Valentino Canzani aka French Fries’ story begins in 1975, when his parents escaped from Uruguay, which had just come under dictatorial rule, and fled first to Argentina, then to Paris. Once in Paris, his father reconstructed a fully-equipped studio complete with drums and various percussion instruments, which enabled Valentino and his sister (Piu Piu) to familiarize themselves with rhythm and recording techniques at a very young age.
So began Valentino’s musical education, he exercised his talent as a drummer until the age of 14. Like a lot of city kids, he was a big fan of both basketball and American rap. It was at this time that Jonathan Chaoul (aka Ministre X and co-founder of ClekClekBoom) introduced him to house music and all its sub-genres: Baltimore, Ghetto Tech, the sound of Brazil’s favelas… It was also at this time that French Fries’ production work underwent a major change when he met Bambounou, who would become his new writing partner.
In 2010, French Fries released his first EP “Arma” on the young Parisian label Youngunz. This would inspire him to found his own label, ClekClekBoom, along with Adrien Creuse (aka Mr Boo) and Jonathan Chaoul. In 2011, Valentino further refined his approach to dance music with the EP “Champagne / Hugz”, a more pronounced reflection of his love of Chicago ghetto house and labels such as Dance Mania, infused with the influence from the UK bass scene and labels such as Nightslugs and Hessle Audio. In addition, the EP was the first release by ClekClekBoom Recordings.
The B-side contained the first collaboration between French Fries and his friend Bambounou on the track “Hugz”, the result of much time spent together by the two young producers in the studio, correcting and improving each other’s work. Valentino then started touring throughout Europe, including many dates in England, where his excellent Boiler Room set served to further augment his profile. It was during this set that Valentino first played “Yo Vogue”, which subsequently entered heavy rotation on Rinse FM. The stage was now set for French Fries to expand his new sound. Claude VonStroke quickly took notice and asked French Fries to compose tracks for his prestigious Dirtybird label.
French Fries began 2013 with the release of his “Everything” EP, which accentuated his arid, bare-bones production approach, whilst also retaining a warm club appeal. Next up was the first ever ClekClekBoom compilation, “PARIS CLUB MUSIC VOL 1”, which was released on cd and double vinyl and followed by a european tour with the entire label’s roster.
French Fries kicked off 2014 with the release of his first album, “Kepler”, the consummation of his varied influences and continuing musical evolution. In June 2014, French Fries delivered an almost industrial approach to current leftfield 4/4 dance music, when he blended his signature minimal bass sound with ambient arpeggios and stone cold funky staccato beats on the amazing “Shift” for Modeselektor’s new compilation. In July, ClekClekBoom decided to unleash their second compilation, “PARIS CLUB MUSIC 2” featuring a collection of some of the best tracks of the label and some exclusives including the strong cut “Got It” by French Fries. At only 22 years old, we certainly doubt this will be the last you hear from him.
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