Fuel prices might be rising astronomically right now but that hasn’t stopped Elisa Do Brasil and Bobby adding gallons and gallons of petrol on the blazing French drum & bass fires this month.

Adding to the scorching volumes of impeccable and highly innovative drum & bass coming from our continental cousins – Visages, Monty, Skylark, Redeyes, The Caracal Project, Vici, Burr Oak, Tenebre, The Clamps, Redpill, labels like Impact Music, Vandal and Hyperactivity, platforms like Studio Drum & Bass, pretty much the whole of Toulouse, the list goes on – comes a brand new label: Vahana Records.

A meeting point between French D&B pioneer Elisa’s foundation jungle roots and younger artist Bobby’s passion for the harder technical vibes, Vahana is an exciting new outlet that celebrates D&B on global, local and universal levels. Each release will champion strong visual aesthetics, often based around tarot cards, and it all kicks off with a collaborative EP between the two founders.

Reflecting a rainbow of influences from dark jungle futurism to Elisa’s own Brazilian roots via some deeply moving bars from UK MC Miss Trouble, it’s actually Elisa’s first release in over 10 years! We called her up to say bonjour and find out more…

This has been a while coming now. I know we spoke about this two years ago…

Yes we have been talking about it for a very long time. We didn’t put it on hold, we’ve been maturing the project to make sure we have the first release we really like and shape our sound and find the perfect name for it. Vahana… Do you know what it means?

It’s like a vehicle or carrier isn’t it?

That’s right. Drum & bass is what carries us. This is our vehicle. And we like the logo too. It speaks to both of us. It is faithless; it is a graceful creature that has elegance and class but can be angry and bite. This is what carries us and what we want to carry.

Love that. Please intro Bobby, too!  

He’s the next generation from me, like 10 years younger. The first time he saw me was at Astropolis festival – it’s one of the biggest festivals in Brittany and I’m resident with the hardcore scene. So it’s a night of a very heavy music then I arrive and play with the sunrise and brings different vibes.

His brother told him to check me, and he said it was a changing point in his life like, ‘That’s what I want to do!’ So that was our first encounter. He loves his neuro but around five years ago he was doing lots of ‘after works’ parties in Paris. Those parties made a big change in the scene here with some young artists really smashing it in bars.

I was out one Tuesday night and there were like 100 kids going crazy to drum & bass. I came to the door to pay and he said, ‘You don’t have to pay for everything you’ve done for the scene here’. Then we met again at a club on the weekend and spent the night talking and sharing ideas. This led to lots of studio time, lots of radio shows, lots of productions.

We complete each other – two different generations but two different styles of music in the same movement. We have different skills and cultures, there’s no better person to do the label with. He’s a hard-working guy and it brings out both of our strengths to find a global touch and sound that includes all the sounds of D&B. If I’d have done it on my own it would be more jungle or rollers, if he did it on his own it might be too neuro but together we can create something very complete. Not just in our own productions but for the whole label and the music we sign too.

That’s great. He encouraged you to get your music out, too, right? It’s been a long time since we heard Elisa Do Brasil productions!

10 years! I was very shy about it and nervous to put anything out. My last release before this was an album and I was kind of lost. It took me to be booked at Outlook to find what was making my heartbeat so strong and that was part of me falling in love with D&B and producing again. The next release is a heartfelt declaration to Outlook. After the first year I went to the studio and did a whole track and that was me getting back to production. That will be the next release.

But first – this release! These three tracks cover so much ground! They sum up the sound of the label and where you’re at with clubs and events

Definitely. Evasion is a good combination of Bobby and me. That kick really grabs me and has such a dancefloor feel which is maybe the effect of not being able to play for so long because of the lockdowns. And also maybe because we are always surrounded by the hardcore people here in France. So the kick is part of my culture. You have Bobby’s universe too with the production and the intensity. I’m loving the amen break. One of my favourite joys in the studio right now is chopping up breaks and putting FX on them.

