Music was a second choice career for Parisian techno and house producer, dj, Shonky  who studied math and statistics for five years and was supposed to go into finance. But as a dedicated clubber since his teens the lure of electronic music and culture proved too strong.

Shonky bought a pair of decks though he admits he had no idea what to do with them at first. He picked up many of his tips at Dan Ghenacia’s infamous Batofar after-parties, where he struck up a friendship with Dan, Dyed, and the rest of the Freak n’ Chic crew. He created a signature sound, delivered a few solid EPs, topped the charts, landed a nice place with a “few” big labels, and  moved to Berlin.

On Saturday Sept 29th, Jade, Phil, Ronin & Nesta welcomes Shonky at Sporting Beach Club, Beirut.

Greatest inspirations or influences?

When I started to go out raving around 98, one of the first after parties I went to was Dan Ghenacia’s Batofar party in Paris. It was here where I first discovered the West Coast sound that Dan was playing, and inviting dj’s from the scene every week. This psychedelic deep house has been one of my greatest influences, dj’s like DJ Garth, DJ Rasoul, Kerri Chandler, Gemini, and Derrick Carter were all major inspirations.

Most memorable set so far?

Its hard to choose just one but I would have to say the most memorable so far was my 12 hour back2back with Dan Ghenacia at Panorama Bar last April. It was a magical night at one of my favorite places to play. We weren’t even tired after, in fact we were so energized by the experience we could have kept on going for 12 hours more ! as I’m writing this I’m getting excited for tomorrow, another back2back with Dan at Panorama…

Highlight of summer 2012? It was for sure our Apollonia party at DC10 in August. All our friends were there in one of the best clubs in the world. It means so much to do a party at DC10 because I started to party there back in 2000 and so it feels like home. We played for more than 8 hours back2back all night long with Dyed Soundorom and Dan Ghenacia.

What your most looking forward to about Beirut?

I went there a few years ago and stayed in Beirut almost a week, I went from the north to the south and really enjoyed the people and the country. I’m staying for a few days this time because i already know its going to be a blast !

Anything else?

Get ready for a big one and see u soon !