Gorgon City Interview

The London dance duo that keep going from strength to strength we speak to Kye from Gorgon City as the producers release another installment from their Kingdom Project, ‘Zoom Zoom’ featuring none other than Wyclef Jean. But if that wasn’t enough not only are the guys playing at festivals across Europe and the US they have also bagged an Ibiza residency and will also be heading out to Australia this September and October.

Hi Kye, How are you?
Yeah good thanks, how’s it going?

Yes great thanks! Where are you talking to us from?
I’m just back in London actually, just back home for the day. We were in Eastern Europe this weekend, in Lithuania and Poland, now we’re back for a day, then off to Ibiza tomorrow, then America next week.

Wow! So how was Lithuania and Poland?
It was actually amazing. It’s the first time we’ve ever played live there, I don’t think we’ve DJ’d there either, but Lithuania was one of my favourite gigs we’ve done for a long time. It was a really energetic crowd.

What festival was it?
It was Audio River in Poland and Galapagai in Lithuania.

How’s the residency been going in Ibiza? What’s the vibe like this year?
Yeah it’s been amazing. We did ANTS at Ushuaia. That’s our only Ibiza gig we’re doing this summer outside of our residency – just because we love to play there so much. But our actual residency has been going really good. We’ve been playing to really packed crowds and we’ve got great line-ups with us so it’s been really fun. It kind of does mess up your studio schedule though when you’re going to Ibiza every other Tuesday. We work on the road anyway though, so we’re getting through it.

Yes I was going to ask you, obviously I’ve seen how hectic your touring schedule is, how much time do you actually get to work on new material?
We make a lot of music on the road. I quite like making a lot of music when I’m travelling, so if I’m on a plane or on a train somewhere I’ll have my headphones on working on ideas that when we get into the studio we can produce up properly. We’ve been working a lot with people when we’re abroad also so when we’re in LA or New York we’ll make sure we get a couple of days when we’ll hire out a studio and record with some American artists. So it’s kind of just making the most of travelling really.

So Zoom Zoom has just dropped and you’ve teamed up with Wyclef for it, how did the collaboration come about?
That was actually our manager who suggested it, it was kind of out of the blue. We were playing at a festival in Mexico called BPM and we were all just partying and he just came out with it as a random idea, and we just couldn’t even imagine it at the time. It seemed like a ridiculous idea but we were really up for it. So a couple of weeks later we flew out to New York just to work with him. So we spent 2 days in the studio with him and we made like 5 tracks – more song-based stuff – and that one was just a last minute idea. We were like we still have a couple of hours before we have to leave for the airport, so shall we just do something as a bit of fun. I had this Tribal House beat that I’d made and we just played it to him, and he said he made house music before the Fugees so it took him back to the first ever tracks he made, which was kind of surprising for us, ‘cause were we like “Is he really going to be feeling this house music?” and he was like “Yeah, that’s my vibe!” I was just really surprised.

What was he like?
He’s just like a legend really. He’s surprisingly down to earth and easy to work with, but he’s got some stories to tell, and he’s like a crazy character, so a lot of fun to work with.

Yeah I can imagine, you must have just been like, “Wow, this is incredible?!”
Yeah. Big time!

What’s the reception been like to the track as it’s quite different to your usual dancey stuff?
I mean like, yeah, we just wanted to make something really tribal and something a bit different and it’s kind of more aimed at the dance floor than the radio.

Tell me more about the Kingdom project what did you want to put across with this?
We just wanted to release music in a different way, we didn’t want to release it in a traditional album format, as people listen to music differently now. People are streaming stuff rather than buying it and it’s good for us to just experiment a bit. So we can release a track every few weeks, one by one, and it lets each track have its own spotlight. With this kind of project we’re doing a lot of different styles. We’ve got ‘Zoom Zoom’ and then more down tempo ones like ‘Impaired Vision’ and we’ve got straight up instrumental tracks and more song-based tracks. It’s cool to just release one by one and let each track have its moment.
It just feels more exciting for us releasing music this way.

You’ve got a fair few interesting collaborations in there, how have you sourced the artists you’ve been working with?
Even with the first album we always went for artist that were a bit different, and we’re always working with people that haven’t done much dance stuff, so we find we have the most interesting results that way.

So you’re also heading out to Australia for Listen Out Festival later this year, are you looking forward to that?
Yeah! We haven’t been to Australia for a while actually, when we started Gorgon City and even before that, me and Matt were both going to Australia every year as we really love playing there, but last year we didn’t get a chance to come out as we were out in America so much. So this year we wanted to make sure that we do a proper run and go to all the cities in Australia. The festival that we’re doing has such as wicked line-up, so we’re excited! We love Australia!

And you’ve got a little downtime between a couple of the shows will you have time for any sightseeing?
We’ll see what happens. Usually if we have a few days off like that some gigs will end up coming in last minute, or maybe we’ll go to New Zealand for a few days as that’s what we normally do. If not it would be cool to do some sightseeing. I remember last time we were touring with a live band, and me and Matt had to go to New Zealand to DJ and the rest of the band all hung out around Perth and went skydiving, snorkeling, hanging out on the beach so we were pretty jealous. So hopefully this time we’ll get a chance to do a bit of that.

Gorgon City  Australia Tour Dates

24th September – Listen Out 2016, Catani Gardens, Melbourne

25th September – Listen Out 2016, HBF Arena, Perth

1st October – Listen Out 2016, Centennial Park, Sydney

2nd October – Listen Out 2016, The Victoria Park, Brisbane