I recently interviewed The Couch Potatoes. The band is composed of Nicolas Boutin and Jean-Michel Lapointe. Nicolas is known as Nicolas B. or Nic B. when he DJs - a trade he's exercised for over 10 years now. He's held residencies in numerous clubs in Quebec City and Montreal and has played in several major cities around the world. More recently, he's held the Friday night residency at Club/After-hours Sona for almost a year and now resides at Jingxi, also in Montreal. Nic has never done, nor wanted to do, anything but DJ. For two years now, he has been one half of the studio incarnation of the Couch Potatoes, the other half being Jean-Michel Lapointe, a classically-trained musician and professional studio technician and producer.

When they perform live, the Couch Potatoes add to their sound-system a guitarist (Pascal Dufour, you'll know more about him later), a percussionist (Michel Séguin, a session musician for several recording artists), a saxophonist (Luc Lemay, a session musician also known as the leader of his own excellent band, the Funkaphones) and a vocalist (Überfrau Hilary Porter) while Jean-Michel mans the keyboards and Nic does turntable duty.

The Couch Potatoes have one single out on their own "Nouvelle Cuisine" label; a three-track E.P. (Sunny Side/Expresso Funk/Baby Couch) released early in 1998. The E.P. sold quite well and held the number one position of local in-store charts for several weeks last year as well as a "residence" in many DJs record boxes. They have recently signed a production and distribution deal with British distributor Ideal and it's parent label Idea and there has also been talks with people at Guidance Records. Their next release will be one of my favorite tracks of late, "47 Degrees" (including remixes) and, if I have any taste in music, they stand poised to become extremely popular on the House scene. Nicolas and I have been friends for almost 10 years now and we've very often worked together as DJs. Alongside our friend Michel Plamondon - who was credited for engineering on the Couches first single - we were The Space Frogs, a live PA, for a couple of years back in 94-95.

This interview was conducted on Sunday, April 5th, 1999, in the shower of one of the locker rooms of the arena where the fifth edition of "Bal en Blanc" was taking place, immediately after the Couch Potatoes had wrapped up their amazing live performance. The Ball in White, held every Easter weekend, is the second biggest circuit party in Montreal after Black and Blue, held in the fall. For the fifth edition, the lineup consisted of Nicolas, The Couch Potatoes, Alain Vinet, David Knapp, Peter Rauhofer, Danny Tenaglia and Jester. Although the number of tickets was limited to 7000, over 10 000 showed up. At 10 pm, ticketless partygoers were told they would not be able to get in before 4 am! By the time the Couch Potatoes took the stage around a quarter to one, following Nic's masterful warm-up set, the venue was at full capacity.

The interview was done in French, so I will do my best to not merely translate it but to convey the meaning which is sometimes harder to translate. I also wish to warn you, dear reader, that I set out with but one goal. I wanted do a no-holds-barred interview and transcribe the answers integrally. Interviewees were warned of this yet some of the following might be offending to certain people, but I don't really care. Sorry...

DJSC
May 1999

The following interview was conducted by DJSC on 04/05/99:

Ask yourselves a few questions...

NIC: (to Jean-Michel) Do you love me?

JEAN-MICHEL: (grunts suggestively in approval)

NIC: Would you fist me?

JM: Yes.

OK... How did it all begin?

NIC: Well... He fisted me, I fisted him and it was love!

Could I get a real answer?

NIC: I'm being silly...

JM: I went to see Nic where he worked...

Where was it?

NIC: At Maurice...

Maurice is a club in Quebec City where Nic and I were residents for three years.

JM: At Platine?...

At the time the only imports record store in Quebec City where Nic worked for many many years.

NIC: At Maurice...

JM: ...And Ben Champagne told Nic I was gay...

Ben Champagne is a common acquaintance of ours who also worked at Platine.

NIC: ...And I was scared of him. It took another year before he came to see me again at Maurice and asked me "How about doing music together?"... Honestly I wasn't scared at all, it's just that Ben Champagne is an asshole (laughs). You're editing that out, right?

No, sorry. It will be transcribed integrally... No off-the-record with me tonight...

NIC: Whatever... He came to see me at Maurice... No! It was at Fourmi Atomik (a small alternative club in Quebec City), there was a party on a Saturday night and we tlod oursleves tlat...

Nic's tongue slipped here and he keeps going with a fake snobbish accent, tongue-slipping on purpose to a point where he almost sounds like he's speaking pig-latin... I told y'all it was going to be integral!

NIC: ...We tlod oursleves tlat we shloud dlo muslic toglether...

