Interviews

Across 2025, Pegasvs set himself a deceptively simple challenge: release three records in a single year. What emerged was far more than a burst of productivity, it became In Search of, a fully formed sonic trilogy that charts personal evolution, creative renewal, and a deepening relationship with the musical languages that shaped him. From the bright jazz-flecked optimism of Extend & Play, to the introspective pulse of Music Not Numbers, and finally the reflective, sax-led collaboration Transition, the trilogy traces a journey that feels both intimately autobiographical and boldly exploratory.

For Pegasvs, these three records are less a conceptual exercise and more a lived timeline: the story of a Marseille kid who arrived in London with little more than a few savings, no network, and a hunger to create, now looking back after eleven years with a thriving label, a sharpened artistic voice, and the freedom to trust his own instincts. The trilogy is at once a nod to his roots, a dialogue with jazz and funk traditions, and a quiet pushback against the algorithmic pressures shaping today’s music ecosystem.

We caught up with Pegasvs to talk about the foundation of the trilogy, the epiphany that set its tone, the joy that drives his productions, and the subtle but powerful evolution that unfolds across these three releases. What follows is the story behind In Search Of: a year-long creative quest that ends not with answers, but with a new beginning.

Your trilogy begins with Extend & Play, moves through Music Not Numbers, and concludes with Transition. When you first started writing the early sketches for these records, did you already envision them as a connected body of work, or did the "trilogy” idea emerge naturally over time?

I started 2025 telling myself I would release three records this year. I was drawn by this idea because of a vinyl trilogy which really influenced me: the Boulevard Series released in the 1990s by St Germain. I really was super young when it came out. At the time I was doing an internship in a record shop, back in Marseille, my hometown. I remember vividly when the first EP arrived at the shop: a blue and white abstract cover with a massive F in the middle (it's been released by Laurent Garnier on his label, F Com). That trilogy changed everything for me. So yea, when i started writing the music, I knew it was going to be spread out on three volumes.

Extend & Play has this bright, jazz-flecked, almost celebratory energy, especially on the title track and “Wonky Business.” What was happening in your life or in the Burnin Music universe that pushed you toward this more colorful, fusion-leaning palette?

End of 2024 - Beginning of 2025 I had kind of an 'epiphany': I realized that the only person I had to satisfy, compare myself to and challenge with the music was myself. This ‘revelation' really set me free. I felt I could really be who ‘I was deep inside' and it helped me stop comparing myself with other producers. I think this is the very bright, almost euphoric energy you can feel in the first record of 2025.

Across all three records, there's a strong musicality, acoustic-leaning instrumentation, jazz modes, expressive chord work. What’s your personal relationship with jazz and funk, and how consciously did you weave those influences into the trilogy?

Jazz and Funk have always been at the core of how I hear music. Before I even touched a drum machine or a sampler, I was obsessed with the feel of those records: the swing, the soul in the chords, the sense that musicians were talking to each other in real time while playing. I started at age 23-24 with the classics: ‘Kind Of Blue’ by Miles Davis was the first jazz record I ever bought, then came Cannonball Aderley, Bill Evans, Roland Kirk… And I slowly moved to Jazz-Funk with Herbie Hancock, Roy Ayers, Patrice Rushen, Dexter Wansel, etc. When I started DJing in Paris, most of the 12”s I was digging for were either deep house built on jazz vocabulary or straight-up jazz-funk gems.

In the trilogy — Extend & Play, Music Not Numbers, and now Transition — those influences weren’t something I forced; they just seeped in. I’ve always been drawn to emotional chords, warm analogue sounds, and arrangements that leave space between the instruments. Whether it’s a Rhodes voicing, a flute line, or a bass progression that leans more “session musician” than “programmed,” that language is part of my musical DNA.

With Transition especially, the collaboration with Nathan Haines pushed that even further. His playing opened a new space for me to write in — more conversational, more emotional, more rooted in jazz tradition. So the trilogy isn’t me trying to make “jazz house,” but rather me letting those influences guide the atmosphere and storytelling of each record.

