Benoit & Sergio
Benoit & Sergio produce dance songs that sometimes seem like musical open letters; editorials narrated in the voices of unidentified, yet totally recognizable colorful characters, read aloud against a backdrop of beautifully lush, warm and sensuous electronic pop music.
The French/US duo met at an after party in Berlin, and it wasn’t long before their signature combination of rich synth work combined with pop influenced lyrical magic and impressive songwriting had been released on labels such as Spectral Sound, DFA, Visionquest, Hot Creations and Culprit.
Benoit & Sergio draw from influences mostly uncommon to the house and techno zeitgeist; bands like The Talking Heads, Pavement and Roxy Music are all sources, along with electronic acts ranging from Daft Punk to Ricardo Villalobos. All these influences resonate clearly in their music, together with a sexual melodrama that manifests in lyrics about loneliness, French girls, wine and Ferraris.
The past few years have brought a haul of critical accolades, including iTunes Breakthrough Electronic Artists of the Year (2011), Resident Advisor Top 10 Live acts (2011, 2012), Vibe Magazine's Top Duos (2013) and GQ Magazine's top American electronic acts (2014). Their ubiquitous remix of Hot Natured's 'Reverse Skydiving' received recognition as one of Billboard's top 50 game-changing tracks (2013), with a similar recognition for 'Your Darkness' by Pulse Radio (2014). Recently, they were nominated for the 'Best Indie Dance / Underground DJ' category at the 30th Annual Winter Music Conference (2015). Remix-wise, Benoit & Sergio have been invited to work on tracks from indie pop acts such as Matthew Dear, Metronomy and Friendly Fires.
As well as spending time in their Berlin and DC studios, the pair toured extensively throughout 2015: from Warung in Brazil, to Into The Valley in Sweden, Ultra in Buenos Aires and beyond. They joined the ranks of Matt Tolfrey’s Leftroom label with the infectious single ‘House With 500 Rooms’, before making their relationship to Soul Clap Records official with the well-rounded ‘Old Streets’ EP. 2016 will see the release of more songs - some dance music, some not at all.
