Dombresky Swings From the Rafters With New EP, Sound of the Drums

Montpellier native Dombresky couldn't tell you where or when the French got their groove. Maybe Daft Punk laid out the blueprint for future producers. Perhaps colonialism usurped the sound from faraway lands.

"This is the golden question," Dombresky (AKA Quentin Dombres) tells New Times. I never have the perfect answer."

Nebulous origins aside, one thing French electronic producers have been able to make uniquely their own is the funk-induced touch that is inherently within their veins, from Daft Punk to Justice to Bob Sinclair.

The groove is precisely why Dombresky and his suave and luscious house music repeatedly find their way to Miami. His next appearance is set for Friday, February 9, at Club Space.

"What more can I say? It's one of the best clubs, and you can play anything and go deep," Dombres says from his home in Los Angeles. Dombres alludes to a funk-thrilled, beatific house set that can keep the crowd going well past sunrise.

Dombres began his career in the late 2000s. Like many of his DJing forefathers, he started spinning hip-hop around local clubs while studying at university. He simply asked the venues' management if he could spin one night when they weren't programming electronic music. "I was ending the night at 6 a.m. and didn't have time for school, so I just gave up the school," he adds.

Eventually, he transitioned from spinning hip-hop to dropping house tracks. The switch may seem arbitrary, but Dombres described the connection between the two sounds. He was there at the right time when electronic music was becoming the new flavor and hip-hop waned in France. He took to it and went with the genre's signature four-on-the-floor beat.

"There's a connection. I always think about Arman Van Helen's 'You Don't Know Me,'" he explains. "It's the perfect mix between soulful house and R&B. I started with scratching on vinyl, and then I always loved house culture with Daft Punk and Sinclair and all those guys. The disco-house scene was pretty interesting, and one day, it was like, 'Bye-bye hip-hop; I'm going to be a house DJ.'"

Dombres moved to Miami for six months in 2016 with hopes of becoming a full-time DJ. However, the city proved too challenging to get a foot in the door, so he decamped to Los Angeles, where he miraculously found earning a living as a DJ easier. Dombres honed in on his production, releasing his debut EP, Reaching Perfection, in 2016 via Fool's Gold. Soon after the release of his track "Soul Sacrifice" in 2019, he caught the ear of California event promoter Insomniac.
"Being a DJ isn't enough," says Dombres. "In 2015, I started to learn how to produce. I had been a drummer for a long time, so I had some references, and I was friends with people like DJ Snake. We were renting studios in Paris, and they taught me."

Dombres continues to be a steadfast producer. His latest EP, Sound of the Drums, was produced in collaboration with English duo Jaded and is slated for release on February 1 via Diplo's Higher Ground label.

Jaded and Dombresky have teased listeners with the single "All for You." The track never keeps its foot off the accelerator or puts the roof up as Dombres adds the elusive French touch via plucking bass and orchestral strings prominently used in disco songs.

"We've been friends for a long time, and we just decided to make music together," Dombres says. "We started with 'All for You' and thought we should turn it into an EP. We then sent it to Higher Ground."

Dombres has also recently adopted a new alias, Disco Dom, allowing him to drop disco classics while building up the energy with contemporary disco-house tracks. He brought his disco-flavored moniker to Floyd last year and hopes to bring the side project to other cities. "It started as an unserious project, but people loved it," he explains. "I loved it and decided to push music under the name and do a small tour."

For 2024, Dombres teases a slew of releases — almost one a month — while continuing to spin in clubs around the globe. It's hard to believe that the producer stepped on U.S. soil only eight years ago with a USB stick and a dream.

"I feel like time is going faster and faster," he says. "That's why we have to celebrate. Coming to America with $700 in my account to today — I am grateful. So many shows. Just so many shows."

Dombresky. With Todd Terry and  Ferreck Dawn. 11 p.m. Friday, February 9, at Club Space, 34 NE 11th St., Miami; 786-357-6456; clubspace.com. Tickets cost $27 to $40 via dice.fm.