The track “Music Not Numbers” feels like a statement piece, a kind of soft protest against algorithmic listening. What was the moment that sparked that idea for you, and what does it mean for you as both a producer and label head watching the ecosystem shift?:

The idea behind “Music Not Numbers” came from a moment of frustration: realising how much of our scene is being shaped by quantitative data nowadays. Plays, saves, skip rates… all these little metrics dictate what is pushed, what is playlisted, what reaches people. As a producer and as someone who runs a label, I felt the shift very directly: I’d finish a track that meant a lot to me and then immediately be told to think about its “performance.” A bit sad….

“Music Not Numbers” is a reminder to myself first: The whole reason I started making music was because of emotional impact, not analytics. I grew up digging for records without any algorithm telling me what I should love. If something moved me — a chord change, a bassline, a sample — that was enough.

So the track became a soft protest, not in an aggressive way, but in a grounding way. A way of saying: let’s trust our ears again. Let’s let music breathe without constantly checking how it performs.

As a label head, it’s also about protecting the human side of discovery. Supporting artists who are taking risks, not just chasing trends. The ecosystem will always shift, but I think there’s still huge value in curation AND self-confidence in your own tastes: things no algorithm can replace.

The Music Not Numbers EP leans into themes of mood and feel, almost like the emotional arc holds as much weight as the club functionality. What was guiding you creatively during this second chapter compared to the more outward, dancefloor-driven energy of Extend & Play?

With Music Not Numbers, I wanted to explore a more introspective side of the music — to create an emotional journey that works both on and off the dancefloor. While Extend & Play was more focused on ‘club energy’ and those big ‘peak-time’ moments, this second chapter was about mood, atmosphere, and storytelling.

Creatively, I was guided by the idea that a record doesn’t need to be just a tool for the club — it can also be a space for reflection, for taking the listener somewhere deeper. I paid close attention to textures, chord progressions, and pacing to build that arc, making sure each track could stand alone but also contribute to a cohesive emotional flow.

Finally, my other big influence (after Kerri Chandler) is the music of Larry Heard... I love the fact that this man is able to produce a track like ‘Can You Feel it’ for ex. which has that ‘Big room’ energy and at the same time, he can come up with a song like ‘Missing You’: a super deep, introspective, beautiful moody tune for those moments when you need a ‘sonic blanket’! Love that versatility :)

“Trapped in Love” brings together euphoric vocals, acid lines, and a driving bassline. When you’re blending multiple emotional “temperatures” in one track, romantic, ravey, optimistic. How do you decide what leads and what supports?

It always starts with ‘identifying the track’. What is the tune i am working on? Is it a pumpin’ bassline, a catchy hook or, percussion… ? In “Trapped in Love,” even though there are acid lines, rave elements, and this big optimistic energy, the heart of the track is actually the vocal — that euphoric, romantic feeling. Once I understood that, everything else had to support that emotion rather than compete with it.

When I’m blending different “temperatures,” I think in terms of roles. A sound/instrument needs to carry the message, something else needs to create tension, and finally a last element needs to release it. In this case, the acid line brings a sense of urgency, the bassline keeps the momentum driving forward, and the chords and arrangement soften the edges and keep the track emotionally open.

The trilogy culminates in Transition, a collaboration with Nathan Haines. What did Nathan bring into the studio that fundamentally reshaped the direction or emotional tone of the finale? Was there a moment where you heard a sax phrase and thought, “This is the endpoint of the journey”?

Even working remotely, him in New Zealand, me in the UK, everything with Nathan felt effortless. He sent two takes, both incredible, and that was basically the whole session. True professional, true gentleman.

When I first heard that main sax phrase, it was a real moment. Not the endpoint of the journey, because the journey keeps evolving: this i’s why the track is called Transition. But it did feel like a new door opening, a shift in energy that perfectly wrapped the trilogy while pointing toward what comes next.

There’s a noticeably reflective, almost spiritual quality to “Transition” compared with the punchiness of the first two releases. Was the idea of “movement and creative renewal” something you discovered while writing, or something you went into the studio intentionally trying to express?

The feeling of movement and renewal definitely grew during the process — it wasn’t something I set out to force from the start. As the track took shape, especially with Nathan’s input, it just became clear that this record needed to reflect a kind of quiet evolution, something more reflective and spiritual compared to the punchier energy of the earlier releases

The Tom Laroye remix expands the single into jazz-tech and broken-beat territory. When you hand your music to another producer, especially someone with such a strong aesthetic, what do you hope for? A reinterpretation? A deconstruction? A translation?