I have to take a leak...

A bit later. I am alone with Nancy Lapointe, Jean-Michel's longtime girlfriend and graphic designer of the band.

Nancy, what's your opinion of Jean-Michel?

NANCY: Well, he's for sure an excellent musician. He's not black but he sure has groove... Some people think black people have more groove...

He's not black but he's got a big one!?!

I have to explain that an untranslatable word play occurred here. The word "groove" (commonly used in French) and the French word "grosse" (which means big) sound alike in French and especially in a crowded, noisy locker room, so I pretended that I had understood that Nancy was talking about JM's penis... Remember, we were out partying that night; do you really expect me to be staid and serious all the time?!?

NANCY: (laughs) ...No, no, no! He's got GROOVE! He's got the groove in his blood...

That's true.

NANCY: He's got a touch for writing tracks that get people moving and grooving...

Of course, of course...

We both break out laughing. Then, probably due to a bad manipulation of the micro-cassette recorder I was using, there's a questionless answer from Nic... Told you we were out partying!

NIC: ...It's so commercial that they hype people. Fuck, we (the band) have a fucking problem. We want to play fucking underground music so fucking bad that we end up not being fucking popular...

I must explain to you that when Nic gets hyper about something, he tends to swear a whole lot and, with regards to this particular answer, even though I don't remember the question that got to him so intensely, I know that he was talking about their early days, since we've already established that they had just finished playing for 7000-8000 people...

As Nic is saying the above, some acquaintance of Nic's just showed up and interrupted us, breaking into an X-rated reinterpretation of a local folk song to which...

NIC: Patou is one hot dude!

So, we're doing this interview in a shower of the Centre Sportif de l'Université de Montréal (otherwise known as CEPSUM, a huge arena/sports complex), it's Easter Sunday...

NIC: (shouting) NO! DON'T YOU TURN THAT ON!!!

Laughter...

Jean-Michel was trying to turn on the shower on us... We really are in... Just listen to the echo in here...

Nic shouts to the top of his lungs to display how echoey the room is and breaks into a hearty laugh. Let me tell you that doing - and later transcribing - this interview was quite a feat considering the echo and the constant booming of the nearby main room! That shower was the quietest place we could find in the locker room which had been assigned to the Couches as their VIP room...

Meanwhile, Nic's shouting attracts someone whose somewhat of a legend on the Montreal scene and whose name I don't remember and is never mentioned. He walks in on us, shouting repeatedly, mimicking Nic...

WEIRDO: (to no one) Helloooo...

Hello.

WEIRDO: (to me) Helloooo...

(to Nic) Who's this?

NIC: It's a legend...

Who are you... For the sake of this interview I need you to introduce yourself...

NIC: Introduce yourself!

WEIRDO: (to Nic) Who is this?

NIC: Sebastien.

WEIRDO: Helloooo...

He says this in a tone of voice that suggests he is "interested" in me. General laughter ensues. Weirdo goes to turn the shower on...

NO! NO!

Pandemonium. Everyone scampers around screaming even though the damn shower is never turned on... I try to regain control of the situation by whistling and screaming. We are in a locker room, so I figure it's OK to whistle and scream, right?

OK! OK! (whistle) Enough! YO! (whistle) Hey!

Nic escorts Weirdo out of the shower room explaining that we're doing a serious (!) interview...

So, finally how did it all begin? He went to see you at Platine and he was scared because he thought you was gay...

NIC: No I was scared because I thought he was gay because that other guy told me he was but I knew he wasn't gay and I didn't care anyway...

From outside the shower room, Weirdo says it was all Ben Champagne's fault, to which Nic says, astonished...

NIC: How come you know that?!

WEIRDO: (from afar) Because I knoooow everything...

But the first time...

Nic interrupts me to say something I can't hear to Weirdo...

The first time you both said "OK, we're going to do music together," what happened then.

Jean-Michel begins answering, but he's standing so far away from me - not too comfortable with the fact that he's being interviewed - that I can't hear anything on the tape...

NIC: ...No! It was a Saturday night.

Jean-Mich, come closer...

Jean-Michel is still mumbling.

Jean-Michel, come closer to us!...

NIC: ...We were at Fourmi Atomik, I was spinning and he came up to me and said (burps loudly)...

Nic bursts into one of his infamous burping fits... Yes, I admit it! We are both grown men soon to be 30 and we still enjoy having burpfests!

NIC: ...(burps loudly) He said to me "I'm looking for a DJ to do music with..." so I answered "I'm looking for a musician to do music with" (burps loudly), and we went in the studio the next day... Two days later...

