FEATURED ARTISTS INTERVIEW

THUGFUCKER 

Firstly, please enlighten us, who or what is a Thugfucker?Two friendly but mischievous trouble makers who travel the world instigating parties. A couple of lovable hedonists who occasionally leave a bit of a mess in their wake.

And a Disco Gnome, is that just a little humanoid garden creature who loves to party?

Yes indeed. He looks almost like a regular Gnome but he's all silver and sparkly like a disco ball. He currently lives in our studio in Brooklyn but he does sneak out sometimes when we're not looking. We sometimes hear stories about parties he's crashed. He's pretty wild. He even makes us look tame.

  

It’s no secret you guys love to party too, what do you enjoy about the London underground scene? How does it compare to your home New York City?

Well we just did the first Life and Death showcase in a Brooklyn warehouse space and it was crazy fun. New York is a smaller underground scene than in London for sure, but it has been growing steadily and feels like it's coming back in a very significant way. Lots of crews doing excellent things. You Are We will be the first underground warehouse party we play in London and we have been hearing very good things and are looking forward to see how it compares to what's happening in NYC right now.. But of course we have a big fondness for London overall and we always try to spend some extra time when we can. Not to mention that the afterparties can last for days.

You’ve started 2012 in some style with the outlandish EP release ‘Step Aside’ on Visionquest alongside Tale of Us – can you tell us a bit about what to expect from you guys production wise this year?

We have a bunch collaborations for coming up, starting with two tracks that we collaborated on with Deniz Kurtzel and Pillowtalk coming out soon-ish on Wolf+Lamb. After that will be some more collaborations with different friends (some we've worked with before and some new) but mum's the word on that stuff for the moment. Though we can say there will definitely be another collaboration with Tale of Us. They're both good friends and as well it seems like whenever we get together in the studio something really special comes out of it. 

Aside from that stuff, we've also done a remix of an upcoming Tennis track for Life and Death that we're really happy with and there's a couple other remixes on the way. And of course a new EP for Life and Death that will come out at some point too. 

We’ve heard Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt’s Oblique strategy cards play a role in your creative process, could you tell us a bit about these? Well a lot of times when we hit a wall in our creative process it helps pull our heads out of our assess and think outside the box.. We don't use them often but in the right moment it can be a nice way to shake things up.

  

You’ve also got a soft spot for German singer Heino, what is it about him that plays with your artist strings? There are really so many things. First, his looks. The man has style, from his styling clothes choices to his killer sunglasses he always looks like a million bucks. Then, his album covers. Truly inspiring. And all of this topped of by his shimmering, deep vocals. He's a man blessed with a voice that feels like a hammer, banging onto the side of Austrian alps which literally make you feel like you're sliding down an avalanche wearing lederhosen with your heart full of Bavarian pride and a mouth full of newly made schnitzel. Just listen to his classic rendition of "Carnival in Rio" and you'll get what we mean by this. 

Your label Life and Death – can you tell us a bit about it and it’s philosophy?

Someone once said that talking about music is like dancing about architecture.. And it's of course true and always difficult to define a sound. But we try to take a wide variety of influences whether it be from slightly psychedelic to post rock, or from freaky disco to old school deep house or something else even and then use that as a starting point. Not to recreate any particular sound but to try and start from there and see if we can't go somewhere new with it. And while maybe it's hard to define, it still feels natural  to us when we hear it. But most of importantly, we try to set the bar high for everything we do. 

We absolutely adore the Life and Death label artwork too – do you guys design it yourselves?

We work with a bunch of different artists but obviously we try to keep a pretty coherent look and feel to things. We have an idea of an aesthetic that resonates with what we're all about but at the same time we don't like to micromanage other people as they do their art. We try and find artists to work with who are good enough at what they do that we can let them be free to create something special. And of course that goes for the producers and DJ's we work with as well.

What other labels/artists are you particularly enjoying at the moment?

There's a lot and we could tend to go on at length with this kind of question… Really into the upcoming Life and Death releases, especially the Tennis EP which is on the way and the new stuff from Tale of Us. But that's probably not a big surprise! The Visionquest crew keep killing it and we're really looking forward to hearing the new Footprintz album that's coming up over there. Wolf+Lamb also have tons of great stuff out right now and we're big fans in addition to being friends. Appolonia, the new label from Dyed Soundorom, Shonky & Dan Ghenacia is also definitely gonna be one to pay attention to and we're really enjoying the first release. We're also really into the Wildkats stuff. Oh man, see, here we go. We could go on forever. We'll stop with that.. oh yeah but also worth mentioning that we've always big been fans of Maurice Fulton, who I think still lives in your fine nation. 

And finally, what can the You Are We faithful expect from your set?

Expect the unexpected and then some.. We like to be prepared for anything so we'll just have to see how it goes. But if the people are ready to party then we will be ready to bring it.

You Are We contributor: Rudi Morgan 

NEXT EVENT : 3RD MARCH @ VILLAGE UNDERGROUND

YOU ARE WE // THUGFUCKER // DEATH ON THE BALCONY// PLAYSET // 

SPECIAL GUEST 

THUGFUCKER : (Life & Death) 

Former international aid worker teams up with Icelandic security specialist and former top model to create an international DJ supergroup. Certainly not what you'd expect from a group called Thugfucker - but then Greg Oreck and Holmar Filipsson often do tend to defy expectations. One a New Yorker transplanted to Europe, the other an Icelander transplanted to New York. Both from a strong musical background with an almost obsessive dedication to the art of wild party instigation. 

Growing up on an Icelandic commune full of some of the country's finest political thinkers, Holmar eschewed his past and all the heady philosophy of his childhood to move to New York and search out more physical and visceral methods of bringing happiness to the masses. Meanwhile Greg was in the midst of a successful (if short-lived) political career in America when he too became disillusioned with the duplicity and self serving interest of those around him. Disturbed by the void he saw in most people's lives, it was in the dark depths of the New York underground club scene that he finally found his true calling. 

Unbeknownst to each other, Holmar and Greg then propelled themselves along similar paths, throwing parties, honing their musical & studio skills and searching out inspiration from a wide variety of musical sources. 

Then one late night, in a cloudy alcohol fueled discussion about the plight of the genetically Rhythm-Blind, Holmar and Greg recognized the depth of their shared passions. Thugfucker was born.

DEATH ON THE BALCONY (Culprit / Pets Recordings) 

For some time now the combined forces of Mark Caramelli and Paul Hargreaves have been causing quite a stir under their guise, Death on the Balcony. Their style fuses a range of influences from Disco & Deep House through to House & Deep Techno depending on the time, space and environment. Years of dedicated musical passion and an appreciation of numerous genres have lead to their sound becoming perfected and receiving popularity across the board. Expect some surprises from the duo’s record bag packing an endless warmth & soul on their journey with you...

Death on the Balcony’s release schedule is continually active with DOTB releasing & remixing with the likes of Culprit LA, Pets Recordings, Silver Network, Illusion Recordings, Akbal Music & Airdrop, with forthcoming releases on One Records, Hissy Fit & Join The Dots. Whether it’s disco inflected fuel or house rhythms, these eclectically deft producers will juxtapose anything they lay their hands upon, mixing the beat of the drum with the melodic buzz of a hazy brain.

As one of the UK’s finest up and coming acts Death on the Balcony will be delivering more productions, remixes and playing world wide gigs as their range of musicality continues to evolve and they deliver a unique, well-timed narrative of the best sounds around.