‘Thinking About It’ – one of the great dance records of 2014. No joke
Parlophone’s burgeoning dance imprint FFRR, have confirmed their stance as one of the most exciting dance labels right with the latest single from Just Kiddin – ‘Thinking About It’ teaming up with influential dance channel Eton Messy. As with many great dance records, the lyrics are deliciously ambiguous; is this a song in celebration of love or a paean to lost love? Supported by Annie Mac, Pete Tong The Magician, Blonde, Bondax, Clean Bandit, Hot Natured, Todd Edwards and Moon Boots since the track was secretly premiered as the opening track on The Magician’s ‘Magic Tape 41’, ‘Thinking About It’ has rightly become one of the go-to tracks for some of the biggest tastemakers in dance music. Dan Prince checks in with the house duo on fire…
Lewis, Laurie welcome to DMCWORLD, where on earth are you today?
“Hi Dan, thanks for having us! Just in our hometown of Kettering, busy working on fresh music for you all!”
‘Thinking About It’. FINALLY! What a journey guys. Secretly premiered as the opening track on one of The Magician’s mixtapes, picked up by all the players, hundreds of thousands of Soundcloud and YouTube hits…finally the release on Eton Messy. A relief huh?
Lewis / Laurie – “Haha, yeah it’s been on the scene for a while now. It’s been really interesting to see how people have taken to the track over time – it just seems to have grown and grown. It feels like it’s been around for a long time, definitely. But there’s still a lot of people who haven’t heard it, so it’s just been a case of giving it more time to build – lets hope that good things come to those who wait!”
Did you know on completion you had created something very special?
Lewis – “Yeah, definitely. I originally wrote the track about a year ago now and I remember getting quite excited about it. We worked on the vocals with Jay Norton and I remember thinking he’d come up with an awesome hook when I first heard it. At the time, I didn’t really think about how far it could go, but if you were to tell me back then what it would go onto then I would’ve been pretty damn happy!”
Laurie – “Yeah we’re really appreciating all the support it’s receiving so far, Lewis showed me the initial idea a long time ago, I knew it had so much potential, we developed it and started playing it out in our sets and it was getting a great reaction. When we finally got the ‘Thinking about it’ hook everything just fit into place perfectly.”
The guys at Radio 1 towers absolutely love you at the moment. What presenter gives you the biggest thrill when they spin your music…?
Lewis / Laurie – “It’s got to be Annie Mac. We’ve been listening in to her show for a long time and we respect her massively. It was a big moment when she originally played it all those months back. It was a big milestone for us as we’d been aiming to get on her show for a while.”
Check the video preview here...http://www.wonderlandmagazine.com/2014/10/video-premiere-just-kiddin-thinking/
You have been smashing up London town this summer with some very cool gigs, there was a time that summertime in London was dead, not anymore! Where has been going off these past few months?
Laurie – “It’s been a real busy summer for us and it’s shaping up to be great Autumn too. We love playing all over the UK but in terms of London shows you know XOYO is always going to be a good one. We played there earlier in the Summer with Bondax & Eton Messy which was really cool. Notting Hill Carnival was also a lot of fun!”
True or false? A girl requested Rihanna ‘Umbrella’ at one of your EP launch parties a while back?
Lewis – “Ouch, how’d you know that?! I’m sad to say that this one is TRUE! I won’t go into the full story now, I’ll save it for the autobiography.”
I know everything lads, everything. So, your tune of the summer?
“Beauriche – Every Woman.”
Laurie, I hear you are a bit of a Jamie Oliver in the kitchen. Signature dish?
Laurie – “Honestly when I’m not making music there’s not a lot I prefer doing than hanging out in the kitchen trying new recipes. I rate my lamb shoulder hotpot pretty highly, some Caribbean chicken thighs, or I make a mean steak. In terms of tricks and tips you’ll have to wait for my cookbook.”
So we leave the club with you absolutely fucked, head back to your gaff…do you mellow the vibe or continue the rave?
“Definitely mellow the vibe, chill things out a little bit and help to soothe after a heavy night out!”
Lewis. Alan Pardew. Where is it going to end?
Lewis – “How you finding all this out man, crazy stuff. Anyways, to those who don’t know, I’m an avid Newcastle United fan (unfortunately) and after many years of suffering it doesn’t look like things are getting better for the Toon Army. BUT, no matter what happens, we’ll still always have the coolest badge around – it’s got friggin seahorses on it…SEAHORSES!”
Two producers you would love to have a day in the studio with…
Lewis – “’Russ Chimes’ just because he was a massive inspiration to me when I first started making music (and still is!) & probably ‘Para One’ as I really love some of his productions.”
Laurie – “’Sampha’ I think his work is incredible & Daft Punk (Obviously to find out how if they are real robots).”
