General Elektriks

At the age of fourteen, Parisian Hervé Salters—also known as RV and the creative force behind electro-jazzy General Elektriks—performed on keyboards and synthesizers with area bands in London and Paris. Six years afterward he had taken up the Clavinet, Wurlizter, Hammond B-3, and Fender Rhodes, the last of which receives prominent placement on General Elektriks’ debut album, Cliquety Kliqk. Salters’ command of “vintage sound” secured recording work on Femi Kuti’s 1999 album Shoki Shoki and on tracks with Quannum Records artists (and future labelmates) Lyrics Born and the Lifesavas. Between 2000 and 2003 he assembled Cliquety Kliqk on his laptop across Seattle, Paris, and Berkeley; the record contains appearances by the Maroons and Lateef the Truth Speaker and was mixed by Blackalicious’ Chief Xcel.