Q: Can you start by describing your sound?

Rob: I think we try and make pretty melodic, percussive music dealing with quite dark subject matter, but with jaunty melodies. It’s hard to do!

Q: So disguising the dark subject matter?

Rob: Yeah, you could say that!

Q: The phrase ‘Kitchen Sink Indie’ has been used to describe you, care to comment?

Rob: It might just be lazy journalism, as we do mention a kitchen and a sink separately in a couple of songs, so they could have just put the two together, or it might be an interesting description.

Q: So it’s not a reference to classic ‘kitchen sink dramas’?

Rob: I think a lot of the lyrics do deal with an objects perspective on a relationship or social situation, so there might be something in it.

Q: There are a diverse set of influences listed on your website, people like Roald Dahl and Ella Fitzgerald, did you write that or is someone else responsible for it?

Rob: Yeah I think you could site those as some of our influences, like the imagination of Roald Dahl and with classical music as well, like Elgar and Debussy. There’s a lot to take from it.

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Q: The first question is about new music.  Who’s doing it for you at the moment?

Mike – Theophilus London is a friend of mine and I love his music.  It’s melodic hip-hop from a real personality.  I’m a fan of pop personalities and he certainly has one.  He came out of Brooklyn, has a great stage presence and I think he’s going to go a long way.  It’s exciting to see him at this stage in his career.

Jeff – Fanfarlo is a personal favourite– I’d always heard their name around, but the first time I saw them was at Vibe Bar, London.  I was blown away by them – they had a total Brian Eno/David Byrne, kinda Talking Heads theme going on.  I thought they were brilliant

Q: It sounds like you guys get a lot of great opportunities to see live shows on tour. Are there places on the map mean a lot to you from a musical perspective?

Jeff – Red Bank New Jersey, because in ‘97 when I was in high school, Ari Katz who’s the singer of a punk group called Lifetime opened up a record shop called Black Katz.  So I used to go down there when I was a little fat kid, about 12 and I would talk to him about records and he’d pitch new stuff to me and because I used to be a fan of his I’d be kind of star struck

Q – Can you still have that kind of experience in America?  Because unfortunately Independent record stores in the UK have largely disappeared

Jeff – Well that place is a beauty salon now. But that wasn’t so much to do with how the record industry was going it was because where is was taxes were going through the roof and forcing people to move out

Michael – In Harvard Square there’s a number of record shops that order from distributors who are overlooked by everyone else so you can get everything. Also Boston has a lot of good record collectors who digitise stuff and bring it to these stores

Q – Do you guys collect music to use in your production?

Michael – We did very little sampling on the new record.  For instance we’d drag an MP3 into a sampler and create a synthesiser out of it, but only because I didn’t have any synthesiser programmes, but I wouldn’t necessarily call that sampling.  Also, we were advised against sampling, but there is Mary ‘O Hara on Sleepy Head, that was the first time I ever used a sample. It was a little Kanye of me.

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Today I bring you Killa:Bit hailling from Manchester,UK but currently going to University in Huddersfield.Killa:Bit is fairly new to the music making scene and already has some very impressive beats.Recently finishing his first 2 originals and only having very few remixes out I can tell you now that this is one artist to keep an eye out for.With his love being Electro, Fidget/ Jackin house, pretty much anykind of house music, Dubstep and DnB you are sure to find some thing out of this kid you will enjoy.For more info on  Killa:Bit check him out here.

2 Bit Thugs-A Good Look(KILLA:BIT Remix)

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B.Rich-Make Me Dance(KILLA:BIT Dubstep Remix)

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B.Rich-Make Me Dance(KILLA:BIT Remix)

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Florence & the Machine-Dog Days(KILLA:BIT DnB Remix)

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KILLA:BIT-Heavy

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KILLA:BIT-This is Heavy

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Lee Mortimer-This Is Real Shit(Killa:bit’s Virtual Turd Remix)

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Frank Sinatra-New York, New York (KILLA:BIT DnB Version)

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Recently We went on a mini LA tour with TalkboyTV.com to do an interview with Chloe and Talkboytv.com made us alittle coverage video I hope you enjoy it.You will see the likes of Reza AKA The Arab Parrot,Jefferson from Barracuda Hair,Chloe Lattanzi etc.

Born and raised in Los Angeles,Clockwork began DJing at 15, producing at 16. He started out by remaking some of his favorite hip hop tracks and moved on from there to house music.He’s listened to hiphop all of his life which has had a big impact on his productions. Some other influences include fatboy slim, moby, the chemical brothers, and various others.  Headed to college next year in Boston to study the music industry.

More info and tunes after the jump.

