Disciples

UK trio Disciples have been firmly on the DMC radar since their juggernaut Calvin Harris collaboration ‘How Deep Is Your Love’ exploded globally back in 2015. Bagging the band two Brit nominations and dominating charts worldwide, the single established Duvall, Gavin and Luke as ones to watch. Earlier this month they dropped yet another stunning co-production, this time with rising British duo and long-time friends Eli & Fur. ‘The Pressure’, which is the first single to be released by Eli & Fur since signing to iconic imprint Positiva, is a flawless piece of experimental electronica that blends depth-charged, call-and-response style vocals with sub-aquatic sound design. The resulting composition is already striking a chord with fans across the board, rising up the all-important streaming charts as it manages to effortlessly straddle the divide between dance floor and chill out. DMCWORLD managed to catch up with Luke McDermott, one third of Disciples, to find out more about the single, their relationship with Eli & Fur, what they’ve been up to over the past 12 months and what’s coming up as life begins to return to some semblance of ‘normal’…

Eli & Fur x Disciples - The Pressure

 

Hi Luke, welcome to DMC World. Can you start up by telling us where you all are right now in the world and what you’re up to?

Right now, I’m chilling in my house having some breakfast in London. I have a feeling Duvall is out playing tennis and Gavin is riding through the countryside!

Congrats on new single ‘The Pressure’ with Eli & Fur, it’s a big one! What’s the reaction been like from fans and your peers?

The interaction from new supporters globally has been the most surprising thing. Our peers always love a dark dirty beat with a bassline, so overall it’s been great.

You’ve known Eli & Fur for quite a while now. How did you meet up and why has it taken you so long to do a collaboration together?

We’ve known them for about 5 years now, they’re like our little sisters. We met them at a gig we were both playing back when we hardly had any songs out and we clicked instantly. We have always likened our musical styles but never spoke on collaborating until Fur sent over a record and said they wanted us on it!   

In terms of the track’s production, which parts have you been most involved with? 

Vocals, drums and brass elements.

Have you got any more plans to work with them again?

Not really, it was a lot of stress to be honest. I’m joking lol of course! They’re familia and super talented.

Your collaboration with Calvin Harris, How Deep Is Your Love, came only two years into your career together – what was that experience like?

Life changing but I think we took it in our stride as we are still together and didn’t let it get to us. Working with Calvin was a great experience for us.

Of course we have to talk about the pandemic in the room – how hard were you hit by it? Have you been able to shift plans along the timeline or where there projects and tour dates that were completely cancelled because of it?

Of course we were hit hard, every musician was but we have been able to release a lot of music during this time which we are grateful for and we also launched a hotline where people could call in for support during this rough period. The hard part was knowing our whole summer touring would be cleared out.

How hard is it to produce tunes right now when you’re not sure if they’ll be played on dance floors because of Covid? Do you have a different mindset for producing singles, a ‘Corona-mindset’ if you will, that takes that into account? 

When the pandemic started I used to think like that. What’s the point of making club tunes right now? No one is dancing..  but after a while I chose to have the mind frame of thinking, if we release during this period we will have what feels like a batch of fresh new music for the dance floors when the world opens properly and the plans starting to come to light. Our recent records, “I Got You”,  “Whisper” , “Only The God’s”, “Solid Gold” and now “The Pressure” have all been released during the pandemic.

Have you been able to get together as a trio during this? How hard/easy has it been to keep your collective creativity going?

We have been good tbf, it’s a tough one with us. We’re like brothers so most of the time we will get in together when we can stand to see each other’s faces lol but I think this pandemic helped as we sent each other ideas and got in to finish them off.  Have a few arguments (bang on tables) and some drinks, get it out of our system and go back to normal!

How vital has the government assistance been for you to be able to continue? 

Boris Johnson is a god given blessing.

What are you looking forward to most about getting ‘back to normal’? 

I just want to be able to sit inside a restaurant, everyone is freezing their ass off outside, let’s be honest?!

What do you have coming up?

We believe we have a big summer record we want to release in June…

*****

ELI & FUR X DISCIPLES – ‘THE PRESSURE’ OUT NOW ON POSITIVA RECORDS

CONNECT WITH DISCIPLES

www.facebook.com/DisciplesLDN

CONNECT WITH ELI & FUR 

www.facebook.com/eliandfur