Get to know: Popof

Marking the second Familia of 2019, Popof brings his Form imprint to the Middle Floor for a showcase with Julien Jeweil and Form affiliate Mladen Tomic on 16th February. A widely known artist on the French electronic circuit, Popof is considered one of the most respected artists to come from Paris. 

Releasing on a number of reputable labels from Turbo, Cocoon and many more, Popof is widely celebrated for work on his own outlet, Form Music, and is set to bring the vision of the label to life at the club next month. 

Ahead of the night, we caught up with Popof to talk about how the imprint first came about and which artists have made a strong impact on the label’s discography over the years… 

You’ve been running Form for quite some time now, would you say the sound of the label has changed since it launched in 2009? 

I wouldn’t say Form Music had a specific sound in the first place. Some of the early music I released on Form was minimal-oriented (“Serenity”, etc.) but there were always other, different-sounding artists. Some of the releases were closer to House music than techno. More recently we’ve had releases by UMEK, Apollo 84 or The Reaktivitz - the three of them are currently featured, with my track “Bowo”, on Form Music’s 2018 Reformers Vol.2 vinyl-only exclusive release. 

When you first launched the label, did you have a particular plan in mind or did you just intend to take each day as it comes and see what happens? 

I did launch Form Music with an objective in mind: to promote artistic open-mindedness, and electronic music, whatever its genres may be. And this has always been part of my label’s philosophy since. Our only requirement is that we like what we hear; it doesn’t matter if the artist is famous or not. We will never look at someone’s Instagram followers, or check out if what they’re playing is currently trendy if you know what I mean. 

What advice would you give to a young artist who’s interested in setting up a label? 

Think about this thoroughly! A label is not so simple to manage, you cannot do this by yourself! 

Which artists remain integral the label? 

The Form Family is very tight, and there’s a nucleus you’ll often see featured in our showcases: Julian Jeweil, with whom I’ve played B2B countless times, OXIA (funny story: he’s never released on Form Music yet! But it will happen at some point), Simina Grigoriu, Animal and Me, and in South America the super-talented combo from Colombia, JuanDDD and Celic. Belgian trailblazer Mandana, from Loco Dice’s Desolat crew, has recently been added to our lineups as well. She’s kinda our spoiled little sister. 

What about new talent, do you have your eye on a particular up and coming artist who you would like to release on the label? 

So many of them. The Reaktivitz, for a start, who’s really caught our attention last year with his “Seth” EP. Our Italian friend Stefano Kosa has also released some truly wicked music on Form, and we’ve worked together later on. Laurent Flaoh, Raw Main, Le Son du Placard, Cocun, Tomas Bessone, Karden were all featured on our Form Fall 2018 Sampler for a good reason. And actually, Form Music’s next release will be Karden’s EP, ‘Racing the Moon’ – out soon! 

What’s next for Form over the coming year? 

More Form Music releases and showcases! Also, for the past few years our collaboration with BPM festival Mexico, then Portugal, has proven super successful, especially last year – the venue was so packed the people who couldn’t get in started partying in the street – so we’re examining more collaboration opportunities with other big events. 

Leave us with a track that emulates what Form is sonically all about and tell us why? 

That’s a tough one. In my opinion, it would be super restrictive to pick one track only, since Form is all about diversity. I’d rather recommend listening to our Reformers vol.2 2018 compilation instead, to have a good idea of what was released recently. 

Get Tickets to Familia: Form Showcase with Julian Jeweil, Popof, Mladen Tomic