He prefers vinyl, likes his mixes dirty, and knows how to rock a crowd with a heavy hitting bass line; Phil Week is the Parisian DJ and producer behind long-running, often flamboyant house label Robsoul Recordings. And as Defected's Ben Lovett found out, it's about to enter bold new territory...

Phil Weeks is about to fire out six artist albums in six summer weeks; each release supporting a wider Best Of Robsoul campaign. Robsoul has been running rather smoothly for nearly 12 years now and, alongside Weeks, loyal artists DJ Sneak, DJ W!ld, Chris Carrier, Joss Moog and Fries & Bridges (Weeks’ partnership with Hector Moralez) will be contributing long-players to celebrate the label’s emphatic success.

“I’ve never done anything like this before” Weeks begins. “It is, for sure, a big experiment. There are nearly 60 tracks being released in total, tracks from our back catalogue yes, but they’ve taken a long time to select and prepare. Robsoul has put out a lot of grooves in its time so the questions are always there about what do you pick? And how do you celebrate best? Even now I think of tracks I’d like to have maybe used.”

Most difficult, it seems, was the completing of Weeks’ own album: “I’m sure every artist feels the same way when it’s their own, personal work. We’re all perfectionists!” Nonetheless, the summary vibe of Best Of Robsoul, across all those different cuts, is remarkably consistent – matching, as one might expect, the label’s reputation for bombastic, swaggeringly funked-up and sample-blasted house. The Robsoul sound has lived long and prospered while much electronic music around it constantly, nervously almost, re-dresses.

“I never really thought about the music we were releasing in terms of a big masterplan,” Weeks urges. “I think the simplicity of our objectives is what has seen us through all the changes. I just wanted music that was funky and that people would want to hear, play, dance to.... I was always certain that Robsoul’s releases had feeling y’know; a positive sound that really grabs you. That can’t be said of all dance music.”

Best Of Robsoul kicks off on August 10 with Chris Carrier’s album; Carrier another celebrated Parisian house staple, albeit with considerable tech leanings. “Robsoul is funky and sexy, and there is a label sound” Weeks agrees, “but every artist has different ideas and perspectives so it’s only natural, and beneficial, that those things come to the surface when you build a roster and a label. My point is that Robsoul hasn’t sat still creatively. We’ve been consistent but not static.”

Did not those mid-Noughties years of starkly minimal 4-4 have an effect on business? “Not really,” comes the assured reply. “2004...5...6...they were the real years of that minimal sound, of that electro stuff.  Things were maybe a little tougher but I tweaked my releases and moved on. Right now, of course, there’s so much focus on melody again and soulful dance, and that’s really what I love and what works well for the label. But then again, we do what we do, whatever it is, and don’t think too much about things. That’s always been the way.”

2012 has been a particularly busy and fruitful year for Monsieur Weeks so far. It was only three months ago that he released his third artist album Raw Instrumental, a rich mix of acid jack, thumping bass, filter disco shimmy and lowdown nu-funk underpinned by his beloved Akai samplers (skilfully extracting snippets of retro grooves and Hollywood movies), all of which had dancefloors universally bouncing. Weeks’ love of old-school studio technology and technique was there for all to see.

“I like to think I apply it [older technology] in a modern way” he says. “But there’s something about those older samplers, and the 303s and 909s [Roland drum machines] that is unique. They give me the perfect sound quality and that is the most important thing. They have a soul. I’m not judging anyone else but the music I like is not usually based on digital loops. I need to feel my music; I work with the same kit I’ve had for ages now; it enables me to make music I can feel.”

Weeks’ point is confidently made. But is there absolutely no concern about where music technology might radically go next? Is there no worry that eventually his approach to production will become outdated and need rebooting?

“Maybe I am missing something here” he laughs. “It could well be the case that I am living in a bubble, shackled to the old school. But we all have choices and I am happy. However you make music you need to feel happy, motivated and spontaneous. My set-up gives me this, so I am not concerned about anything. It actually gives me the opportunity to make good mistakes; make those little human errors that provide character. Digital music making takes all of that away.”

Weeks was DJing well before the arrival of Robsoul, his decision to pursue to dance music as a career compounded by the boundary-breaking arrival of Daft Punk’s debut album Homework in 1996.  Local, energetic gigs in France quickly led to global spots (today, he has played everywhere from Brazil’s E-Edge to London’s Ministry and, of course, the Rex in Paris) and, in 1999, the decision to plan and execute a record label for his own fledgling productions.

“Robsoul was, originally, going to be a label just for my music. My early releases on it like It Put Me Well went better than I expected, so I had to re-think. Not much, but the focus of things needed to expand.” Legendary artists such as Derrick Carter, David Duriez, Paul Woolford, Carrier and Sneak would join the party.

Weeks’ own artistic vision also widened. A hugely successful debut album Yeah I Like That! arrived in 2003, balancing warm groove with sharp rushes of tech and acid; soulful Akai-dominated follow-up Love Affair may only have arrived last year but there were countless cuts in between – infectious workouts like Make You Wet (2006), Feel Like Dancin’ (2006) and Every Day All Day (2010).

The latter, featuring Weeks’ own deep, sexily muttered Gallic vocals, is arguably his biggest ever single. It featured, in turn, on Love Affair, marking a shift in studio tone – one that has been maintained by current long-player Raw Instrumental. “It’s in the last few years that I’ve fallen in love with hip-hop again and have been using my Akai MPC3000 [sampler] a lot more” he explains. “It’s something used by hip-hop producers and I think you can hear the influence of that culture, and of a funkier, more soulful vibe in my most recent work. I’m having the time of my life right now, making some of my most dope beats.”

Weeks is also embracing film and video in a big way. It’s a medium he believes clubland will use increasingly in the years to come: “Video is huge for me, a key new direction. I’m focusing on it as much as the music for sure. You have to spend a lot of time and money on it but I think the results are worth it. It compliments and enhances my work as a DJ and producer.”

Weeks recently launched his own TV show online, Phil Weeks Presents Underground Chronicles; his monthly (or so) recordings – accessible via www.ugroove.tv – present interviews and exclusive DJ and studio footage alongside zany comedy sketches. Such content will, moving forwards, be complimented by “massive” music videos for key Robsoul releases. Is there a danger that the visual might confuse the sonic?

“There is the odd cynic as not everyone in club music gives a lot of attention yet to video or even other creative channels. But I think that as long as it works with the beats and basslines then there is no problem” Weeks stresses. “People love the stuff I get up to in my films; I dress up as different characters... a pimp for example,  and do all kinds of crazy stuff. But all of this boosts my profile, and keeps me in people’s minds when it comes to new releases, or gigs, or whatever. The two can go hand in hand.”

So what is next then? “Everything is great man” he smiles. “I don’t demand much. I have my studio, straight out of the Eighties and Nineties; I have my friends, my weed, my life. It’s so good right now, I feel like I’m doing some really creative things at the moment.”

He continues: “There will be more from Robsoul without doubt, and I’m DJing more than ever. I play vinyl and CDs and that is enough; I don’t need Serrato or whatever, just a good crowd and the music, of course. There have already been some great parties this year. Belgium was good recently, and Bucharest.  They keep coming.”

Weeks is in a glorious world of his own....

Words: Ben Lovett

Robsoul Recordings’ Best Of Robsoul series begins with Chris Carrier’s mini-album, released on August 10; DJ Sneak follows August 17; Weeks, August 24; Joss Moog, August 31; DJ W!ld, September 7 and Fries & Bridges, September 14.