You will not get these Aussie boys Out Of Your Mind
Ivan, Aden and Josh welcome to DMCWORLD. Australia is absolutely flying at the moment, but how did you all get into electronic music in the first place?
IVAN – “It was after hearing Vangelis, Tangerine Dream and Jean Michele Jarre that I got hooked on synthesiszers. Then after hearing some early Chicago and Detriot house and techno in a club, I was completely off my chair for it!”
ADEN – “My best friend growing up, Lewis Day aka Tornado Wallace first introduced me to electronic music as he was discovering trance music when we were about 15. The idea of ‘software synthesiszers’ didn’t make sense to me and I had to figure out what electronic music was all about as fast as possible.”
Even though you had all bumped into each other in Melbourne a few times, it wasn’t until a chance meeting in Greece that prompted you to decide to start working together. How on earth did all that come about?
IVAN – “I had been watching the guys for a while, but it wasn’t until after chatting while we were staying in Mykonos we realised we had the same taste in music. I got in contact when we got back to Australia and the rest is history.”
ADEN – “We’ve been big fans of Ivan since we started going to clubs. He is house music royalty down here, so when we randomly bumped into him in Mykonos last year through some mutual friends, we made it our duty to make a favourable impression on him. I guess we did…”
Why do you think it took local radio so long to pick up on dance music in Australia?
IVAN – “It’s mainly due to the fact that radio in Australia has traditionally been very conservative towards new music. When a new UK backed radio station started broadcasting in Australia a few years ago they played much more dance and electronic pop music. It wasn’t long before other stations followed suit.”
ADEN – “From our prospective, Aus radio has always followed closely to what US radio plays. It wasn’t until pop/R’n’B artists in America started collaborating with House music producers a few years ago that house music started to get commercial recognition. That commercial element really legitimised house music, rather than it being considered as loud ‘doof doof’ techno music to most of the pop crowd.”
A massive buzz circulating the globe around your new tune ‘In My Mind’ – how did Georgi come on board and how did she react when she heard Aden’s short progression?
IVAN – “Aden had a couple of chords he liked, so we expanded them into a riff we all thought was pretty cool. She was right into the basic chords we had done and got writing straight away!”
ADEN – “Georgi is a pure muso. She isn’t defined by a genre, she just likes good music. Because of that, she was willing to try some vocals on a house track from the very beginning. Most of her music is very emotive, so I suppose she heard something special in my progression.”
Ivan, being part of TV ROCK on the Axtone label must have been a huge help with the tune getting signed – was it as easy as it sounds?
IVAN – “It helped only in that I know Axwell and the Axtone guys fairly well. I could at least be sure they would have a good listen to anything I sent. That said, I wouldn’t send Axwell anything that I didn’t think he’d like!”
Georgi is usually associated with the Australian Indie/Pop scene, so how did you guys come across her stunning voice?
ADEN – “I first heard her singing on a commercial on TV in Australia. I’d been searching for a vocalist that could sing like her for so long, but wasn’t able to find what I was looking for. So when I heard her singing that track (The Stoops ft Georgi Kay – Free) I immediately jumped out of my seat and shazamed the tv. Once I found out her name, I contacted her immediately on twitter. Iphone technology really started all this I suppose. Long live the apps!”
What is the finest record you have ever played to a dancefloor?
IVAN – “For me it’s gotta be the seminal ‘I Feel Love’ by Donna Summer, featuring the production skills of Giorgio Moroder. With that record they defined everything about electronic music that still holds true today. A simple riff, driving beats, and an uplifting vocal.”
ADEN – “Well I’m a little younger than Ive, so for me it has to be ‘In and Out’ by Eric Prydz feat. Adeva. The most amazing, epic vocal coupled with a buildup that goes for more than 3 minutes, and a massive drop ahead of it’s time. It gives me goosebumps thinking about it actually.”
Down in the studio together, who is best at what?
IVAN – “That’s easy…I’m the coffee, chords and mixing guy, Aden handles the beats, sounds and FX, and Josh is the vibe guy who steps in when me and Aden get lost!”
