General Elektriks

General Elektriks is the brainchild of Hervé Salters (also known as RV to his friends and contemporaries), a vintage keyboard aficionado, composer and songwriter. Born and raised in Paris, Hervé's hands first met the keyboard at age 8. He cut his teeth on classical music and quickly graduated to jazz improvisation. Hervé's talents flourished- at just 14, he purchased his first synth and started performing with local bands in Paris and London.

Hervé was gigging professionally by the age of 20. He discovered the Fender-Rhodes and recalls, "I was sold on the first note...those keyboards have so much soul. You get to develop a really intimate relationship with them, because you have to learn how to get the best out of them." Mesmerized by the range of dynamic sound available with the Rhodes, Hervé began seeking out similar vintage keyboards such as Clavinets, Hammonds and Wurlitzers. His skills and growing collection of keys quickly garnered him attention as the go-to Parisian for "vintage sound," scoring him session work with Femi Kuti, Lifesavas, Lateef & The Chief, DJ Mehdi, Lyrics Born and Blackalicious.

Time spent working on outside projects inspired Hervé to delve into his own compositions and General Elektriks was born. Using a laptop and his arsenal of vintage keys, he began working on a collection of sounds and rudimentary beats while he shuffled between Paris, Seattle and the Bay Area. The collection grew and evolved into a cohesive mélange of vintage textures treated with new techniques.

Cliquety Kliqk is the first album from General Elektriks, released in Europe on Compost Records and due for release in the US on Quannum Projects in August, 2005. The album features performances from Lateef the Truth Speaker and Chief Xcel.