What about the first track you ever did together?

NIC: It was horrible! A real nightmare... A nightmare, except...

JM: We were happy nonetheless...

NIC: We were happy because we thought that at least we knew that we could work together...

It's really touching to watch how you two look at each other during an interview; you look like a sweet old couple...

JM: (sounding like a little old lady) It was nice in the beginning, wasn't it? When you weren't sure whether I was gay or not and Ben Champagne was freaking out...

The three of us break out laughing. Ben Champagne was freaking out because JM and Nic we collaborating despite his trying to prevent it, for reasons no one never really understood...

It think I'm going to title this interview "Ben Champagne"...

JM: Interview with a vampire...

So how long has it been now.

NIC: Two years.

Two years! Already!

NIC: It's been two years, but it's not that long considering we've already had the fucking chance to play for fucking 10 000 people after only two fucking years...

Fucking right! Two years to reach the 10 000-people-arena-gig is nothing!

NIC: It's good when you consider that bands like Rush took 15 years to reach that point! (laughs) Just fibbing!

JM: Yeah, but this is not the same.

NIC: I know it's not the same...

JM: There's 10 000 people, but this is a party. When we reach the point where it is a party whose main attraction is us, then we'll have achieved...

It's true, what you're saying is true, because those 10 000 people did not come here just to see you guys...

JM: All this means is that we were right in time for what's going on right now...

NIC: Exactly...

So you think that in our scene, whether you call it the House scene, the Techno scene or whatever, it's all a question of being at the right place, at the right time?

JM: Well... Yes... Yes but...

NIC: Yes, but then again, it's also really important that you have people around you who really believe in what you're doing...

JM: Of course...

Which is why I'm here!

NIC: Exactly... It's because of these people that you can exist. If these people don't believe in what you're doing, you won't get anywhere. And if you produce shit, then it's obvious those people won't be there for you... Unless your shit can attract 10 000 people. I can't really... Hyping something shitty is really easy, but coming up with quality productions that are worthy of the hype surrounding them is really hard...

JM: ...Musically, we're taking our time. And I think it's the advantage we have over a lot of other producers. We're taking our time to carefully develop our sound...

(to JM) How do you see your role in the Couches? Which one of you two IS the Couches?

NIC: It's him...

JM: The Couches is Nic and I because on my part, if... If... Often... Let me explain to you how we operate...

I think I'm doing a pretty good interview here! I like the questions I'm asking!

Sorry for the bragging, but, considering it was not scripted at all... Besides...

NIC: Yeah! It's true!

JM: I think so! Anyway... The way it happens, most of the time, when we produce something interesting, we... Often, I'm in the studio, alone, I make a track and I play it back to Nic and then we go back to the studio to record it... Know what I mean? Because...

NIC: I tell him what should be changed... I bring him my vision of a guy whose been doing this for a long time...

JM: Exactly, he brings in a certain perspective...

So, finally, you're some kind of two-headed incarnation of what all DJs are trying to do. Most DJs also try to produce tracks, but you guys have the best of both worlds, by being a DJ and a producer, both accomplished...

JM: Exactly... That must be it...

NIC: Exactly... He translates my ideas into music... And the opposite is also true... I bring the DJing aspect to his ideas and tell him "You should build this track differently," because...

Such as "The break should be longer..."

NIC: Yes, yes...

JM: ...He's in charge of everything that has to do with structure... I'm in charge of the groove...

Well... You do nice fucking grooves!

JM: Really?

NIC: Fucking right!

REALLY! I just can't wait to have "47 Degrees!"

NIC: You're going to have it soon!

I can't fucking wait!

See, as is often the case, that track has existed for quite a while now, and I've heard it often... I honestly can't wait to be able to drop it in one of my sets!

JM: As a matter of fact, tonight we worked on something else for it.

So... So far you've released one platter, on your own label...

NIC: Yep...

What's in the works for the Couches?

NIC: Well... A deal in the U.K. on Ideal... Ideal is a distribution company that distributes in Europe and a bit in the U.S. and they have a label called Idea... We're going to release tracks on Idea, including "47 Degrees," and following that, we'll see what happens... It's going to be a confidence issue... So what happens is that it might become Nouvelle Cuisine again and we will release everything like that...