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Deebs  started playing classical music on the violin at age 5. During highschool he taught himself the guitar and drums and played with a few bands – nothing very serious though. Once university hit he became exposed to the electro scene and was immediately influenced to start producing his own tracks and DJ’ing. He’s been producing his own stuff for about a year now and has been DJ’ing for about a year as well at parties and a couple clubs along the way. This summer him and his friend are organizing the “Four to the Floor” parties in Guelph with the goal of promoting electro music in Guelph and giving exposure to local/Southern Ontario DJ’s. He hopes to get more and more shows in the near future while continuing to produce his own original mixes as well as remixes.

Tell me some of the dj’s you’ve performed with?
I’ve been lucky enough to DJ with Torontonians: Thunderheist, Gingy and Golden Gloves in my short DJ’ing career.

Who would you like to perform with in the future?
Daft Punk…I heard their live shows are OK.

Who were your greatest influences musically?
Started listening to Radiohead and The Chemical Brothers in university about 3 years ago. The diversity of their music allowed me to make the transition from listening to indie/experimental rock into purely electronic music. I think Radiohead’s more recent albums Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief really motivated me to start playing with effects and synths. I came across a Crookers’ mixtape as well over a year ago… that got me into the grimey shit.

More info and tunes after the Jump.
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Beyourself network’s compilations goal is discovering emerging artists who distribute their own music on mainly networks & underground scenes. Each volume will be selected by a guest giving him/her a total “carte blanche” to select music and artwork that will introduce his playlist, his highlight tracks, his secret music bombs… In other words, his network ! BeYourself project started on June 2008 with a goal: support emerging artists who bump into record labels’ lack of initiative (They don’t have a lot of manoeuvre margin with the actual music industry circumstances). Nowadays, a lot of artists who have their own style distribute their music on mainly networks with auto promotions. This way they can share and broadcast their works. Anyway, for most of them, they don’t have enough visibility because of the releases and remixes affluence… Too much tracks circulate and get lost in a Web that gets fatter and fatter. To a medium term, the aim of this project is promote BeYourself Compilation’s artists. A challenge our guests will rise to the occasion giving them a total “Carte Blanche” on each volume. No boundaries : each guest will bring his own vision and personal touch. With the new music industry deal, the internet and its networks are more than ever full of talent. This project has a simple and ambitious aim: give more visibility to underground scenes’ activists’ artists on audio releases… Live, an itinerant party with young talents and surprise guests will care about making your nights hot and authentic…

Tell me some of the dj’s you’ve performed with?
Some underground djs/producers, essentially french like Big Dope P, Lazy Flow, French Fries, Riot Kid, Grandpamini, Zolito Pro, Panpan Master, The One DJ, Otis, Mr NÔ…

Who would you like to perform with in the future?
Laurent Garnier, Gilles Peterson, DJ Sneak, DJ Mehdi, El Hijo De La Cumbia, Derrick L. Carter, DJ Gant-Man, Dee Nasty, Calvin Harris, Modeselektor, Mr Oizo, Diplo, Switch, Solo, Pilooski, Fulgeance aka Peter Digital Orchestra… Carla Bruni for a special booty set

Who were your greatest influences musically?
Zdar & Boombass aka Cassius, Matthew Herbert, Gilles Petterson, Jazzanova, Snoop Dog, Jay Dee, TTC, Modeselktor, Detroit Techno pionneers, Jean Francois Bizot & Radio Nova, Quentin Dupieux aka Mr Oizo, Reprazent Crew, Lee Scratch Perry, NTM, IAM, Blur, Bob Marley, Curtis Mayfield, Oum Kalsoum, Diplo, Switch, Jori Hulkonnen, Laurent Garnier, Ivan Smagghe, Pharrell Williams, Camille, Matthieu Boogaerts, Pedro Winter aka Busy P, Jamiroquai, Anoraak, The Streets, Calvin Harris, Adult Only/Families stuffs, Daft Punk, Derrick L. Carter, Tracks tv show, TRAX magazine (first era), DJ News… waah so looooooooong

When did you finally realize you wanted to be a Dj/Producer?
15 years old, when I discover 2 Djs Radio-Show (Sky’Rave & Betterdays) and records of Deenastyle Radio Show from my cousin (thx!)

Most unique form of show payment?
Alcohol, Fun, special “cigarettes”… and Girls !!!

More info and tunes after the jump… Read more »

Bit Thief is just a dude that loves to make music. My name is Ian.  I was born in NC,lived in MO for a little bit, and on my way to california in a little bit.  I’ve been producing (taking it seriously, not just messing around with noises) for just a little bit over a year.  Ive got a remix of Tommie Sunshine’s Tokyo Pollution coming out on July 7th on ultra. And a couple of remixes of The Glass, and Clubfeet coming soon on Plant Music.

Tell me some of the dj’s you’ve performed with?
I live in the middle of nowhere at the moment, only had a handful of shows, nothing to write home about.