Then you have Peplum. I wanted to highlight my Brazilian roots but it was never going to be a sunny soulful Brazilian sound because that’s not me – I’m a Brazilian raised in cold wet France. That’s a mix of my two cultures. A batucada in a warehouse!

Yes! Also What’s New. That’s a really sharp one. I know Miss Trouble has come over to play at your event Forever DNB before. 

Oh we go back a long long way, she’s a very good friend of mine. We toured together every week in France for years. We’re a real duo and understand and respect each other. We can close eyes, we don’t need to look at each other, we know what’s going to happen already. I couldn’t start this label without her.

That’s brilliant. It’s such a savage record!

It is a savage one. We were in the middle of the lockdown, I was in the south of France with my studio in the closet, trying to shut the world out, and I sent the track to Bobby and told him I was sending it to Natalie. It was the day George Floyd was murdered. She was so angry she wrote those lyrics and recorded them in two hours and sent them over.

You can feel that anger and energy!

I’m glad you can feel that. I can too.

How regular will the releases be?

Oh we have a year of music all lined up but I want to keep the music alive. I want to give enough time to promote the artists and music properly. Once every two months will be the shortest period but we’re seeing how it goes. We have enough music for the year if we release every two or three months

Giving it time and space to breathe!

That’s right. And every release has artwork with the artist. I have my own series based around tarot cards. Each artists will be drawing a card. Bobby will have a series which will be harder than mine. We have a release from a UK duo who I’ve loved for a long time and they shaped the sound of the music I love for the last 20 years. They told me yes they have music for me, which I am so happy about. We also have lots of young and very talented French artists, I have some collaborations with some French acts, Bobby has two EPs ready and there’s the UK duo I just mentioned.

A longstanding influential UK duo. Got to be Total Science, surely?

Oh wow I hope so one day. If they are reading this, then maybe it can happen!

Interesting with the tarot theme because when we spoke years ago about the label you mentioned the name had a tarot theme…  

That’s right it did. We were going to call it 20 records which had lots of meanings but mainly because it was going to launch in 2020 but we didn’t want people to think about the worst year ever every time they thought of the label. We then thought about Memoire Music because we liked having a French word but that felt too heritage and not new enough. Like it would be releasing music from 1878 or something haha. Eventually, after a lot of thought, we decided on Vahana. It took a very long time. We tore our hair out. But it’s a beautiful name – we’re very excited.

Great! So what else does the world need to know about you guys right now?

You need to know we’re busy organising and promoting lots of parties and we want to hear demos from people so please get in touch! We promise to reply and we will release and promote it from the heart as we always do.

Are you doing Vahana parties?

Yes we’re doing a Vahana tour and we’re keeping it close to our roots and keeping it soundsystem and underground. The first one happens this month in a secret place. People will find out last minute where it’s going to be and we’re doing this all the way.

Nice. Must be great to be back in clubs after so long? We’ve been open since July last year but I know lockdowns were different in France…

The first lockdown was actually a blessing and gave me the change to take my first time off and spend it with my kids and family and go deeper into my radio show, find music and learn things and focus on production.

Then we could come back and play which was a huge joy. That was beautiful. But then it shut down again in December and that cut us very deep. It hit us hard here like a depression. We didn’t know when things would reopen and there was so much uncertainty. We had the label launch planned and set for now and really didn’t know if things would be open again in time, but it seems to be coming back so it’s good. But all that reflection time and working time has paid off. The gigs are coming in and I’m excited about the label – it gave us time to really know if we had the energy and motivation to do the best we can. That was an important test for us.

Great way of looking at things and perfect timing for the label to launch.

Yes, things are warming up again, everything is in place. The universe is being good to us, right now…

Be good to Elisa Do Brasil & Bobby, follow Vahana Records: Soundcloud / Facebook / Instagram

Follow Elisa Do Brasil: Soundcloud / Instagram / Facebook

Follow Bobby: Soundcloud / Instagram / Facebook