“For me an album is an ultimate moment in an artists life...”

When we last spoke to Pole Folder, the Belgian producer was riding the wave of success thanks to singles such as 'Apollo Vibes' and 'Dust'. A good few years have passed, and we are now talking to him as he catches yet another wave of success following the release of his highly awaited debut artist album 'Zero Gold'. Almost 2 years in the making, Zero Gold encompasses what this highly talented producer is all about, and we caught up with Benoit to discuss the long awaited LP.

It has been almost 3 years since we last spoke with you. How has life been treating you since then?
I can't complain too much, but I have to honestly say it was not easy even if I never thought things would be. But I'm glad today to have one of my purposes achieved.

When did you first know that Bedrock wanted you to do an album for their label, and how long have you been working on it?
Well we spoke about an album project almost 4 years ago. I really started to work on it, I think it was on September 2002 for about 18 months, more or less.

Has making this album been the hardest project that you have had to do musically?
Yes definitely. For me an album is an ultimate moment in an artists life. I took this project with a lot of attention and a strong commitment.

And when you set out to make this album, did you have a clear goal as to how you wanted it to turn out? Or did you let fate take control and let the album happen naturally?
I had a clear idea of the musical direction but I was not sure how to start it. I think fate and myself played a role together in the writing process. I'm not sure anyway that we control everything 100%.

Why was the album titled Zero Gold?
Well. I think which is interesting with "Zero Gold" is that everyone is trying to see the meaning behind it and everyone finds an explanation. I love that interactivity with the listener. The abstract and phonetic aspect of this title is very interesting for me. Zero and Gold basically represents for me two human fears and purposes but it’s possible to see further than that.

Many people believe that an album is more successful if it is 'timeless'. Was it in your mind when you were making the tracks to make them so that they will sound better in 5 or so years then they do today?
Well from a real artistic point of view I believe that the "timeless" side is very important. Now from a "successful" point of view, I'm sure some albums succeeded even if they were just interesting at one specific moment. But as I'm trying to build a real career I wanted to have my first album as a strong moment in my discography and I had the desire to achieve a project which will be still interesting even in 10 years.

Are there any other albums out there that influenced you while making 'Zero Gold'?
I think that what I am today is the sums of what I've been. So probably all the musical references I had in my life were running in my brain when I was doing it. Even if I was not playing those albums every day or even if maybe I didn't play those albums during the production, masterpieces such as "Dark Side of the Moon", "Violator" or "Northern Exposure 1" were probably playing a part in the writing process.

“Even though I love instrumentals I couldn't imagine Zero Gold without vocal tracks...”

You used a few vocalists in your album - how hard is it to incorporate a vocalist into your music?
Well I always love to work with vocals. And I wanted absolutely to have some vocalists on my album. It's very exciting for me and has is given me a lot of joy during the production process. Even though I love instrumentals I couldn't imagine Zero Gold without vocal tracks.

Now we know you have worked with CP, but are there any other artists you plan to work with or perhaps wish you could work with?
Well I don't have a clear idea of the next collaboration. I think on this the fate will play probably his role again.

Did you leave many tracks you made on the album out of the final version?
I started a lot of tracks for this project. Some of them stand the first test in the studio and I decided to keep them for the album. The others just went to the garbage. If after one week of work on track the view was starting to be interesting I knew there was some chance for this track to be on the album. I did minimum 4-5 versions of every track. At the end I think John and I decided not to use 2 or 3 tracks only.

And do you think there is a certain element that these albums have that you tried to achieve with Zero Gold?
Well not clearly for me. As I didn't try to be too close to my references points. I wanted to have my album as strong as some of my favourites ones but I wanted to create my own space and concept.

Many people know you for 'Apollo Vibes' in particular. How do you feel you have progressed as an artist from the time you wrote that to now?
Well I hope there is a "progression”. I think my skills are stronger due to the time spent everyday in my studio. But I couldn’t say exactly which is better today than before.

Now that the album is finally in stores - what have you got planned in the immediate future?
Well we are working for the moment on a tour with the label. I'm doing a lot of radio shows for the promotion. This is mainly the most for the next weeks, I guess I’ll be back in the production process in June. I want to head to Australia as it would be a great fantastic opportunity to see Shelley again as she is living near Melbourne I think, even if the 24 hours of flights won't be a real exciting moment.

Do you plan to focus more on the DJ'ing as well as Performing Live?
I would like to focus more on the Live performances as this is closer for me to the album than a DJ set. As much as possible I'm working on that direction but I'm also doing DJ sets when people call me for that.

And now that you can relax a little bit with the album finally complete, what are your top 3 activities away from music to do in your spare time?
Well for the moment I'm so much into the music and so passionate by it that I'm not doing a lot of things far from this activity. As it's almost the summer time and the sunny days are back I love to take a drink with my friends on a terrace. When I have time I still love to watch a good movie. That's mainly my only extra activities.