Kavinsky

Vincent Belorgey[2] (born 31 July 1975), known professionally as Kavinsky, is a French musician, producer, DJ, and actor.[3][4] His production style is reminiscent of the electropop film soundtracks of the 1980s.[5] Kavinsky claims that his music is inspired by thousands of movies he watched as a young boy and that he has cherry-picked the best parts from them, consolidating them into one concept.[6] Kavinsky has been compared to many similar French house artists, including Danger and French duo Daft Punk. He achieved greater mainstream recognition after his song "Nightcall" was featured in the 2011 film Drive. His debut studio album, OutRun, was released in 2013.

Kavinsky
Kavinsky in 2014
Background information
Birth nameVincent Pierre Claude Belorgey
Born (1975-07-31) 31 July 1975
Seine-Saint-Denis, France
Genres
Years active2005–present
Labels

Biography
Kavinsky in 2007

After many years as an actor, Kavinsky's musical career started in 2005 after being inspired by his close friends Jackson Fourgeaud and Quentin Dupieux, the latter director also included Kavinsky's music in his film Steak. During this period Kavinsky produced his first single "Testarossa Autodrive" which was inspired by the Testarossa model of Ferrari (one of which Vincent drives in real life).[6] Kavinsky presented the single to Quentin, who in turn presented it to a record label he had access to because of his filming career, and Kavinsky signed with Record Makers.[7][8]

Kavinsky went on to release three EPs on the Record Makers label: Teddy Boy in 2006, 1986 a year later, and Nightcall with Lovefoxxx of CSS in 2010.[8] Kavinsky toured alongside Daft Punk, The Rapture, Justice, and SebastiAn in 2007.[9]

The SebastiAn remix of "Testarossa Autodrive" off the 1986 EP is featured in the video games Grand Theft Auto IV and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Kavinsky's single "Nightcall" was featured in the opening credits of the film Drive, and became a major hit soon after.[9]

In December 2012 he released "ProtoVision" and on 25 February 2013 released his debut studio album OutRun.[10][11]

In November 2021, he returned from his seven year hiatus with the lead single "Renegade" from his second studio album Reborn.[12] The song is produced by Gaspard Augé and Victor Le Masne.

Character history

Kavinsky is a character made by Vincent Belorgey that has a striking resemblance to Vincent himself but the backstory does not follow anything in Belorgey's history. Kavinsky's story is that after crashing his Testarossa in 1986, he reappeared as a zombie in 2006 to make his own electronic music.[7] Kavinsky's songs help tell his story; Vincent claims in an interview, "'Night Call' is just about the zombie guy [who] goes to his girlfriend's house and says okay I'm not the same, we need to talk", referring to Kavinsky going back to find his girlfriend after the crash who has already moved on with her life.[8]

Equipment

In interview, Kavinsky stated that the entirety of Teddy Boy was written and recorded on a Yamaha DX7, which was famous and notable for the synth-pop sound of the 1980s.[13] Kavinsky originally started making music on an old Apple computer given to him by his friend Mr. Oizo.[8]

Discography

Studio albums
Title Album details Peak positions
FRA
[14]		 BEL
(Fl)
[15]		 BEL
(Wa)
[16]		 SWI
[17]
OutRun 2 37 28 38
Reborn
  • Released: 25 March 2022
  • Label: Record Makers
  • Formats: CD, digital download, vinyl
 13
[18]		 172 20 32

Extended plays
Year Title Release date Label
2006 Teddy Boy 16 January 2006 Record Makers
2007 1986 20 February 2007
2008 Blazer 1 July 2008 Fool's Gold Records
2010 Nightcall 26 March 2010 Record Makers
2011 Nightcall (Anniversary Edition) 11 November 2011
2013 ProtoVision 11 February 2013
Odd Look 22 February 2013

Singles
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
FRA
[14]		 BEL
(Fl)
[15]		 BEL
(Wa)
[16]		 SWI
"Nightcall"
(featuring Lovefoxxx)		 2010 102816— OutRun
"Roadgame" 2012 12——*74
"ProtoVision" 52———
"Odd Look"
(featuring SebastiAn)		 2013 46———
"Blizzard" 167———
"Odd Look"
(featuring The Weeknd)		 —1810— Odd Look and Kiss Land
"Renegade"[19]
(featuring Cautious Clay)		 2021 ———— Reborn
"Zenith" 2022 ————
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released.

