Volume 1, Issue 2 |
Pascal “CLAPS” Guyon has mastered, not only playing the piano/keyboards, he’s mastered producing quality
Salsa, Pop, Rock, R&B, and Hip-Hop music. He has done it so well that he made a name for himself in America’s
music industry all the way from his one bedroom apartment in France.
I Am Entertainment Magazine sat down with the new LA resident to check out some hits and talk about his
journey.
IAE: Where are you from and how did you come up with the name CLAPS?
PG: I’m from Erbray, a very small village on the western edge of France (about 1 hour off the coast of the
Atlantic Ocean). When I got into production, I was doing mostly R&B and Hip-Hop, so my first publisher thought
it would be good for me to have a producer’s nickname. We chose the name CLAPS (almost the same as
Pascal) because I was using a lot of hand claps in my music.
IAE: What instruments do you play and how long have you been playing?
PG: I play the piano/keys, and have been playing since I was a child. My parents told me when I was 2 I was
kind of imitating playing piano on the kitchen table. It’s funny, because I love to cook and play piano so it makes
sense that I would be doing that at the kitchen table (laughs).
IAE: What school did you attend in France?
PG: I graduated from 2 French conservatories of music with special mention in classical piano. I also studied
jazz with some of the biggest names in Europe during Jazz Camp sessions. One of my favorite genres to listen
to and perform is Cuban music. I’ve played with one of the best Cuban music/culture specialist in Europe,
Olivier Congar, with whom I went twice to Cuba learning and playing with the biggest names there.
IAE: What musicians and producers have inspired your music?
PG: Wow, there are so many people! There is French composer/arranger, Maurice Ravel (please listen to
Daphnis and Chloé). Also, my classical piano teachers in France, were awesome (Patrice Oger, Christian Janin,
Jacques Delannoy). Then there are Jazz musicians like Benoit Sourisse, Andy Emler, and Denis Badault; each
of whom I’ve studied under and they made me think “outside of the box.”
As for Cuban music, my main influence as a Salsa pianist is “El Melon“ (Ivan Lewis Gonzales), and definitely the
young genius, Rolando Luna. As for vocal arrangements, Take 6 is my main influence. I spend hours, days,
and weeks studying them.
IAE: I saw a video of you, on YouTube, playing Salsa music on a keyboard upside down! How did you
learn to do that and how long did it take you to learn it?
PG: (laughs) One day I was watching this amazing Latin pianist, Julio Cesar Corea, doing it and I thought I
would try it. It’s actually not that difficult to be honest.
IAE: Wow, that’s a lot! So, when you were in France, how hard was it to break into the music
business in America?
PG: Extremely hard. So hard in fact, that I would say you have to be a little crazy to really want to break into this
business!
IAE: You had a lot of major music executives in the states trying to sign you to their companies as a
producer. How did you get them interested in you?
PG: When I was in France, I worked hard to get my music heard by people outside of my country, especially
people in the US. In 2007, when MySpace was hot and everyone in the US music business had a profile on
there, I developed a strategy using software that allowed me to send out tons of comments and messages to
people in the US music industry from my page on the site. MySpace also helped me understand who was
working with who in the states, so that I could focus on specific people. Then as people would come to my
MySpace page and hear music, they would contact me. This led to a lot of them talking about deals with me. But
I built the lion’s share of my connections in the US, through my MySpace page.
IAE: When did you move to America, and why did you choose Los Angeles?
PG: I moved to America in February 2009. I chose LA because that was the city I knew the most about. Also, it’s
the place to be if you want to make music and meet people, because everyone comes to, or lives in, LA.
Actually, Grammy Winning producer, Walter Afanasieff, brought me to LA the first time in summer of 2008. I met
him through music exec, Chris Ivery, who is married to TV star, Ellen Pompeo.
IAE: How important is it for producers and songwriters to make sure they do paperwork so they can
get paid?
PG: I would say it’s super important because even when the papers are looking ok, you still may get screwed!
You need to make sure you have a great attorney. This business is super shady, especially now that the
economy is all messed up. I would say I’ve been cheated in almost all of first deals and song placements.
IAE: What other areas of the entertainment business are you looking to get into?
PG: I’m definitely interested in meeting people with knowledge of the business, who follow their instincts and go
for what they know. It’s sad to see that, nowadays, young people have almost no understanding of what real
music is. This also goes for life in general, they just don’t understand anything. Knowledge is the key, and so is
developing your instincts. So, depending on the types of people I meet, I might consider other business
opportunities in film composing or things like this.
IAE: Where would you like to see CLAPS in the next 5 years?
PG: My goal is to build production teams for each genre of music that I do. For example, I ‘d love to have a Latin
music production team, a dance production team, a pop production team, etc. I want to make timeless music
with each team. The kind of songs that I will still like when I’m too old to produce anymore.
ARTISTS CLAPS HAS WORKED WITH:
IN USA: [1] D.O.E. (Timbaland’s artist), [2] Anthony Hamilton, [3] Leona Lewis, [4] Heavy D
IN FRANCE: [1] Jorell, [2] Mathieu Edward’s [3] Kayna Samet
IN UK: [1] Jodie Aysha
IN ASIA: [1] Super Junior (Korea) [2] TVXQ/DBSK (Korea) [3] Lolipop (China)
Salsa, Pop, Rock, R&B, and Hip-Hop music. He has done it so well that he made a name for himself in America’s
music industry all the way from his one bedroom apartment in France.
