Petit Biscuit Mix and Q+A

French electro golden child Mehdi Benjelloun, better known as Petit Biscuit, has been traveling and touring the world with original music ever since the success of his international 2015 breakthrough summer hit "Sunset Lover."

The 19-year-old French producer has been taking the world by storm with his signature sound, forged through combining acoustic elements, innovative electronic production, and his trademark vocal manipulations. The eclecticism of this combination is reflective of Benjelloun's background in the polar spheres of electronica and classical music.

This summer, Petit Biscuit’s hit “We Were Young” ft. JP Cooper has captivated fans, amassing nearly five million streams since its late May release.

We are thrilled to welcome Petit Biscuit to KCRW for an exclusive guest mix on Metropolis. And don’t miss our exclusive Q+A with the golden child himself.

Petit Biscuit Exclusive Q+A

Hi Mehdi!

First off, can you please tell us the story behind your stage name Petit Biscuit?

In the beginning, I was looking for a stage name which could instantly define myself, something sweet and typically French. At the time I wasn’t really thinking much about that name, but now I’m pretty happy with it, I think it characterizes me well!

How did your life change after the success of your international hit "Sunset Lover”?

It changed for sure! Sunset lover wasn’t the first song I released, but the one that really propelled my project. Suddenly there was a lot of eyes on my work, and it became evident that I could try living from music, I started investing most of my time in my songs and touring in many countries. It’s with this song that I switched from “tiny bedroom producer” to something a lot more real.

What was it like creating your latest single “We Were Young”? How long did the creative process take, and did you have an idea of what you wanted to create before you started?

We Were Young is a pretty old song that was first called “Fake”. When I first created it I wasn’t sure how to tie it up, and when JP Cooper came along it really gave it that extra push it needed. Within a few hours together, we found a lot of ideas for the lyrics, the melody… Then we work our respective parts remotely, and finally met again in Paris to record his final vocals, and that was it!

Being so young, you have a long career ahead of you. Do you have any specific goals for the near future? What about the far-away future?

My focus right now is working on my original music, wrapping up as many songs as I can to prepare for the future. I’m also playing 4 festivals in Europe this summer, which is a pretty small tour but huge stages! So I’ve been preparing for that. The next steps are releasing new music, and create an entirely new live show. The one I’m playing right now is mostly based on my “Presence” album, and I want to take it to another step, incorporate new tracks and change a lot of the scenography. More to come in 2020!

What are some artists you are loving right now?

I love this band called LANY (you can hear this track called Thick and Thin in the middle of my mix). The freshest vibe of the moment. I also have the new Joji track “Sanctuary” on repeat since it came out. Some other artists that I love listening could be Loyle Carner, Sampha… I can listen to pretty much everything as long as it sounds good.

If you could curate your own festival line-up, who would be the headliners?

Let’s do it pretty big! Flume, Coldplay, and Bon Iver would be my ideal headliners.