Mechanical Me

The Hôtel Costes is a famous hotel in Paris, France. Located in 239 rue St-Honore, it is perhaps best known for its bar and courtyard café and for the Hôtel Costes series - a series of compilations of downtempo style tracks mixed by Stéphane Pompougnac

Stéphane Pompougnac is a French house DJ, and also a musician, composer and producer.

Pompougnac was born in 1968 in Paris, France. His parents were a psychotherapist and a dental surgeon. He spent his early life in Bordeaux.

He first worked at Hôtel Costes as a waiter. He began to DJ at places such as 'Queen', 'Privilège', 'Diable des Lombards', and 'Les Bains Douches'. At Les Bains he met Claude Challe, who helped form his musical knowledge. He then met Jean-Louis Costes, the co-owner of Hôtel Costes. Costes invited Pompougnac to work for him in 1997. Pompougnac released his first CD of mixes, Hôtel Costes, in 1999.

At the age of 18, Stéphane Pompougnac made his DJ debut in clubs such as the Ubu, the Colony, and the Dream in Bordeaux, France, during the mid-'80s. After finishing his studies and national service, he spent six months in London before returning to Paris in 1992 where he mixed at clubs, such as Queen, Folies Pigalle, the Locomotive, and Privilege. One year later, he became the resident DJ at les Bains et Douche . Albert De Paname ostensibly first introduced him to Jean-Louis Costes although Pompougnac had worked as a waiter for Costes some ten years prior at Cafe Costes in Les Halles. This time, however, Costes offered Pompougnac a more coveted position: resident DJ at the famous Hotel Costes. He accepted.

Hotel Costes is one of France's most famous and is frequented by sports stars and celebrities of the film and fashion world. Pompougnac released his first CD in 1999, titled Café Costes. Pompougnac's second CD, Costes, La Suite, met with more success and the song "Sympatique" was used for a car ad in France sending record sales over 100,000. His first two albums were released in France through Barclay Universal; his increased success, however, saw a deal with MSI for his third compilation, Etage 3, released in October 2000. His first three compilations together sold nearly half a million copies. Pompougnac also spins for Les Venues de la Mode (the fashion Oscars) and has provided the music for various fashion shows by Gucci and Yves Saint-Laurent.
Discography
Solo albums

* Living on the Edge (2003)
* Perrier (2005)
* Hello Mademoiselle (2007)
Mixes
Hôtel Costes

The Hôtel Costes series currently consists of eleven albums and one best-of collection:

* Hôtel Costes, Vol. 1: Café Costes (1999)
* Hôtel Costes, Vol. 2: La suite (1999)
* Hôtel Costes, Vol. 3: Étage 3 (2000)
* Hôtel Costes, Vol. 4: Quatre (2001)
* Hôtel Costes, Vol. 5: Cinque (2002)
* Hôtel Costes, Vol. 6 (2003)
* Hôtel Costes, Vol. 7: Sept (2004)
* Hôtel Costes, Best Of Costes (2005)
* Hôtel Costes, Vol. 8 (2005)
* Hôtel Costes, Vol. 9 (2006)
* Hôtel Costes, Vol. 10 (2007)
* Hôtel Costes, Vol. 11 (2008)
* Hôtel Costes, Vol. 12 (2009)

Others

* Saks Fifth Avenue (mixed for Saks Fifth Avenue) (2002)
* The Concorde Lounge - Supersonic Jet Set Love (mixed for Japanese magazine Casa Brutus) (2003)
* Sparkling Moments: Tokyo/Paris (mixed for Perrier) (2005)
* JEWEL (mixed for Ayumi Hamasaki's remix album "ayu-mi-x 6 -SILVER-") (2008)