Mister Ed Banger
We sat down with Pedro "Busy P" Winter, the man beind the label changing the tastes of music snobs all over the world. Pedro talks to us about the trials and tribulations of getting women to show him their breasts, managing Daft Punk and insists that he is just in it for the music.
by GABRIELLE SWAN
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That was a really great show tonight. Did you have fun?
Yeah we had a lot of fun. Canada has been really friendly with us. Yesterday Montreal was one of the biggest shows of the tour with a capacity of 5000 and tonight is 2500, which is amazing. It’s always good when Ed Banger is in town.
Pretty diverse crowd tonight. You know what Guidos are, or Chavs?
No.
Cheesy guys – fake tans, fake diamond earrings, Dolce and Gabana t-shirts.
Oh, OK I know what you mean…
Lots of those guys.
OK, but I hope we don’t have only those guys.
No, no!
I know what you mean though, like a big mix, a diverse crowd
Yeah you have those guys, the hipsters…
The indie kids…
People were having sex on the floor.
I wish.
No, they were.
Oh yeah!
Did anyone show you their tits when you asked the crowd?
No. No one unfortunately.
Do they ever do that?
Sometimes it works.
They should do it.
I know
I heard these girls in the bathroom talking about how hot they thought you were.
Nice
So you started in Ed Banger in 2003 right?
Yes, we just celebrated our 5th anniversary.
Congratulations.
Thank you very much.
What do you think took so long for you to catch on in North America?
Things take time, you know – we are not in a rush. I am glad we built it to a solid label. The good thing for us, is that it is not just happening in Canada. It’s happening in Australia, all over the place. I remember the first Ed Banger parties we used to do were only 200-300 people, but now more people in the mainstream are catching on. I’m not into being a hip or underground label. We are doing music for the people.
How did you get started with Ed banger?
Kind of an accident. You know I was managing artists since 1996 and in 2003 I met some guy who wanted me to manage them, but I was fed up with that, but I loved the music and that the first band I signed called Mister Flash, and then I signed Justice. It was an accident. I didn’t plan anything, but at the time it was about “how can I work with those guys”, which led to the label. I didn’t plan anything.
So it found you basically.
Exactly!
That’s the best way when things happen like that.
Sometimes you know when you’re in a club and the girls kiss you and at the end, you know, it’s the girl of your life ….
A lot of brands and a lot of labels are really into being fake and kind of creating something that really isn’t there. You guys seem to be really authentic. Do you think that’s something that really sets you apart?
I don’t know. Authentic - I don’t really know what that means, like in the music or what we are doing. But we are trying to do things that we like and we are doing it with passion. We are definitely passionate with what we are doing. Maybe with other labels, they are trying to make this “sound of today: and that is definitely not what we’re doing.
You just do it for yourself and hope that everyone likes it.
Exactly and you know what, you said it. I’m doing it for myself, in fact I’m just having as much fun as I can and I’m trying to get enough money to pay for the next opportunity I’m going to have and luckily other people are enjoying too.
Yeah. Everyone seems to really like it. Daft Punk seems to be having a revival and is becoming more popular again. Have you been doing anything different with them? You are still managing them, right?
Yeah. Now I’m spending most of my time managing Ed Banger so now I can slowly quitting managing Daft Punk because I’m going to focus on Ed Banger.
Oh really?
But we’re still friends for life. I will be around if they need me. Now my mission is 100% Ed Banger.
Do you think that Daft Punk becoming popular again has anything to do with Ed Banger becoming so big?
Let’s say it’s like a two-way thing. Again, Daft Punk is Daft Punk, you know. It’s one in a million. There will only be one Daft Punk. Justice is definitely not the next Daft Punk and so of course all the attention we got on Ed Banger with the French scene back in 2007 of course makes everyone think who was the first one? It was Daft Punk, so it was normal that all the young kids give it back to the masters. So Daft Punk killed it with their own work and their crazy live tour and blew everybody’s mind world wide.
And Stronger helped a lot too.
You’re completely right. The Kanye phenomenon; also open their eyes of some kid you don’t know about anything what electronica and Daft Punk, thanks to Kanye
How involved do you get with the image of the people under your label? Do you think that your personality comes through on their records and their look?
No. They show their own personality. I’m not guiding anything like you have to dress or you have to do this or you have to sound or whatever. It’s the common point of Ed Banger. You know at the end people are talking about Ed Banger sound or Ed Banger look or whatever and at the end, we are all different but maybe all the difference makes something that people like. You can see tonight some girls are stage diving and some indie rocker guys with new era cap some black guys with tight indy pants and here’s what we are. DJ Medhi comes from the hip hop, Gaspard (from Justice) is the metal guy, Xavier (from Justice) is into the pop, Michael Jackson, George Michael thing. You know it’s all like a family all a background and lifestyle but we mix it up and make a weird cake.
Your roster is very impressive. Everyone you work with is amazing. What do you look for in an artist before you sign them and how do you find all this new talent?
I’m receiving tons of demos and also again it’s lots of accidents. I meet people and I don’t have any recipe. I just like the music and of course I need to meet the people and if you know they are on the same line, or if I can feel something with them… it’s a lot of confidence between me and my artist. So if it’s a bit too complicated then it’s not for me.
Who are some of your favorite bands not on Ed Banger?
MGMT. I love MGMT. Their album is amazing. And what else? I love Sebastian Tellier too…
Is Uffie ever going to come to Toronto? The the last two times she was in town she didn’t show up.
Bad, bad girl. (Laughs.) We’re working on the album now. And she will be at Coachella. It’s going to be crazy.
So what are you excited about right now, that you’re working on, other than the Uffie album?
I’m excited for the Sebastian album, too. We just finished an Ed Banger composition and so we are pretty busy this year. The Sebastian album I can’t wait to spend sometime working on it with him. I think it’s going to be like a fabulous (pause) it’s a secret we plan to deliver.
Is there anything you’re not doing right now that you want to be doing with Ed Banger or even on a personal level?
Yeah. Taking holidays.
Where do you want to holiday?
I have no idea yet. But I would love, honestly, I didn’t do it for the last twelve years, but switch off my phone for two weeks, or something like this.
I would go crazy if I did that.
Yeah, I would love to try it. I’m not sure I can do it. But I would love to try.
Is there any place that you’ve traveled to that stands out in your mind?
I like Canada a lot. I’ve been to the Laurentians, north of Montreal. I’m not really Indiana Jones. I like driving in the US. I’m not into going to a remote island. I don’t like lying on the beach. I think New York will be the only other city where I could live except Paris.
What’s your favorite thing in Paris?
Our streets, our buildings. Every time I’m working in Paris I’m like a kid. We are living in Montmartre . It’s an old town – it’s amazing, right near the Moulin Rouge.
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