Various periods time serve as pressure cookers for the geographic music scenes they envelop: post-punk in the UK during the late 1970s, Seattle’s grunge scene in the mid to late 1980s, Detroit techno in the early 1990s — each period defined by the visionaries who constructed it in the first place.

The 2000s were an explosive period for French house. Spearheaded at the turn the century by the iconic robots known as and their manager , a number groups emerged under the Ed Banger record label moniker such as , and, course, .

In a new  with Stoney Roads, the elusive duo revealed how they originally came into contact with Ed Banger founder Pedro Winter aka Busy P. According to the publication, the two founders Justice — Xavier De Ronsay and Gaspard Augé — met in Paris in 2002 as graphic designers. The pair had mutual friends seeking tracks for a compilation to release on their record label, which is how the seminal tune “We Are Your Friends” come to fruition.

The two French house pioneers subsequently entered their song into a remix contest, which they lost, but the release reportedly garnered the attention Ed Banger founder Pedro Winter in the process. A mere week later, Justice signed their first record deal on the label.

Photo Credit: Smael Quintanilla

H/T: Stoney Roads