Laroye and I worked in the past already. Back in 2020, during COVID, I produced a rather introspective tune called ‘Closer To The Sun’. It came out as a downtempo song, more contemplative and low tempo than my usual productions. At the time, I reached out to Laroye and asked him for a remix. He sent me back a super high-energy track, very bright, very positive, with a live singer and a flute player! He completely went beyond my expectations. His remix blew my mind and had quite a popularity on Bandcamp and the streaming platforms…

As the year went on and we reached the end of 2025, I felt I was in the same creative space with ‘Transition’, a more low-key, deep tune. So logically, I reached out to Laroye and just let him do his magic. Didn't ask for anything in particular and once again, he completely blew my mind with his remix which got a VERY different vibe from the original track.

As the trilogy moves forward, the rhythmic language seems to widen, house foundations, disco guitar riffs, broken rhythms, afro-centric percussive elements. Were you consciously mapping out a rhythmic evolution across the three records?

I didn’t set out with a strict plan for rhythmic evolution. But as a producer AND a DJ, I’ve always loved exploring different universes and music styles. As the trilogy unfolded, I naturally gravitated toward widening the rhythmic palette—bringing in disco guitars, broken beats, and some Afro-inspired percussion. It felt like the music needed to breathe and move in new ways to tell the story properly.

You’re the head of Burnin Music, and Extend & Play marks the label’s 20th release. How does running the label shape your creative decisions? Does the “Burnin Music identity” guide you, or is Pegasvs its own free-moving entity?

Running Burnin Music definitely influences me, but not in a restrictive way. The label has its own identity — warm, deep, club-orientated music — and I guess that naturally overlaps with who I am as Pegasvs.

But I don’t sit down thinking “I need to fit the Burnin Music sound.” Pegasvs is still its own thing, free to move and evolve. If anything, the label gives me the freedom to follow my own instincts rather than chasing trends. And that is because I am in capacity to release my own music - independently

Your records have a strong emphasis on joy, there’s always light, warmth, uplift, even in the deeper moments. In a time when a lot of underground music leans darker or moodier, why is joy something you return to?

I think the world is in a pretty dark place right now, and I feel that every day. So when I’m in the studio, I naturally gravitate toward light, warmth, and a sense of joy. It’s not about ignoring reality, it’s more about creating something that lifts the mood, even for a moment.

That’s the energy I want to put out there. If the music can brighten things up a bit, for the listeners and for myself, then I've completed my mission.

The trilogy is titled In Search Of. What exactly were you “in search of”? A sound? A feeling? A way of working? Or was it the process itself that revealed the answer?

I think I was really in search of all of that—a sound, a feeling, a way of working. But mostly, it was about trusting the process and seeing where it led. Each record revealed something new, and the journey itself became the answer.

It is also a personal statement to where I'm at in my personal life: I came to London 11 years ago, with a very small amount of savings, no network as a DJ, and the urge to create. I didn't had a record label, I wasn't producing music at all.

Now it’s 2025, Burnin Music have had 5 releases this year: 3 vinyl (my trilogy) and 2 digital releases (by other artists). I've never released so much music since moving to this country. I have in a way reached a specific stage of my search, but the search continues and this trilogy marks that quest…!

Looking back now that the trilogy is complete, do you see it more as a personal evolution, a technical evolution, or an emotional one? Which of the three releases feels closest to who you are today?

It’s definitely all three: personal, technical, and emotional growth wrapped into one.

Each release captures a different side of me at that moment. But if I had to pick, ‘Transition’ feels closest to where I am now—more reflective, more open, and still curious about what’s next.

If someone only discovers you after this trilogy, what’s the one thing you hope they take away from these three records when listened to as a whole?

I made this trilogy as a kind of legacy: a physical body of work in a world that feels more and more virtual every day.

That alone feels like a big achievement.

There’s more music to come, but 2025 is definitely the year of ‘In Search Of’. I hope when people discover these records, they appreciate the depth and care that went into them, sonically but also graphically. And that each track continues to reveal new layers years down the line…

Check out the latest release from Pegasvs.