Armand van Helden — You don’t know me. Short story behind #2 filter house track
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Armand van Helden, who experimented with French house for a while and after Music sounds better with you by Bangalter released a record called You don’t know me that quickly entered the music charts of former British colonies smashing absolutely everyone else on the road. Duane Harden (this is the 27-year-old boy near van Helden in the video) came to Armand’s studio which was in the DJ’s bedroom and together they began to think what material could be good for the new album. During the third night something became clearer. Armand sampled small fragments of two records from different times (1979 and 1992), went out, and Duane, who was left alone with the equipment, wrote the lyrics and provided vocals.
No one expected this. “I wrote and recorded the vocal in one night and it was after a rather exhausting day at work. So in my opinion I thought my vocal performance was awful. However Armand van Helden thought the vocal in its raw form with all its imperfections added character to the track. I learned from him that perfection does not necessarily equate to quality, and that going with gut feelings and first impressions are normally the best ingredient for success.”
Turn off the light again and chase away the children. Or don’t! Let them stay and watch — here Van Helden is still wearing his baggy trousers with a bandana and gets seriously beaten up :)