ADEN – “I’m going to have to agree with what Ivan has said there. We have our own strengths. Ivan loves his chords, whilst Josh and I are all about a big, uplifting melody which slams when the song drops. We do have different styles, and you’ll hear what our strengths are when you listen to our individual stuff.”
What is the big top 10 you are spinning right now?
IVAN – “5 from me…”
Lights Are Fading – Jono Fernandez (Ivan Gough & Feenixpawl Remix)
Atom – Nari and Milani
Slumber – Steve Forte Rio ft. Lindsey Ray (Tommy Trash Remix)
Walking Alone – Dirty South and Those Usual Suspects Feat. Eric Hecht (Arty Remix)
Save Me Now – TV Rock fest Dino. (Steve Angello Edit)
FXP – “5 from us…”
Sander Van Door, Kele, Lucy Taylor – What Did I Do
Kaskade feat Skylar Grey – Room for Happiness (Feenixpawl remix)
Dirty South, Thomas Gold, Kate Elsworth – Eyes Wide Open
Tommy Trash – CascadeTim Mason – Anima
What is the best club around the world you have rocked?
IVAN – “I still get a buzz playing the Paradise Beach Club in Mykonos. For me it’s the best club in the world. Watching the sun come up over the mountains as your spinning tunes 50m from the beach to a huge crowd is an amazing experience!”
Aden – “The Paradise Club, Mykonos by a mile. You can play whatever you want there, and they are always up for it. The weather is always perfect, and the crowd are there to party HARD. The club defines why we make music and DJ’d in the first place.”
What new Oz DJs and producers should we be looking out for over the next twelve months?
IVAN – “For me it’s gotta be Nordean otherwise known as “Nordz”. He’s been bubbling under for ages, and is set to have a couple of huge tunes soon. (Including one with TV Rock..)”
ADEN – “We have (embarrassingly) only just discovered a young artist called ‘Walden’, an 18 year old from Sydney. He recently released an EP in which one of the tracks (Brightness) was played on Pete Tong’s show. Not bad for a kid who only just finished school…I had to wait ’till I was 25 for that shit!”
Rumours coming back to the UK are that some of the established Australian festivals are a bit hit and miss this Summer – why do you think that is, over exposure?
IVAN – “Festival overkill. People only have a certain amount of cash to spend on festivals, and there’s been too many of them in recent years. So the simple fact is people will pick and choose which festivals they’re going to. That means some festivals are attracting thousands of kids, and some are struggling.”
ADEN – “Well when you consider that Australia has a population of 23 million, you can’t expect to run a festival every 2 months and sell it out. Punters are saving their money for when promoters bring out the acts they really want to see. I think the competition is healthy, but if you aren’t going to put on a festival with a bit of ‘wow’ factor, then don’t bother.”
So we come back to yours after the club, what is the big Back To Mine Top 10 your spin us to chill?
IVAN – 5 from me in no particular order...
1. Love – Art Of Noise
2. Stella – Jam And Spoon
3. Offshore – Chicane
4. Can You Feel It – Mr Fingers
5. Love On A Real Train – Tangerine Dream
FXP – “5 in no order…”
- Missy Higgins – Nightminds (Dave Higgins remix)
- The Cinematic Orchestra – To build a home
- Armin Van Buuren – Going Wrong (Acoustic Version)
- Miike Snow – Burial
- Gonzales – Knight Moves
What is the latest on the Swedish House Mafia tour in March?
IVAN – “It’s shaping up to be huge and we’ll be there annoying the guys!”
FXP – “We will be playing with the Swedes at the Melbourne and Brisbane shows, which we are extremely pumped for!!”
What is next from the studio from you guys in 2012? We hear there is some major news rumbling…
IVAN – “We have a new track finished called ‘Night Skies’, plus another with Georgi Kay. With TV Rock I have upcoming releases “Save Me Now” and ‘Bloom’ due out shortly.”
FXP – “Can’t wait to release our next single ‘Night Skies’ and finish off the next one with Georgi. We have our remix of Kaskade’s ‘Room for Happiness’ due out very soon, as well as our own solo projects!”