* Did not appear in the official Belgian Wallonia Ultratop 50 chart, but peaked at number 32 on the Ultratip chart.

Remixes
Year Artist Title
2007Klaxons"Gravity's Rainbow"
M.I.A."Roder" (A-Trak Re-work)
2008Sébastien Tellier"Roche"
2011SebastiAn"Embody"

Music videos
Year Title Director Release date Label
2006 "Testarossa Autodrive" Jonas & François 23 June 2006 Record Makers
2009 "Dead Cruiser" — February 2009
2012 "ProtoVision"[20] Marcus Herring 12 December 2012
2013 "Odd Look" 6 August 2013
2021 "Renegade" Alexandre Courtès 19 November 2021

Soundtracks
Year Title Director Song
2011The Lincoln LawyerBrad Furman"Nightcall"
2011DriveNicolas Winding Refn"Nightcall"

Video games
Year Title Platform Song
2007Gran Turismo 5 ProloguePlayStation 3"Testarossa Autodrive (SebastiAn Remix)"
2008Grand Theft Auto IVPlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows"Testarossa Autodrive (SebastiAn Remix)"
2008Midnight Club: Los AngelesPlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable"Wayfarer"
2013KavinskyDownloadable app, Mac OS, Microsoft WindowsOutRun album
2013Gangstar VegasDownloadable appNightcall
2022MLB The Show 22PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch"Renegade (feat. Cautious Clay)"

Filmography
Year Title Director Role
2001NonfilmQuentin DupieuxPattt
2003AaltraGustave Kervern and Benoît DelépineAgent SNCF
2004Atomik Circus, le retour de James BatailleDidier Poiraud and Thierry PoiraudBoon / Ricardo Bello-Radio Skotlett
2005UltranovaBouli LannersVerbrugghe
2007SteakQuentin DupieuxDan

References
  1. Christopher Higgins (29 July 2014). "The 7 Most Essential Synthwave Artists". Nerdglow.com. Archived from the original on 25 September 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
  2. As credited in the film Drive.
  4. "Kavinsky Game Lands on Google Play, French House Music and Ferraris Forever". www.droid-life.com. 8 July 2013.
  5. "Portishead's Geoff Barrow to release 'Drive' soundtrack on vinyl | News". Nme.Com. 2 March 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  6. "Kavinsky on BIGSTEREO". This.bigstereo.net. 5 October 2011. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  7. Rhoads, Celeste. "Kavinsky - Music Biography, Credits and Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  8. Belorgey, V. (5 October 2011). Kavinsky (Interview by A. Mendoza & R. Oh) [Blog post]. Retrieved from BIGSTEREO website: "Kavinsky on BIGSTEREO". Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  9. Linkedin, & Slideshare. (28 January 2012). Kavinsky (Speech transcript). Retrieved 12 December 2012, from Slideshare website
  10. Staff. (10 December 2012). Kavinsky: "ProtoVision" (Steam/Official Video) Editorial. Retrieved 14 December 2012, from Prefixmag website
  11. "Timeline Photos". Facebook. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  12. Middleton, Ryan (19 October 2021). "Kavinsky Announces New Album 'Reborn,' Single Arriving Next Month". Magnetic Magazine. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  13. "Kavinsky Interview". YouTube. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2013.
  14. "lescharts.com - Discographie Kavinsky". lescharts.com.
  15. "Kavinsky page". Ultratop.be/nl/. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  16. "Kavinsky page". Ultratop.be/fr/. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  17. "Discographie Kavinsky". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  18. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums – SNEP (Week 13, 2022)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  19. Aubrey, Elizabeth (19 November 2021). "Kavinsky shares first new music in over eight years with 'Renegade'". NME. Archived from the original on 21 November 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  20. "Kavinsky - Protovision". YouTube. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
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