Paris-based producer Povoa thrives in the in-between spaces of contemporary club music, where genres blur and instinct matters more than rules. Widely renowned for his free-ranging experiments and playful unpredictability, the multi-hyphenate has quietly earned nods from electronic heavyweights such as Four Tet and Ben UFO, while carving out a distinct lane of his own. Povoa’s music moves effortlessly between baile funk, dubstep, house, hyperpop and left-field pop, landing somewhere both strange and immediately physical, made as much for curiosity as for the dancefloor.
That restless energy is front and centre on Povoa’s new EP, Clammy, released via LIVE FROM EARTH. Spearheaded by the Miami-coded electro rush of “Beat Bunny”, featuring alt-pop punk provocateur MADGE, the project leans into humour and club-ready chaos. The track’s cutesy bravado and French Touch gloss have already rippled through BBC Radio 1, Radio Nova, and Spotify’s Club Culture playlist, while the EP as a whole stretches from polyrhythmic rave tools to late-night beatdowns. Alongside his work as one half of Franco-Brazilian duo PPJ with Páula, where Brazilian traditions are gleefully reimagined through a queer, freaky club lens, Povoa continues to push dance music into unexpected territory. We caught up with Povoa to talk experimentation, club energy and future movements.
Your music moves freely between genres and scenes, where did that instinct to experiment come from?
Povoa: For me, experimentation is not a gimmick, it is the only way I actually enjoy making music. I do not get any satisfaction from trying to recreate something that already exists, or making a track that just follows the rules of a genre. If it sounds like something I have heard before, I lose interest fast. I need the process to feel like discovery. I would rather break the codes than follow them, and that is where the excitement is for me. That impulse is basically the engine behind everything I make.
What did music represent to you growing up, and how has that relationship changed over time?
Povoa: Growing up, music was always around me. I learned piano early, and my parents were constantly playing music at home, lots of jazz but some more unexpected stuff too. They also brought me to a lot of concerts, so live music was normal in our house. I remember going to a Michel Petrucciani concert as a kid, which is honestly not the kind of show you would normally take a child to, but I also remember enjoying it in a real way, like I could feel how special it was even then.
December’s genre-bending single “Mete” feels like it’s really resonating in clubs. What do you enjoy most about seeing your tracks take on a life of their own?
Povoa: I am always impressed by how big it sounds for something I made in my bedroom and mastered myself. It still surprises me that something so personal and so DIY can translate like that in a club, with proper sound systems and a whole room reacting to it. I had another track that got played a lot too, “Hacked Lime,” and seeing that happen again with “Mete” has been the best feeling. It is amazing to hear your music turn up everywhere and realise it is out there doing its own thing. Creating something that ends up having a life of its own is really the goal for me.
You’re part of PPJ with Páula, pushing Brazilian traditions into new territory. How does working with PPJ shift your instincts compared to making music solo?
Povoa: Working with PPJ shifts my instincts because Páula brings a very specific mix into the room. She really loves traditional Brazilian music and wilder stuff as she’s a party animal, she genuinely loves to dance. Her references naturally connect Brazilian traditions with European and UK electronic energy. That meeting point is exactly where we want to create. She also goes to Brazil regularly and is deeply infused by the culture there, so she brings me a lot of knowledge and context I would not have on my own. I am always fascinated by how unique that culture is, musically, but also beyond music. It pushes me to think differently, and it makes the collaboration feel like discovery instead of repetition.
“Beat Bunny” has a very specific energy—fun and club-ready. What excites you about making music that doesn’t take itself too seriously?
Povoa: I really do not want to be too self serious with music. Whatever I make has to feel fun, and that matters as much to me as the sound itself. “Beat Bunny” was genuinely fun to create, and I think people can feel that energy in it. I’m sure that’s why Tanner Williams decided to do a video on it. He connected with how playful the track is, and the video he made has that same spirit, it is fun in its own right.
Can you tell us more about your upcoming Clammy EP and what listeners can expect?
Povoa: I am working on so many exciting tunes and I have so many ideas that I cannot wait to share. Clammy is just the beginning of that.
Your visuals and titles lean into humour and uniqueness. How important is that aesthetic language to how people understand your music?
Povoa: It is a way of keeping things light, and also a way of showing people that I am not trying to be overly serious or precious about it. What I am trying to communicate is mostly surprise and fun. I like when something catches people slightly off guard, in a good way. And I want the experience to feel like a break from overthinking.
Outside of music, what influences your taste and imagination right now?
Povoa: I can be inspired by anything. I take in a lot of art in all kinds of forms, and what stays with me most is usually what I did not see coming. Something genuinely new, something that tilts my perspective.
I’m always chasing that edge between the unknown and the familiar. When something feels fresh but still lands emotionally, that’s the sweet spot for me.
Do you feel more at home in the studio or on the dancefloor, and why?
Povoa: I think I enjoy the studio and the dancefloor equally, because creating has to go with testing. If you are only on the dancefloor, you are not making new tunes. And if you are only in the studio, you cannot really try them out, at least not on yourself in a real context. For me, the loop between the two matters. The studio is where ideas start, and the dancefloor is where they become real.
Is there an album / project you’ve got on rotation at the minute? Can you put us on to it?
Povoa: I am not really someone who plays things on repeat, because I love constant new input. I am always chasing new data for my brain. But one piece I have come back to a lot lately is “Dripsody” by Hugh Le Caine. it’s weird and cute, I love that.
Where do you see Povoa heading next—deeper, bigger or somewhere unexpected?
Povoa: Right now, I want to make more experimental songs, even if they are harder to play in a DJ set. I feel like the experimentation needs to be freer than what the club context sometimes wants. I want to push into things that are less functional, more open, and a bit more unpredictable. At the same time, I am definitely going to keep releasing club tunes too, the kind of tracks that are easy to play and that work instantly in a set. I like having both lanes, but I want the experimental side to get a little more space to breathe.