Fort Romeau
Mike Greene has been making decadent-sounding house music under the name Fort Romeau since 2012, and if you’ve set foot in a club since, you’ve probably heard one of his productions setting the floor ablaze. Greene, who was born in Chester before making his way to Brighton for uni, later moved to London to join electro-pop band La Roux, handling the task of translating their synth-filled arrangements to the stage.
After three years of touring with the band, Greene turned his attention inward and quickly wrote the deep house-laden Kingdoms, his first full-length album, using only a few machines. That album established Greene as a master of combining classic Roland drum sounds with a sophisticated melodic flair and quickly found an audience at the peak of the ‘outsider house’ craze.
Since then, a wide variety of releases have followed for labels like Ghostly International, Permanent Vacation, and Live at Robert Johnson, each balancing forward momentum with intricate synth hooks. While Greene’s music is rooted in classic disco and house tropes, Fort Romeau tracks always manage to balance drama and groove, often hitting that memorable sweet spot, keeping punters humming long after the club doors have closed.
In 2015, along with Ali Tillett, Greene set up his own label Cin Cin with the aim of producing a series of split EPs from like-minded producers. The first release paired two Fort Romeau tracks with two subtle UK-garage inspired tunes by Nick Höppner. Not one to sit still for
