Martin Solveig: “Madonna was very gentle with William. With me, she was more harsh and direct”
February 22, 2012 Interviews

Martin Solveig: “Madonna was very gentle with William. With me, she was more harsh and direct”

Steven Bellery, French journalist for radio RTL France and PureCharts, recently interviewd Martin Solveig.
Madonnarama translated the most interesting parts…

At first, Madonna only hired you for one track…
MARTIN SOLVEIG: Yes. About ten different producers were contacted. Madonna wanted to work with two or three of them to keep a certain coherence in the album. We had a great connection and in the end we worked on six tracks.

Have you met William Orbit?
MARTIN SOLVEIG: It was a pretty crazy encounter. We laughed a lot in the studio. At one time, we were working together. He in his own studio, I was in mine, but in the same building. Madonna went from one room to the other. We exchanged a lot.
We’re quite the opposite, William and I… in everything…
William is English, I’m French. He’s tall, I’m small. He’s very messy, I’m quite organised.
Madonna’s the opposite of the producer she’s working with.
She was very gentle with him. With me, she was more harsh and direct.
She’s somebody who pushes people and I think that she allows them to give it their best.

Did she ask you something specific? Did she give you any guidelines?
MARTIN SOLVEIG: She wanted to smile.
With William [Orbit] she was more introspective. To me, she said: “When people listen to your songs, I want them to smile. It’s what I like in your work. In general, when listening to your songs, it’s positive.”
She thinks it’s something that’s currently missing today and people need that.

Could the leak of “Give me all your Luvin'” have consequences on the release of MDNA?
MARTIN SOLVEIG: If the full album would have leaked, it would have made her rethink the whole project… the album, a new tour. I’m quite sure about that.
She really wants to come back for her fans. When you work so hard, you don’t want unfinished versions to leak on the internet.
I think she was really dissapointed and a bit hurt…

Is she generous in her business deals?
MARTIN SOLVEIG: Yes! She’s very genereous on the copyright and credits. She’s very fair. I would have done it for free any way (laughs).
And if it needs to be redone, I’ll do it immediately…

If Madonna asks you to play a DJ set at the Stade de France on July 14th, would you say yes?
MARTIN SOLVEIG: I can’t confirm this at the moment… But there’s a big chance that I won’t be far from the field that day… (laughs)

Read previous interviews by Martin Solveig to French radio Europe 1 and to French newspapre Le Parisien!


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