General Elektriks is the musical project of French keyboard player, composer, singer, and producer Hervé Salters. He also uses the moniker RV, a contraction of the pronunciation of his first name in French.

History

Hervé Salters, a French national and vintage keyboard player, was playing keys for various artists in Paris (

Femi Kuti Olufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti (born 16 June 1962), popularly known as Femi Kuti, is a Nigerian musician born in London and raised in Lagos. He is the eldest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and a grandchild of political campaigner, women's r ...

Matthieu Chedid Matthieu Chedid (born 21 December 1971), better known by his stage name -M-, is a French rock singer-songwriter and guitar player. Since 2018, he has been the most awarded artist at the Victoires de la Musique Awards with 13 awards, tied with A ...

, Vercoquin,

DJ Mehdi Mehdi Favéris-Essadi (20 January 1977 – 13 September 2011), better known by his stage name DJ Mehdi, was a French hip hop and house music producer and DJ. He was signed to the label Ed Banger Records, founded by his friend Pedro Winter, in ...

) before he moved to San Francisco in 1999.General Elektriks biography

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

He started working on what would become General Elektriks as he was moving to the US. Once in California, he soon became associated with the Quannum Projects collective (Blackalicious, Lyrics Born, etc.) and started sessioning for them. He invited Quannum's own Lateef The Truthspeaker and Chief Xcel on a few tracks, then completed the 1st General Elektriks album, Cliquety Kliqk (2003). He released his debut album in 2003, ''Cliquety Kliqk'', which was produced by

Chief Xcel Blackalicious was an American hip-hop duo from Sacramento, California, made up of rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel. They are noted for Gift of Gab's often tongue-twisting, multisyllabic, complex rhymes and Chief Xcel's soulful pr ...

from

Blackalicious Blackalicious was an American hip-hop duo from Sacramento, California, made up of rapper Gift of Gab and DJ/producer Chief Xcel. They are noted for Gift of Gab's often tongue-twisting, multisyllabic, complex rhymes and Chief Xcel's soulful pr ...

and features a appearance from

Lateef the Truth Speaker Lateef Daumont, better known by his stage name Lateef the Truthspeaker, or mononymously as Lateef, is a hip hop artist from Oakland, California (United States). He is a member of several hip hop groups such as Latyrx, Lateef and the Chief, and ...

. ''Cliquety Kliqk'' was recorded on Salters's laptop in the period 2000-2003. Salters continued collaborating with Blackalicious, appearing on their album ''The Craft''. He began working with Quannum group

Honeycut Honeycut is a San Francisco–based band, part of the Quannum Projects. Its members are Bart Davenport (voice), RV Salters (keys and samples) and Tony Sevener (beats, MPC drum machine). The band was formed in 2003. It released its first album ...

, and released a sophomore full-length, ''Good City for Dreamers'', in 2009. The full-length ''Parker Street'' arrived in 2011. General Elektriks released the full-length ''To Be a Stranger'' and a live album, ''Punk Funk City'', in 2016, and the full-length ''Carry No Ghosts'' in 2018. Also in 2018, he appeared at the

Nice Jazz Festival The Nice Jazz Festival (, ), held annually since 1948 in Nice, on the French Riviera, is "the first jazz festival of international significance." At the inaugural festival, Louis Armstrong and his All Stars were the headliners. Frommer's calls it ...

.General Elektriks
Nice Jazz Festival.

Discography

* ''Cliquety Kliqk'' (

Quannum Projects Quannum Projects (also known as Quannum MCs) is an American hip hop collective based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has been active since 1992, when it was formed at UC Davis under the moniker Solesides Records. It is also the name of the i ...

, Bleu Electric; The Audio Kitchen, 2003) * ''Good City for Dreamers'' (Quannum, 2009) * ''Parker Street'' (Discograph, 2011) * ''To Be a Stranger'' (The Audio Kitchen, 2016) * ''Punk Funk City (Live)'' (The Audio Kitchen, 2016) * ''Carry No Ghosts'' (Wagram Music, 2018) * ''Party Like a Human'' (Wagram Music / 3ème Bureau, 2021}

References

External links

Official website
* {{Authority control French DJs French record producers Musicians from Paris Label Bleu artists Quannum Projects artists