Mental Groove is an outstanding label where the sunny house of dj Sid meets the 80's techno of Water Lilly. So far from the boring click & cut, MG still deserves the electronic community with humour and his unique style. Meeting with the boss : Oliver.

- Atome : it's hard to file your label : house, italo-disco, techno... How could you define Mental Groove ?
- Oliver : Mental and Groove, boys and girls, techno and funk, winter and summer, electro and house, clubbing and raving, analog and digital, mix and remix, night and day, Carpenter and Miyazaki, Geneva and anywhere, past and futur, alcohol and joint, vinyl and cd, city and country, Djamin and Larry Levan, underground and commercial... a bit of everything.

- A. : What about B rave ? nostalgia or the next hype ?
- O. : The concept of B rave (be rave) is to release tracks in a ravy 90' style under nicknames of well-known producers or not. Think about LFO, Unique 3, Forgemasters, T99, Cubik 22, Bizarre inc, Outlander, KLF, Cyclone, Rhythmatic, Black Box, The Beloved, Marrs, Baby Ford, S'Express, Mayday, PCP... already nostalgic and certainly the next hype. A response to the lack of humour in current productions.

- A. : There's a lot of classic re-release (Orlando Voorn, Shari Vari, Human League...). What's your opinion ? Is it a lack of creativity ?
- O. : There's always re-releases and remixes or covers, it happens since the beginning. It pleases everybody and you can easily earn a lot of cash.

- A. : What are your plans ? I heard about a "We r from Geneva" compilation... After the Köln sound, the sweetzerland sound (copyright MG) ?
- O. :The Geneva sound ? See question one.

- A. : Last cd or 12" bought ?
- O. : Berurier Noir "macadam massacre" and Grain on Fat Cat.

- A. : Last movie ?
- O. : "Lord of the rings" at the cinema and "Dr Strangelove" on DVD.

- A. : Last party ?
- O. : At Weetamix for the label night with Luciano, Sid, Crowdpleaser and me.

- A. : Last videogame ?
- O. : Mario Cart, the only game where you can throw turtle carapaces on your friends !

- A. : Something else ?
- O. : Our website moved from mgroove.com to mentalgroove.ch. A new booking agency called nout.ch has been created for the following artists : Water Lilly, dj Sid, Crowdpleaser, Access 58, Quenum and Luciano. Mental Groove party at Batofar (Paris, 1st of June) with dj Sid y Fabio, Luciano, Dave the Hustler, Crowdpleaser and Schonwers. MG party at Weetamix (Geneva, 7th of June) and Mental Groove showcase with Luciano at Sonar.

And at last, Oliver charts...
- 10. Gabe Catanzaro "Memories" (ch Mental Groove 023)
----- italo-disco hit and a huge commercial potential.
- 09. Cyclone "A place called bliss" (uk Network)
----- classic rave track, still fresh.
- 08. Pub "Film" (uk Ampoule 05)
----- deep techno from Scotland, excellent.
- 07. Md'z Revenge "The banger" (us Focus 022)
----- so simple and groovy.
- 06. Luciano "La capricciosa" (ch Bruchstuecke 09)
----- Luciano performs better and better.
- 05. Grain "Grain" (uk Fat Cat 041)
----- this is techno, this is fun, this is London.
- 04. Gary Martin "Pimping people" (us Teknotika)
----- build for big dancefloor, works everywhere.
- 03. Somethin J "Mercedes Bentley" (uk Warp 152)
----- breakbeat ragga rave in your face.
- 02. Various Artists "We are the thinking lights" (ch Mental Groove 026)
----- Geneva's exclusive compilation.
- 01. 4 Hero "Hold it down (bugz in the attic remix)" (uk Talkin' Loud)
----- one for the ladies, west london style.
www.mentalgroove.ch     www.nout.ch
Chaton, 29/04/2002