Brad Knutson

According to their press bio, Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay first met each other at a North Paris party where de Rosnay was "spitting in a girl's hair." Apparently this made quite an impression on Augé, as not long after the two began working on music together. Not long after this Augé and Gaspard found themselves at another party, where they happened to run into Daft Punk manager Pedro Winter. Later in the night, they played him their bedroom-recorded remix of Simian's "Never Be Alone" and Winter was immediately hooked. He told the duo he wanted to release the track himself and soon 1,000 copies of the track were pressed on Winter's label, Ed Banger Records.

"We just wanted to do kind of a pop song, and it ended up in the clubs," says Augé about the track that made them an international sensation. The duo has since become highly sought after producers, and their resume is already padded with high-profile remixes for the likes of Fatboy Slim, Soulwax, Franz Ferdinand and even Britney Spears. Not surprisingly, the runaway success of these fashionable Parisians on the club circuit has garnered them numerous comparisons to a certain other French dance duo. "It's just unavoidable," says Auge, "we share the same manager, we are friends...every two months you can read about how we're the next Daft Punk, but we don't take it really seriously."

This summer, Justice signed a US distribution deal with Vice Records, which is now presenting these French dance sensations to American shores for the first time. "They have loads of artists we like," says Augé, talking about their new domestic partners, "so yeah, we are really proud." In addition to their "Waters of Nazareth" EP that is out now, the duo is currently wrapping up work on their full-length debut, which is slated for release next spring. According to Gaspard, the new record will not disappoint fans who have come to love their "heavy metal disco" sound. "There's a lot of melodies in it, some beats and distortion... but the new album is really about disco."

Justice performs at Smart Bar, 3730 North Clark, (773)549-0203, on November 2 at 10pm. $10.

(2006-10-31)

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