Who would you like to perform with in the future?
I’ve heard Lindsey Lohan is a really good DJ!

Who were your greatest influences musically?
From early 90’s hip-hop to Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers to the Chemical Brothers to the Postal Service and way beyond.   and Lindsey Lohan

When did you finally realize you wanted to be a Dj/Producer
My first rave

Most unique form of show payment?
I don’t think you can put that on the internet.

More info and tunes after the jump. Read more »

Being born in Scotland, and emigrating to Windsor, Canada has certain advantages if you are an electronic musician.

First, Windsor has the unique feature of being situated just two minutes by car across a river from Detroit, Michigan, the city where one of electronic music’s most important movements began.  The sounds of seminal techno music broadcast from Detroit radio stations were easily received by the radio of Paul Edwards, singer/producer of Le Bus.

Meanwhile, Paul’s cousin back in Scotland was sending him a steady stream of mixtapes via airmail of the UK underground  music scene.

Moving to Toronto, Paul began to release electronic music and perform live, which led to Paul opening for techno legends Orbital, invitations to festivals like Toronto’s Edgefest where he mixed beats to shocked Nickleback fans, and the Detroit Electronic Music Festival.

While producing electronic music, Paul also was busy playing guitar and singing in indie-rock bands.  Eventually, along with collaborators Aaron Farr (Drums) and Ron Starfield (Synths), Paul began to merge these two musical spheres together.

By combining vocals and songwriting with synths, blips, and beats, Le Bus create danceable electronic songs.

“We are definitely making dance music with an electronic heart, but each track also has the soul of a simple, good song,” says Edwards.

In 2008, Le Bus released their debut EP ”It’s All On” which CBC Radio 3 said “could easily be the best Dance album of the year”.

On July 10th 2009, Le Bus releases Fission Friction Frequency on Spiral Recordings.

Who would you like to perform with in the future?
I think it would be rad to perform with Ringo Starr…. he could drum along to my beats and we could get a tribal thing happening…

Who were your greatest influences musically?
One of my musical influences has to be The Orb because their early work managed to synthesize so many forms of electronic music into one mind-expanded world. But also very important was a Detroit Radio DJ called The Electryfying Mojo who used to broadcast late nights back in the 80’s just as techno was exploding. Listening to him mash up Model 500 with a Prince 12″ on a commercial radio station[!] really opened my ears.

More info and tunes after the jump. Read more »

Q.G, is a French producer from Toulouse. His name is fast becoming associated with killer remixes, productions and do sets.

After many years in rock bands, he started to produce at the end of 06’.

Last month, he spent most of his time remixing some European artists such as Midnight Art, Clarky Cat, Beatbouncers and The Phonograph; to name a few….

With intense shows around Europe, Q.G. made a Euro tour in Poland, Portugal, Spain, and France.

More recently, Q.G. has put out a remix of Data’s “Rapture”, which immediately conjured up memories of his past live acts.

Seen on stage with the like of Kavinsky and Shadow Dancer, Q.G.’s sound is dark, electro tangled with acid-ish beats, and syncopated melodies.

So stay tuned for an awesome debut maxi soon on Dga Fäu records!

Tell me some of the dj’s you’ve performed with?
I have played with Kavinsky, Shadow Dancer, Eedio, Easy D, Costello, The Sterehoes, BANDIT,Suicide Club and many more french amazing producers around Europe.

Who would you like to perform with in the future?
SEBASTIAN, MSTRKRFT, BOYSNOIZE, JUSTICE and the DAFT fucking PUNK but it’s just a dream…

Who were your greatest influences musically?
In rock definitly: BLACK SABBATH, The WHO, AC/DC and LED ZEPPELIN are my favorits. I never listen electro musique at home. Since i have stared to produce i’m really busy and i don’t know anithings about the coolest sound of the moment…

When did you finally realize you wanted to be a Dj/Producer?
I was in London in 2002 in a drum and bass party at THE FABRIC CLUB. The sound was so faster and i decided to move in the house room. Wahooo 130bpm, i have discovered that you can dance with your drink on the dancefloor when the music play at 130bpm. I wasn’t a techno kids at first.

What was the most difficult thing to sacrifice to get here?
No sacrifice, only passion for the music. I a music addict since i have 6 or 7 years old, thank to my parents!!!

Most unique form of show payment?
CASH CASH CASH

Fav breakfast spot/meal?
PIZZA, in my town there’s a restaurant with the best Pizza ever. I think that they put crack inside pizza ’cause i’m fucking addict about this restaurant.

Who affects you today musically?
RETRO SYNTHS, BIG BASSE LINES, ELECTRIC RIFFS, MASSIVE BEATS

More tunes and info after the jump.

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