By this, he means as Nouvelle Cuisine being either distributed or licensed to Ideal. This might be of some use to people thinking of starting their own label. When they began, Nic and Jean-Michel sought financing and found it from the owner of a club where Nic and I worked (not the aforementioned Maurice). After a while, they were disappointed with the "service" they were getting and Jean-Michel and another person legally registered the name "Nouvelle Cuisine." Now that they need some more money to release their second single, a lot of people want to get involved and some even claim a share of the pie they are neither entitled to nor deserve. Luckily for them, they have signed this production/distribution deal, but they've had to forsake their own label to achieve this...

So in the short term, what happens to Nouvelle Cuisine?

NIC: It's somewhat on ice... It's on ice for one release...

How appropriate that it should be "on ice," considering we're in an arena used for hockey games most of the time...

NIC: Probably that for the next one, with the British...

JM: There's also something else in the works... We want to release "Work It Out."

NIC: Yeah...

"Work It Out" can be called their most popular unreleased release. It is one of their tracks which has been around for quite a while and one that gets a lot of crowd response.

NIC: "Work It Out," yeah, that's it...

JM: It's going to be released under another name...

NIC: It's probably going to be released as "The Fuckers!"

Jean-Michel and Nic laugh out loud...

NIC: Or maybe "The Forkers!"

In walks Pascal, their guitarist. Pascal, an extremely nice person, I mean really lovable.

This is Pascal...

NIC: This is Pascal...

...Guitarist for the Couch Potatoes...

NIC: ...And whose also guitarist for a ROCK (Nic puts a lot of emphasis on that word) band...

Pascal is a full-time musician whose "other" job is guitarist for a well-known rock band called The Respectables who have two albums out, with two chart-topping radio hits ("Heather & I" and "La Java") and have opened for the Rolling Stones' on their last tour's stop in Quebec City.

Pascal, you're a Rock'n'Roll star... How do you like playing with guys that do House music?

PASCAL: I think it's wonderful...

For your information, this is an actual interview for a Web site... So, as a star guitar player, a star of Rock'n'Roll... You're almost virtual grandson of Keith Richards, how do you like playing House music?

PASCAL: I think it's got a groove that's missing from Rock'n'Roll... And I think that the Couch Potatoes do House extremely well... So I get a real thrill when I play with them... I play with them and I feel refreshed! That's really the main blast...

Would you picture yourself, at some point, giving up Rock'n'Roll completely and working only with the Couches?

PASCAL: Of course! If the Couches get to a point where... If I am required to play with the Couches often and it is interesting for me, I'll do it, no question...

Nic and Jean-Michel are taken aback by Pascal's answer. They weren't expecting his answer AT ALL and they are literally overwhelmed. They are bearing some of the widest grins I've ever seen on any face. They do high-fives and both shout "Yes!" Someone says (I can't determine which one of them says this)...

?: We we're in amazing form tonight!

NIC: I cried tonight!

How was it tonight, what did you think of "Bal en Blanc," Pascal?

NIC: (to Pascal) ...In comparison to a Rock concert...

...No, no... What did you think of it, period.

PASCAL: My strongest impression, and it was really a trip, was when I looked straight ahead, I could see the seats, almost at 45 degrees...

Remember we're in a hockey arena and the venue is close to full-capacity by then so the whole floor area is filled and the stage is right in front of the seating area.

PASCAL: ...and I was looking up and I could see all these people dancing, with their arms up in the air and I thought it was awesome... I've played arenas many times with my Rock'n'Roll bands...

Such as The Respectables...

PASCAL: Yeah, and playing an arena is a real a trip because when people applaud, you don't really hear applause... You hear...

Makes that sounds people make when they imitate a crowd going wild. We all begin laughing as only people who know can.

It's cool because it's a sound that comes from nowhere!

PASCAL: (laughs) ...Exactly! Yeah!

...And it just hits you square on and you go "YES!"

PASCAL: Yeah and it gives you such a drive!

Hey! Wait! We've lost Jean-Michel!

PASCAL: I'll be right back...

OK... So apart from that deal in the U.K., where are the Couches going?

NIC: Well... We want to begin working on an album...

I mean what's your long-term vision of the Couches...

NIC: Our long-term vision doesn't involve as many live performances... We want to work on an album... Inspired by a band you might know... Nuyorican Soul...

Yeah, but do you guys want to conquer the world?

Nic pauses.

NIC: We want to conquer the world... AND Japan!

We laugh.

NIC: No! Really!

OK, so I'd like you to tell me... Compare the Couch Potatoes to Masters at Work...

NIC: Well... We...

He pauses again.

NIC: Masters At Work have Latin blood...

Do you think that some day you'll be as big... Or bigger?