I Am Entertainment Magazine sat down with the new LA resident to check out some hits and talk about his
journey.
IAE: Where are you from and how did you come up with the name CLAPS?
PG: I’m from Erbray, a very small village on the western edge of France (about 1 hour off the coast of the
Atlantic Ocean). When I got into production, I was doing mostly R&B and Hip-Hop, so my first publisher thought
it would be good for me to have a producer’s nickname. We chose the name CLAPS (almost the same as
Pascal) because I was using a lot of hand claps in my music.
IAE: What instruments do you play and how long have you been playing?
PG: I play the piano/keys, and have been playing since I was a child. My parents told me when I was 2 I was
kind of imitating playing piano on the kitchen table. It’s funny, because I love to cook and play piano so it makes
sense that I would be doing that at the kitchen table (laughs).
IAE: What school did you attend in France?
PG: I graduated from 2 French conservatories of music with special mention in classical piano. I also studied
jazz with some of the biggest names in Europe during Jazz Camp sessions. One of my favorite genres to listen
to and perform is Cuban music. I’ve played with one of the best Cuban music/culture specialist in Europe,
Olivier Congar, with whom I went twice to Cuba learning and playing with the biggest names there.
IAE: What musicians and producers have inspired your music?
PG: Wow, there are so many people! There is French composer/arranger, Maurice Ravel (please listen to
Daphnis and Chloé). Also, my classical piano teachers in France, were awesome (Patrice Oger, Christian Janin,
Jacques Delannoy). Then there are Jazz musicians like Benoit Sourisse, Andy Emler, and Denis Badault; each
of whom I’ve studied under and they made me think “outside of the box.”
As for Cuban music, my main influence as a Salsa pianist is “El Melon“ (Ivan Lewis Gonzales), and definitely the
young genius, Rolando Luna. As for vocal arrangements, Take 6 is my main influence. I spend hours, days,
and weeks studying them.
IAE: I saw a video of you, on YouTube, playing Salsa music on a keyboard upside down! How did you
learn to do that and how long did it take you to learn it?
PG: (laughs) One day I was watching this amazing Latin pianist, Julio Cesar Corea, doing it and I thought I
would try it. It’s actually not that difficult to be honest.
IAE: Wow, that’s a lot! So, when you were in France, how hard was it to break into the music
business in America?
PG: Extremely hard. So hard in fact, that I would say you have to be a little crazy to really want to break into this
business!
IAE: You had a lot of major music executives in the states trying to sign you to their companies as a
producer. How did you get them interested in you?
PG: When I was in France, I worked hard to get my music heard by people outside of my country, especially
people in the US. In 2007, when MySpace was hot and everyone in the US music business had a profile on
there, I developed a strategy using software that allowed me to send out tons of comments and messages to
people in the US music industry from my page on the site. MySpace also helped me understand who was
working with who in the states, so that I could focus on specific people. Then as people would come to my
MySpace page and hear music, they would contact me. This led to a lot of them talking about deals with me. But
I built the lion’s share of my connections in the US, through my MySpace page.
IAE: When did you move to America, and why did you choose Los Angeles?
PG: I moved to America in February 2009. I chose LA because that was the city I knew the most about. Also, it’s
the place to be if you want to make music and meet people, because everyone comes to, or lives in, LA.
Actually, Grammy Winning producer, Walter Afanasieff, brought me to LA the first time in summer of 2008. I met
him through music exec, Chris Ivery, who is married to TV star, Ellen Pompeo.
IAE: How important is it for producers and songwriters to make sure they do paperwork so they can
get paid?
PG: I would say it’s super important because even when the papers are looking ok, you still may get screwed!
You need to make sure you have a great attorney. This business is super shady, especially now that the
economy is all messed up. I would say I’ve been cheated in almost all of first deals and song placements.
IAE: What other areas of the entertainment business are you looking to get into?
PG: I’m definitely interested in meeting people with knowledge of the business, who follow their instincts and go
for what they know. It’s sad to see that, nowadays, young people have almost no understanding of what real
music is. This also goes for life in general, they just don’t understand anything. Knowledge is the key, and so is
developing your instincts. So, depending on the types of people I meet, I might consider other business
opportunities in film composing or things like this.
IAE: Where would you like to see CLAPS in the next 5 years?
PG: My goal is to build production teams for each genre of music that I do. For example, I ‘d love to have a Latin
music production team, a dance production team, a pop production team, etc. I want to make timeless music
with each team. The kind of songs that I will still like when I’m too old to produce anymore.
ARTISTS CLAPS HAS WORKED WITH:
IN USA: [1] D.O.E. (Timbaland’s artist), [2] Anthony Hamilton, [3] Leona Lewis, [4] Heavy D
IN FRANCE: [1] Jorell, [2] Mathieu Edward’s [3] Kayna Samet
IN UK: [1] Jodie Aysha
IN ASIA: [1] Super Junior (Korea) [2] TVXQ/DBSK (Korea) [3] Lolipop (China)
| Pascal 'CLAPS' Guyon - Multiplatinum Producer |
The classically trained pianist, turned record producer’s journey from France to
LA
LA
| CLAPS |
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