DJ MAGAZINE INTERVIEW - Sep 2004 / No 73

Product.01 is vocalist Rochelle Vincente and producer Marc Adamo, an unlikely duo that have found their true calling in electronic music.
Having released an update of Blondie's 'Heart Ov Glass' in an electro pop style - which was supported by DJs like Tiga, Si Begg and Erol Alkan - and remixed Dave Clarke, Adam Freeland and International Pony, they are now releasing one of their own productions 'Clone'. A dirty, underground electro breaks track given a curious pop bias by Vincente's coquettish vocal narrative, 'Clone' is backed with a DJ friendly 4/4 remix by Doppelganger - aka Adamo in solo guise.
Unlike most modern electro, where a stock phrase about sex, robots, or robots having sex is repeated ad nauseam, 'Clone' dares to be different.
"I wouldn't say my parents' yodelling Austrian music or the Ozzie pub rock scene influenced me, but it certainly made me discover what I didn't want to do," she laughs. "The lack of structure in my life gave me a taste for a non-conventional approach to writing music. I was an Austrian living in Oz and I wasn't accepted, and that made me not care to fit in - which is what 'Clone' is about. The track is about people choosing to be themselves, or not. It would make things so much easier if we could all just be who we really are."
Having hooked up with Marc thru mutual friends in Brighton - where they are still based - Rochelle's incisive lyrics and distinctive vocals are backed by the legacy of Marc's misspent youth listening to Detroit innovators like Drexciya, Aux 88, Rob Hood, Daniel Bell and UR, as well as DJs like Colin Dale. "It's funny, I didn't really like synth music when I was a kid, it all kick-started with samplers and the 303," Marc explains. "I love the raw power of Detroit music, and I'm impressed by their ability to balance the art with the science. I also admire pioneers like Mouse On Mars, Future Sound Of London and Two Lone Swordmen. I learned a lot by listening to them."
While Marc doesn't believe that underground electro is "too high brow and light years ahead" to appeal to the mainsteam, Product.01 have borrowed from this style and have given it a pop edge, creating their self-styled "vocal charged electro-tech" sound. "Electro-tech describes our working process, and if it excites people's interest, that's great."
With more EPs, remixes of Larry T and Princess Superstar and Superstonic, and a debut album planned, as well as live dates scheduled for Sunglasses @ Night and Electrogogo, expect to hear a lot more 'product' from these new school electro doyens soon.