Martin Solveig on working with Madonna!

French DJ Martin Solveig says that being Madonna’s latest musical boy toy has given him some welcome education and seasoning.

“It’s given me a bit more maturity and experience in the process of collaboration with an artist of that level,” Solveig, who produced six tracks on Madonna’s 2012 release “MDNA” — including “Beautiful Killer” and “Give Me All Your Luvin’ ” with Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. — tells Billboard. He opened for the European leg of Madonna’s MDNA Tour and will be on 20 shows in North America.

“Before this I was very, very inexperienced in collaborating with that kind of artist. I realized I was in some ways a little naive. So on a personal level I learned how to make music, not just for myself but really how to work on a collaboration level.”

And he’s certainly not complaining about the raised profile that’s come from the Madonna association.

“It’s difficult to really say, but there’s a lot happening for me at the moment,” Solveig acknowledges. “Of course the fact I collaborated with Madonna is a big deal, but I don’t know how much of that is the main thing or the platinum record I had around the world with (2010′s) ‘Hello’ or just the sound I make. It’s probably a mix of different things, and I’m trying to stay balanced about everything.”

Solveig says the greatest surprise he had in working on “MDNA” was how hands-on Madonna was with the music.

“I had a lot of things in my head, but then I realized it was not going to happen the way I thought — meaning we were really going to be working together, which is quite unique,” he recalls. “A lot of times a singer will just say, ‘I like this instrumental’ or ‘I like this idea’ or take a top line and then go work with it. But with Madonna, we worked more old school, really sharing the experience of making music together in a room at the same time. So basically all the plans I had in the first place were gone and she took the lead — and it was an even better experience.”

Billboard