NIC: Maybe on a Canadian scale... Because, the way I see it, Masters At Work, or Nuyorican Soul or whatever, are an influence to us and our album will follow in the steps of Nuyorican Soul's because it will involve a real drummer, session musicians, you know... It won't be a dance album... It's going to be an album you can dance to, but also listen to at home... It's going to have soul...

Jean-Michel is back and he heard part of your answer, but I'm going to ask him the same question anyway... Compare yourselves to Masters At Work... As big? Bigger? Where will you end up?

JM: Bigger would be... Would be... Bigger would be lying, because what they do is really...

Yeah, but in the long term...

JM: In the long term?... In the long term that is the vision I have... To reach that level of musical quality... They are an example for us...

To reach a point where you can show everyone else how it's done...

JM: Yeah... And it's not... They're the only ones that... Well I know about this less than Nic does, but among artists that I listen to, they're the ones that use the least... They really work "musically," they really compose tracks and that's really important to me... To be able to compose music that people think is based on a sample but it's not...

So, your real disadvantage compared to them is that neither of you is married to India!

JM: Not yet!

Jean-Michel and I laugh. Nic went to take a leak and misses this part. He comes back...

Not yet!!! Jean-Michel said not yet! I told him that your only disadvantage compared to Master at Work is that neither of you is married to India...

NIC: Maybe not, but we've got Hilary... Hilary is our vocalist...

I must admit that I have a thing for their vocalist. Girls with glasses are somewhat of a fetish...

NIC: And she's a kickboxer...

Yeah! Oh! So, for the benefit of this interview, I will state this, since Hilary is no longer here to do so herself... The vocalist for the Couch Potatoes is named Hilary and besides singing with the Couches, she's also a professional stuntwoman and has a black-belt in kickboxing... That's something! And she's what? Five four, 5'5"? She's tiny!

JM: Yeah, but she's...

Yeah! She's quite built...

I mean muscularly, you perverts! In any case, Jean-Michel is back in mumbling mode and I can't make out the next few phrases...

NIC: I think she kicked-off the show really well tonight...

PASCAL: Yeah! She walked on stage and started singing and she really got the crowd going...

Definitely! When she walked on the stage I thought "Woo-hoo!"

PASCAL: I was really happy when she came on...

JM: It was a real high!

She was solid when she came on!...

Nic says something to Nancy who's nearby... They laugh.

Nancy! Come here!

NIC: Nancy asked me if I had a light and I told her my ass is on fire!

Nancy, you're Jean-Michel's girlfriend...

NANCY: Yes...

...Or at least most of the time...

She laughs, shyly...

JM: More often than not...

Hey! It's no secret that they've been on-again, off-again a few times, so I thought I'd tease them with it!

...And you're also the official designer for the Couch Potatoes...

Nancy is a professional graphic designer/illustrator.

So I'm going to ask you the same question I asked them for the sake of having somewhat of an outsider's opinion... Involved, but still outsider... Your long-term vision of the Couch Potatoes... Where are they going? How far are they going to go?

NANCY: How far they're going? Well, obviously, right now they've made it in Montreal, and the province of Quebec, but it's now also going over to England and it will surely spill over to France. It's a really good beginning and I really see a positive outlook for the future... If it can reach Asia, it will be really...

That would really be something... It would really be something... In our scene, not many people have managed to achieve this...

JM: There's Carl Craig, but...

Even then...

NANCY: I don't see why it couldn't happen...

Wait, Carl Craig or Carl Cox?

Nic says something I can't hear...

JM: There's that other guy whose managed to make it somewhat and become an influence musically...

Yeah, true, true, but still you take big name DJs like we have here tonight, Tenaglia and all that, and they don't play in Japan that often...

JM: Yeah, but DJing is a whole 'nother ball game...

NANCY: But that's what I mean though... They (the Couches) really have a special product in that it is "real" music, whereas those big names are only DJs and I think that because this is real music...

That's what I was saying earlier... The Couch Potatoes are an incarnation of what all DJs are trying to achieve, I mean being as good DJs as they are good producers or vice-versa and they have achieved it already...

NANCY: Yes...

Agreed, they have to be two guys, but I think that's their advantage: there's two of them. So the fact that they actually compose, not merely "produce" turns out to be quite an advantage for them...

NANCY: Right... Look at Daft Punk, they are two producers...

There's an unsaid truth here and it's that when the Daft Punk guys were last in Montreal as DJs, we all thought they sucked...
Sorry G.-E.d.H.-C. & T.B.Jr.

