Plump DJ’s Interview

When they’re not busy fishing, playing golf and taking long walks Andy Gardner and Lee Rous are the award winning DJs, producers and dance music pioneers Plump DJs.

Since their first release in 1999 Plump Chunks/Electric Disco they’ve gone on 4 studio albums, 5 compilations and countless successful singles and remixes, and played to thousands, proving their enduring popularity with audiences around the globe.

As we prepare to welcome the lads back into to the bosom of Sydney’s summer party season, BBM caught up with Lee Rous for a cheeky late night Skype.

So what have you guys been up to for the last week or so?

Trying to get past the Xmas/NYE bottleneck -we’re doing a mad retro 80’s set for a mates pub in Bristol for New Years that we’re sorting out, and then also we’ve got our new album Dirty Weekend, out in April. So getting all the remixes together, finishing off our own music, and programming that into release schedules… Plus prepping for the tour – so we’ve been working quite hard actually!

So what can we expect from these shows?

It’s gonna be good. I mean I don’t know how it could top last time but we’re working really hard on getting some new music together and putting on a really good show so it’s gonna be as good as we can make it. It’s a busy tour but we can’t wait to get back to Aus and play our new stuff – it’s worth coming just to hear the Rocket Soul remix by Martin Horger, it’s just brilliant. So chuffed he could do it, we can’t wait to play it. We played it in Germany a couple of weeks ago, but playing for Australians is the best litmus test really.

You’re playing Chinese Laundry this month, which has pretty much the best club soundsystem in Australia…

Chinese Laundry? Oh it’s amazing, amazing. When we played in 2010 I think we had one of the best crowds since the place opened, we were in the top 5 in terms of numbers, so it was big. And last minute they said “Oh you guys are playing for three hours” and we were like, aargh! We didn’t want it to drag. But we just had a brilliant set, it was so hot and sweaty but it was good.

Be warned -Sydney has gone bass music mad

It’s exactly the same everywhere really. People still love breakbeat all over the world, but It’s not flavour of the month, the scene’s sort of moved on. A lot of the energy that the younger people were getting from breaks they’re now finding from other new forms of music that have come through like bass music, dubstep, drumstep, moombahton, you know – kids are steering towards those as they’re more exciting cos they’re new. Older genres, they’ve sort of explained themselves already if that makes any sense, so they’re less attractive to young people. The dubstep/drumstep phenomenon has really given people a new appreciation of bass, and desire to learn to produce bass properly, and that’s been quite inspiring for us too. We love funk and soul so those older genre’s still have a heavy weighting on new productions, they’re a big inspiration to us. You gotta be smart with everything really haven’t you, gotta keep moving forward I suppose.

Plump DJ’s will playing Chinese Laundry in Sydney on the 21st Jan and Brown Ally in Melbourne 27th Jan

For info on Plump DJ’s tour dates in the UK, New Zealand and Asia click HERE