Small talk with Jacky Jeane & Israfil

memòri : What is your earliest memory of falling in love with electronic music??

Jacky Jeane: My first love for electronic music wasn’t even IRL; it was on YouTube. I lost count of the hours I spent marvelling at every new sound, which fuelled my curiosity.
Then it moved into the clubs, through contact with passionate people who introduced me to their world. I lived in Madrid for a year in 2016 and spent all my time at Café Berlin. That eventually led me to the intimate club La Kulture in Strasbourg, where I lived for three years. I worked behind the bar and got to listen to countless sets until we secured our first monthly residency with my initial collective (MAL.E.S).

Israfil: My first real love-at-first-sight moment with electronic music was seeing Vitalic at Club 88 (Aix-en-Provence) in 2005. When I looked up the date, I realized there was a video on YouTube, and it brought back a lot of memories. In my family and my neighborhood, nobody listened to electronic music. Some older guys had already taken us to more mainstream clubs, but this time it was a friend from high school, who had been introduced to electronic music by his older brother, who convinced me to come along. It was the first time I felt completely in sync with the music, the people, and the way everyone looked.

memòri : Do you remember the first time you heard each other play? What was your initial impression?

Jacky Jeane: The first time must have been when we played on the same line-up at Positive Education in 2023. It was quite an impressive event, so I probably thought, “big boss energy”. The same went for a Boundless party the following year; I found there was something authentic and organic about it, paired with a rave aesthetic.

Israfil: For me, it was at the Positive Education festival in 2023. I just thought, “this vibe is insane!”

memòri : What do you most respect or admire about each other as DJs / selectors?

Jacky Jeane: His unwavering dedication to supporting the underground electronic music scene.

Israfil: I’m really impressed by how subtly she moves from one style to another, while always keeping a very personal aesthetic and energy.

memòri : Where do your musical universes intersect? What common ground do you find in your styles?

Jacky Jeane: Our common ground would be hybridation or an eclecticism somewhere between dub, trip-hop, deep dubstep, bass music, and trip-hop.

Israfil: I realised we actually have a lot of musical common ground. We both connect with dub, roots, trance, trop-hop, rock, deep tek, and probably many other styles too.

memòri : If this B2B set were a track, which one would it be and why?

Jacky Jeane: Loefah – “Ruffage”, because it’s loud, heavy, slow and features weird vocals.

Israfil: Big Leg – “No Sound (ft. Nikita T)”. A subtle blend of dub rock and trance.

memòri : Israfil, after more than 10 years with Metaphore Collectif, how has the French DIY scene evolved, and what keeps it exciting for you?

Israfil : I think the scene has done an amazing job at becoming more professional, building structures that allow people to stay as independent and free as possible, without relying on major labels. It has also opened up to a wide range of styles, reinterpreting them and pushing them toward new, still unexplored directions. I’m really happy to still be evolving within a scene that keeps transforming

memòri : Jacky, Looking at the current state of electronic music, what excites you most about its future, particularly in the French scene?

I love the collective spirit that is emerging, the solidarity, the web radios, the move towards deceleration and calmer, hybrid formats. It’s a way to take care, so it’s a resistance against productivism and efficiency, also supporting the alternative and emerging scenes, and the sheer passion.

memòri : Could you each share a 'secret garden' track that you love but rarely get to play in club settings?

Jacky Jeane: “Weather Storm (Dub)” by Mad Professor x Massive Attack from the album Dubs (5th Tape). It’s absolutely beautiful, but it’s 21 minutes long and quite melancholic. Not easy to fit into a set.

Israfil: Fairmont – Gazebo

memòri : Your set will include elements of trip-hop and dub - which artists or releases in these genres have particularly influenced your musical journey?

Jacky Jeane: Artists like Mantra, Massive Attack, Sub Basics. But also, Froid Dub, Sun People, Tryphème and Officium, the group Dregs. There are also labels such as Bait, System Music, and Big Hands, plus the release “Planet D” by Ness. There is finally Elisethere and Maliman from Brussels, Seka Seka by Selecta Spirit in Montpellier and many more…

Israfil: I’ve been heavily influenced by Massive Attack. Back when I was working in a clothing store, the music I personally listened to was a bit too out there for the manager, and trip-hop became our common ground: something I liked, but that also wouldn’t put off customers.
I discovered dub later on in my musical journey. It was thanks to a friend who took me to a Caribbean festival where Eek-A-Mouse was performing. In dub, I found a kind of minimalism, especially through the use of effects, that really resonates with what I love in music.

memòri : How do you logistically prepare for a first-time B2B, especially when you're based in different cities (Marseille and Paris)? Have you been meticulously planning and sharing tracks, or are you aiming for a more improvisational dialogue behind the decks, reacting to each other in the moment?

Jacky Jeane: We take turns hosting our mix sessions, alternating between Marseille and Paris. There will also be some magical improvisational dialogue at the festival.

Israfil: For me, it’s the first time I’ve been offered a B2B with someone I don’t personally know and who isn’t from my city. It doesn’t stress me out at all, because I fully trust Antoine, who brought us together for this B2B, and since I regularly listen to Jacky Jeane’s sets, I already knew we had a lot in common.
Marseille and Paris are very connected. We had the chance to meet and talk about our vision for the set, and when we got on the decks, it immediately clicked. We’ll have more chances to see each other, but the set will really be like a ping-pong between us, where we’ll try to surprise each other as much as possible.

memòri : In an age where algorithms dominate music discovery, what does the art of 'digging' mean to you?

Jacky Jeane: Keeping at heart the act of selecting what touches us deeply, without genre limits. Staying curious and open to what is being released and exists.

Israfil: Personally, I’ve always seen myself as a kind of filter that takes in a huge amount of input, and only lets through music that either contains all the elements I’m looking for, or just certain details that help me spice up the mix that I want to create. I don’t like spending entire days digging. I do a little bit every day instead.

memòri : What are your favorite platforms to discover new music?

Jacky Jeane: As strange as it may seem, Bandcamp, YouTube, Soundcloud, Discogs.

Israfil: When I started digging, I was mixing vinyl. I loved spending full days in record shops searching for records. Otherwise, I’d go on Discogs. Now, Bandcamp is what feeds me new music every day through its feed.

memòri : The perfect track to close this B2B? And why?

Jacky Jeane: “Let Loose” des Zenker Brothers sur l’album Cosmic Transmission.

Israfil: Even though I sometimes end my sets at BPMs close to 180, I always like to finish with something slower, sexy, and unifying. A kind of final slow dance that lets everyone “se faire un gros gâté” (have a big cuddle) before parting ways (or not, lol). I’ve played a lot of Dregs’ music, which I think is perfect to close a set.