professionally as Kavinsky, is a French musician, producer, DJ and actor.[3][4] His production style is reminiscent of the electropop film soundtracks of the 1980s.[5] Kavinsky claimed that his music is inspired by thousands of movies he watched as a young boy and that he has cherry-picked the best parts from them, consolidating them into one concept.[6] Kavinsky has been compared to many similar French house artists including Daft Punk and Danger. He achieved greater mainstream recognition after his song "Nightcall" was featured in the 2011 film Drive. His debut studio album, OutRun, was released in 2013.

Biography[]

Kavinsky in 2007

After many years as an actor, Kavinsky's musical career started in 2005 after being inspired by his close friends Jackson Fourgeaud and Quentin Dupieux, the latter director also including Kavinsky's music in his film Steak. During this period Kavinsky produced his first single "Testarossa Autodrive" which was inspired by the Testarossa model of Ferrari (one of which Vincent drives in real life).[6] Kavinsky presented the single to Quentin, who in turn presented it to a record label he had access to because of his filming career, and Kavinsky signed with Record Makers.[7][8]

Subsequently, Kavinsky went on to release three EPs on the Record Makers label: Teddy Boy in 2006, 1986 a year later, and Nightcall with Lovefoxxx of CSS in 2010.[8] During this period, Kavinsky's fellow producer Surkin jokingly claimed in an interview that Kavinsky was his father.[citation needed] Kavinsky has since toured alongside Daft Punk, The Rapture, Justice, and SebastiAn in 2007.[9] He has also been remixed by SebastiAn and other notable electro artists.[10]

The SebastiAn remix of "Testarossa Autodrive" off the 1986 EP is featured in the video games Grand Theft Auto IV and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Kavinsky's single "Nightcall" was featured in the opening credits of the film Drive, and became a major hit soon after.[9]

In December 2012 he released "ProtoVision" and on 25 February 2013 released the studio album OutRun.[11][12]

Character history[]

Kavinsky is a character made by Vincent Belorgey that has a striking resemblance to Vincent himself but the backstory does not follow anything in Belorgey's history. Kavinsky's story is that after crashing his Testarossa in 1986, he reappeared as a zombie in 2006 to make his own electronic music.[7] Kavinsky's songs help tell his story; Vincent claims in an interview, "'Night Call' is just about the zombie guy [who] goes to his girlfriend's house and says okay I'm not the same, we need to talk", referring to Kavinsky going back to find his girlfriend after the crash who has already moved on with her life.[8]

Equipment[]

In interview, Kavinsky stated that the entirety of Teddy Boy was written and recorded on a Yamaha DX7, which was famous and notable for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.[13] Kavinsky originally started making music on an old Apple computer given to him by his friend Mr. Oizo.[8]

Discography[]

Studio albums[]

Title Album details Peak positions
FRA
[14] 		BEL
(Fl)
[15] 		BEL
(Wa)
[16] 		SWI
OutRun 2 37 28 38

Extended plays[]

Year Title Release date Label
2006 Teddy Boy January 16, 2006 Record Makers
2007 1986 February 20, 2007
2008 Blazer July 1, 2008 Fool's Gold Records
2010 Nightcall March 26, 2010 Record Makers
2011 Nightcall (Anniversary Edition) November 11, 2011
2013 ProtoVision February 11, 2013
Odd Look February 22, 2013

Singles[]

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
FRA
[14] 		BEL
(Fl)
[15] 		BEL
(Wa)
[16] 		SWI
"Nightcall"
(featuring Lovefoxxx) 		2010 10 28 16 — OutRun
"Roadgame" 2012 12 — —* 74
"ProtoVision" 52 — — —
"Odd Look"
(featuring SebastiAn) 		2013 46 — — —
"Blizzard" 167 — — —
"Odd Look"
(featuring The Weeknd) 		— 18 10 — Odd Look and Kiss Land

* Did not appear in the official Belgian Wallonia Ultratop 50 chart, but peaked at number 32 on the Ultratip chart.

Remixes[]

Year Artist Title
2007 Klaxons "Gravity's Rainbow"
M.I.A. "Roder" (A-Trak Re-work)
2008 Sébastien Tellier "Roche"
2011 SebastiAn "Embody"

Music videos[]

Year Title Director Release date Label
2006 "Testarossa Autodrive" Jonas & François June 23, 2006 Record Makers
2009 "Dead Cruiser" — February, 2009
2012 "ProtoVision"[17] Marcus Herring December 12, 2012
2013 "Odd Look" August 6, 2013

Soundtracks[]

Year Title Director Song
2011 The Lincoln Lawyer Brad Furman "Nightcall"
2011 Drive Nicolas Winding Refn "Nightcall"

Video games[]

Year Title Platform Song
2007 Gran Turismo 5 Prologue PlayStation 3 "Testarossa Autodrive (SebastiAn Remix)"
2008 Grand Theft Auto IV PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows "Testarossa Autodrive (SebastiAn Remix)"
2008 Midnight Club: Los Angeles PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable "Wayfarer"
2013 Kavinsky Downloadable app, Mac OS, Microsoft Windows OutRun album
2013 Gangstar Vegas Downloadable app Nightcall

Filmography[]

Year Title Director Role
2001 Nonfilm Quentin Dupieux Pattt
2003 Aaltra Gustave Kervern and Benoît Delépine Agent SNCF
2004 Atomik Circus, le retour de James Bataille Didier Poiraud and Thierry Poiraud Boon / Ricardo Bello-Radio Skotlett
2005 Ultranova Bouli Lanners Verbrugghe
2007 Steak Quentin Dupieux Dan

References[]

  1. ^ Christopher Higgins (2014-07-29). "The 7 Most Essential Synthwave Artists". Nerdglow.com. Retrieved 2015-05-18.
  2. ^ As credited in the film Drive.
  3. ^ http://www.camdennewjournal.com/reviews/music/2010/aug/rock-and-pop-interview-french-house-dj-kavinsky[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ http://www.droid-life.com/2013/07/08/kavinsky-game-lands-on-google-play-french-house-music-and-ferraris-forever/
  5. ^ "Portishead's Geoff Barrow to release 'Drive' soundtrack on vinyl | News". Nme.Com. 2012-03-02. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b "Kavinsky on BIGSTEREO". This.bigstereo.net. 2011-10-05. Archived from the original on 2013-01-28. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Rhoads, Celeste. "Kavinsky - Music Biography, Credits and Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Belorgey, V. (2011, October 5). Kavinsky (Interview by A. Mendoza & R. Oh) [Blog post]. Retrieved from BIGSTEREO website: "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-01-28. Retrieved 2013-08-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b Linkedin, & Slideshare. (2012, January 28). Kavinsky [Speech transcript]. Retrieved December 12, 2012, from Slideshare website: http://www.slideshare.net/Skywalker2011/kavinsky-11785946
  10. ^ "Kavinsky biography". Artistwiki.com. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
  11. ^ Staff. (2012, December 10). Kavinsky: "ProtoVision" (Steam/Official Video) [Editorial]. Retrieved December 14, 2012, from Prefixmag website: http://www.prefixmag.com/media/kavinsky/protovision-streamofficial-video/72418
  12. ^ "Timeline Photos". Facebook. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
  13. ^ "Kavinsky Interview". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
  14. ^ Jump up to: a b LesCharts.com: Kavinsky discography
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b Steffen Hung. "Kavinsky page". Ultratop.be/nl/. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b Steffen Hung. "Kavinsky page". Ultratop.be/fr/. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  17. ^ "Kavinsky - Protovision". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-02-27.

External links[]

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