Right! Take what they have done on stage tonight... They could tour the world with that! A warm-up set by Nic followed by a performance by the Couches and...

NANCY: Exactly... I think it's a lot like Daft Punk and there's no one doing this here in Quebec...

It's WAY better!

In walks Eric Lapointe, the Couches manager. By now, you might have noticed that Nancy, Jean-Michel and the Couches manager all share the same last name. It's pure coincidence. They all come from the same area of the province. However, Eric Lapointe's - and later Jean-Michel's - ex-roommate, a very popular rock singer whose just released a very good 3rd album and who also happens to be named Eric Lapointe, IS related to Jean-Michel although they have found out just recently... A bit of gossip is always fun!

Oh! We now have among us the official manager of the Couches, Eric Lapointe, the man who rocks...

I mean rocks as in "rocking chair." Eric, when he is content, rocks himself, no matter where he's sitting or standing... It's a habit he doesn't control and he gets teased about it a lot...

I'm gonna ask you the same question I asked everyone... Where are the Couches going, in the long-term I mean. What's your long-term vision for the Couches?

PASCAL: All around the world!

Laughter. Pascal actually says this in English and I know he said that in reference to the earlier mention of Daft Punk...

This is a genuine interview for a Web site...

ERIC: Where it's going, where it's going... Fucking question, big question...

It's a big question for a big Web site... Where are the Couches going?

ERIC: I really, really, really, really, really have no idea...

Is there a limit somewhere?

ERIC: Oh! No! absolutely no limit... I have no idea how far they're gonna go...

It's gonna go around the world... It HAS to go around the world!

ERIC: That's obvious...

We agree on that...

ERIC: Oh! I see! "Where is it going?" It's gonna go all around the world...

Everyone laughs at Eric's complete lack of understanding of what I'm asking him...

I'm gonna ask you the other question I asked everyone, Jean-Michel and Nicolas a few minutes ago... Compare the Couch Potatoes to Masters at Work... As big? Bigger?

Very long pause...

ERIC: As big...

At least as big?

ERIC: At least as big...

How long you give them to get there?

Another LONG pause...

Realistically...

ERIC: At least... Hmmm...

ANOTHER long pause...

ERIC: ...Thirty thousand...

Now I'm laughing at his clear misunderstanding of everything I'm telling him...

No... (laughing) How much TIME... (laughing) Thirty thousand!

ERIC: Thirty thousand dollars... (Laughs)

I meant how much time, but...

ERIC: We need 30 000$ to get there... Time is money...

OK, good... Thanks! Where's Nic now?

ERIC: He must be, you know...

Is he still here?

As Eric walks away, he sees Nic and says...

ERIC: There he is...

He's leaving...

NIC: He's leaving... With his wife... With his wife and child... (He says that last part as if he's singing a "rigaudon," a type of folk song/dance)

One last word please... One last word...

NIC: One last word... Well fucking everyone I wanted to see tonight was here and Hilary made me cry and even Eric Lapointe rocked himself, so what else can I say...

(to Jean-Michel) A last word...

JM: Well... A last word... I thought it was cool to do this interview with you... It was wonderful... It just that... It would have been nice to talk even longer...

NIC: My baby was dancing on the dancefloor with my wife all around him!

Nic's girlfriend, Julie, is pregnant...

(to Julie) Julie, a few words...

JULIE: No, no, no...

NIC: Oh! Come one! A little word...

Please! One little word!

NIC: A cute little word...

Well, actually, she said three... She said "No, no, no!"

People say their good-byes and there's obviously some mismanipulation of the tape recorder (again), so it's back to Jean-Michel and I...

JM: ...It's all about the ambiance...

...Yeah, but the Couch Potatoes live, honestly, what is it, really?

JM: The Couch Potatoes live is musicians jamming over our productions... That's what we offer to the audience...

But you and Nic, in percentage...

JM: In percentage, it's 90% studio work and 10% of live performance...

What a 10%, though!

And Nic?

JM: Nic is there to support...

...Just Nic...

JM: Nic... Nic helps...

PASCAL: Yeah! Nic throws in tracks on top...

JM: What he does with his decks is really interesting, he creates moods... He does exactly with his decks as I do with my keyboards...

You're a liar... Get out of here!

JM: Good-bye...

And this, my friends, is how the interview ends... I like to provoke people like I just did and rest assured that Jean-Michel knows how I am. The interview ends like this solely because we were both tired of it. All in all, we were in that shower room for almost an hour. Besides, we had a whole lot of partying to do!