âI was 8 years old,â remembers RenĂ© âNoirâ Kristensen, âlooking at a poster of Duran Duran outside the Eiffel Tower, and telling my mother that when I was older, I wanted to be a musician, traveling the world like they did.â In the three decades since that day, the softly spoken Dane has achieved all that and more. One of the planetâs most in demand house DJs and the man behind a hugely successful and pioneering label, heâs also the man responsible for one of the decadeâs biggest house tracks so far, 2011âs global club smash âAroundâ. The track, a sexy, synthesizer-tinted groove featuring vocalist Hayze, was by far the biggest of Noirâs career to date. Picked up by house giants Defected, it dominated dancefloors across the world for nearly 18 months – and didnât just catapult Noir to the front rank of producers and DJs but Solomun (whose subtle, sexy remix became the definitive version) as well.
But then Noirâs mission to spread the house music word started early. RenĂ© was raised in the quiet, close-knit city of Aalborg in Northern Denmark, a town shot through with the peculiarly Scandinavian quality of Janteloven (rule one: âdonât think youâre anything specialâ). Very much the youngest of three children, his father a smith and his mother a cleaning lady, there was, he says, âno music in the family.â A friendâs big brother, however, had a huge vinyl collection. At 7 years old, when his schoolclass was asked to bring in a tape of their favourite music, RenĂ© first demonstrated his gift for the unexpected. âAll the other kids were bringing in childrenâs music,â he remembers, âI played Kraftwerk!â
By age 8-10 he was collecting Duran Duran posters and at age 10-12 listening to UK radio stations playing the first wave of acid house, and by 13, like so many European teens, he was a Depeche Mode diehard.
A gifted teenage football player, he had offers from some big local teams, but says he âknew really early that he wanted to create music and express myself.â It was a club called Rendez Vouz that gave him his chance aged 17. âI filled in maybe 5 or 6 times before they asked me to DJ regularly. I told the owner that I would only do it if I could buy all the music for the club and decide the music style.â Soon he was playing three nights a week. As the upper floor DJ, playing â50% house, 50% R&B and hip hopâ to the notoriously late arriving, early leaving Danish club crowd, he developed a philosophy of DJing that remains to this day. âThe guys that played before me, they played what was given to them via paid promo-service â I bought a lot of music myself to stand out and to push it forward, keep it interesting.â This passion for new music, this wish to give the crowd something unique every time, has never left him: eight out of ten tracks you hear Noir play in any club now has been re-edited by him to fit his sets perfectly.
In 1997 he bought a PC, a Yamaha synth and some Cubase music software. With no experience or musical knowledge (aside from the instinctive sense of âwhat worksâ that has guided his whole career) essentially he was starting from ground zero. âI found a guy, Leif Berg Jensen, who taught me to use Cakewalk, and later Reason. He was very technical and I had the flair for arrangement and detail.â The pair made âvery electronic, sample basedâ music, but soon RenĂ© was looking for a fresh challenge. His next mentor was blues musician Palle Kruse Jensen. âThe software I had picked up very quickly but the music stuff came from a lot of questioning. I didnât know the scales or chords, I judged by mood: âwhy is that happy? Why is that dark?â It was a long learning curve, sucking all the knowledge I could from these musicians and vocalists.â
A trip to Ibiza in 2004 led to Noirâs first big international tune. Inspired by Nic Fancuilliâs Skylark bootleg of Tears For Fears, and a snatch of a Dire Straits song he heard from a passing carâs stereo on his return home, he constructed the cheeky, âMoney For Nothingâ sampling âMy MTVâ. It finally came out on Toolroom in March 2006 (by then parts and vocals had been re-recorded), and its success, coupled with that of 2005âs polemic, âAll About House Musicâ gave Noir (âI was looking for melancholic DJ names and DJ Dark or Black sounded really bad! My girlfriend (at the time) suggested I look for something Frenchâ like my birthname RenĂ©) exposure outside Denmark and the confidence to strike out on his own. Giving up his day job at a friendâs gym (âI had convinced them to put a DJ booth in there!â) in 2007 he set up his own label, Noir Music. In 2009 Pirupa & Pigiâs âSweet Devilâ, became Noir Musicâs first Beatport number one. Since then the label has combined acclaim from DJs and critics (itâs currently the eighth âmost chartedâ label of all time on Resident Advisor) with commercial success; over 180 releases to date (including on sub labels NM2 and Klimaks Records) have garnered too many Beatport top ten hits to count, while the âUse Your Earsâ compilation series has consistently showcased the label as one of the best and freshest in house music.
Indeed while Noir maintains that âthe real kickâ for him is still DJing, thanks to his label (and his bi-monthly podcast), heâs almost as well known for his skills as an A&R / house music tastemaker as he is producer and DJ. Two of this years hottest stars in particular, Hot Since 82 and Finnebassen, first got their break on Noir Music. The team-up with Defected has also proven a great marriage. Not only have the giant UK house label brought âAroundâ to a wider audience, but a hugely successful, quickfire double header of mix compilations for the label (âDefected In the House Miami 12â and âNoir In The Houseâ) epitomised the labelâs new, forward thinking direction, arguably helping it regain its status as one of the leading house labels on the planet.
And since that day in the classroom, Noirâs success has been based on following his instincts and refusing to do the expected. Six months after âAroundâ, confounding expectations of a copycat, cash-in follow-up, his next track was the dark, deep, âFound Outâ. It was greeted with a mixture of caution and bafflement by his new fans, but today its one of the tracks he gets requested the most. âWhen I play it now,â he says, âeverybody sings along even though there’s not big chorus like the one âAroundâ has gotâ
Still based in Aalborg, Noir is now firmly established in the first rank of house DJs with bookings all over the world. Last June he recorded his first Essential Mix for Radio One, and heâs just returned from the BPM festival in Mexico, where one of his original heroes, Kevin Saunderson, played at a Noir Music showcase. And while he continues to live that eight year old kidâs dream as a DJ/musician, next on the musical agenda is âAngelâ, the first collaboration with Hayze in the three years since the completion of âAroundâ. An early Giorgio Moroder-style bassline, fused with a techno vibe and a heartfelt vocal from Hayze, it might well be an even bigger smash than âAroundâ. Not that Noir is too bothered. âI donât have a strategy,â he insists. âI just have a passion for sharing the music that I love.â From the classroom, to the DJ booth, to the studio: so far it seems to be working.
- Facebook :Â https://facebook.com/Noir.Face
- Twitter :Â https://twitter.com/noirmusic
- Instagram :Â https://instagram.com/noirmusic
- Website :Â https://noir-music.com
- If you are looking to book this artist, please contact ryan@thebullittagency.com