Justice—the rock-influenced, electro duo Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosnay—have been rocking dance floors across the world since 2003.
The two met and shared a common interest in graphic design and music. “It was a really special dream of ours to become musicians,” Gaspard explains. “We both studied graphic design, and when I first met Xavier I was working as a freelance graphic designer and he was at school, and we just made music to escape boredom—some guys go to the movies or I don’t know what, but we made music.”
They met Pedro Winter of Ed Banger Records (Daft Punk, Uffie, etc.) through Gaspard’s schoolmate So Me. “So Me and I were at the same graphic-design school, and he started working with Pedro since the beginning of Ed Banger. We met [Pedro] just by chance because Pedro knew we were making music.” Gaspard says they cobbled together a remix of the Simian track “Never Be Alone” for a college-radio-station remix contest using just a keyboard—they couldn’t afford a computer at the time. They played the track for Pedro and “then two weeks later we were signed on Ed Banger.”
Gaspard grew up listening to heavy metal and pop music. “Around 11 or 12, I was listening to my older cousin’s records, which were like Iron Maiden and classic metal.” He describes their new album as a combination of extremes. “We would select some really aggressive sounds and some really romantic music—we didn’t want the album to be middle of the road, but to go from one extreme to another.”
They DJed in Chicago last year, but Gaspard explains that this year’s performance will be much different. “When we played in Chicago last year, I wasn’t there because I was, like, dying in my hotel room—I was sick. This year is a live show. It’s a blend of the music we recorded and us playing over it.” (Hilary Rawk)
Justice joins the Midnight Juggernauts at Metro, 3730 North Clark, (773)549-0203, October 17, at 9pm. $21 Justice only, $26 includes admission downstairs to Smart Bar for Erol Alkan along with DJs Bald Eagle, Popstatic and Konsept. 10pm. $5 before 11pm, $10 after 11pm.