We love your romantic tale of the early days of before Just Kiddin was formed. After school you drifted off to university where you gained a range of different musical influences, Laurie you had a guy living above you who played garage 24/7, Lewis you were doing the French disco thang. How did things evolve when you were back on home turf into Just Kiddin…?
Lewis / Laurie: “Pretty naturally to be honest. We never put much thought into things in the early stages, it was just a case of getting our heads together and learning from each other. We had some teething problems to start with as Laurie was on Logic and I used Ableton but I managed to convince him to change DAW’s and then we just used “dropbox” to share projects with each other. It feels like we’ve come a hell of a long way since then!”
Gotta ask Laurie – has that guy above you at uni ANY idea what you do now?
Laurie – “He’s since grown a passion for house music, and tries to make it to our shows when he can.”
Final uni question promise. What were you both studying?
Lewis – “Business & Marketing.”
Laurie – “Urban & Electronic Music.”
Okay back to the music. What is coming out next from you guys?
“Well, on the remix front we’ve just completed a remix for Becky Hill’s new song, called “Losing”. It’s sounding great and we can’t wait to play it out. Then, in terms of new JK originals there’s a lot of really exciting new music we’ve been finishing off – we don’t know exactly which tracks you’ll be hearing next but we do know that right now is a very exciting time. Hopefully you’ll understand more once you hear some of what we’re talking about. Sorry to be such a tease.”
A couple of years ago you said…”We don’t make music that’s strictly British, the music we make has influences from countries and genres all over.” What/where/who are the influences to the Just Kiddin sound in October 2014?
Lewis – “It’s difficult to say as my influences at the moment come from some strange places – I’ve even ended up having recordings on my phone of melodies in TV documentary credits that I have found interesting. My phone is essentially a scrapbook of things that can help to inspire new ideas. I always seem to get more ideas from travelling too, which I another reason why I enjoy gigging so much! As I have become better and writing & production I’ve definitely find I take less inspiration from other similar musicians and find that it comes from stranger sources.”
Laurie – “I think it’s important to keep an open mind with all music, and continually explore different musical styles. I’m still inspired by a lot of genres, I love searching through old archive material, just as much as hearing the freshest music the world has to offer.”
You have had a cracked of a year, but we all know the next 12 months are the important ones. What do you want to achieve over the next year?
Lewis – “I wouldn’t want to give you a list of all the goals we have. To be honest, the list doesn’t really exist. For us, an achievement is being able to share our music with people all over the world and to continue to doing more of what we love. This time next year, I’d like to be in a position where we’re making more music, not just for ourselves, but for others too.”
Laurie – “I know how much potential our new music has – I’m just looking forward to it fulfilling this, and us continuing raising the bar as we go.”
“Dance music can sometimes come across way too pretentious, hence our name.” Discuss…
Lewis – “Ok. Sometimes, I think that dance music (especially certain scenes) can be a little intimidating to get involved in and enjoy. I’m sure we’ve all been out before where it’s felt like ‘how cool you are’ is more important than the music itself. I’ve definitely felt that before and don’t believe that’s what dance music is about. In my opinion, dance music should be about bringing people together and making people feel good! That’s where the name “Just Kiddin” originates from anyways, something that everyone can enjoy and connect with.”
The 5 biggest records in your box right now?
“Let’s go….
1) Jafunk – Dazed
2) Bag Raiders – Nairobi
3) Bondax – All I See (TCTS Remix)
4) Ben Remember – Running Out ft Jack Summers
5) Purple Disco Machine – Musique
Tell us about your studio set up…
Lewis – “We’ve got a studio each in our homes in Kettering. Neither are anything too advanced tbh – we’ve both got an Ableton Push each (which I personally love) and a pair of Focal’s Solo 6’s which we recently upgraded to. We have a mic set up for recording vocals and that’s about it. We like to keep things simple really – it seems to be working so far!”
Who excels in what department when producing, who is great at what?
Laurie – “Lewis is really quick at getting different ideas down, we’re constantly swapping projects and developing them, inspiring each others creativity. I like to pay special attention to creating an atmosphere sonically, looking at the relationship between elements in a track and creating a groove that energises me.”
Lewis – “Each track differs but my department is definitely the ‘writing’ side of things – there’s nothing that makes me happier. I definitely see myself writing for a long time. Production is still something I very much enjoy very much too and it’s something that comes natural once an idea gains momentum – although attention-to-detail probably isn’t my strong point – I’m quite impatient and like to work quickly.”
You live in Kettering, the hometown of our Buzz Chart king Guy Garrett. I have been trying to rack my brains about something notable the place. DMC Mixing Champ DJ Skully comes from there and so did John Profumo. And you can get some good boots there. Anything else?
Lewis – “Haha, I actually remember a guy called Skully from our skating days – never knew he went on to win DMC (Yes Kettering!) – also, tell Guy we said hello!”
Laurie – “Kettering is also very well known for having the first theme park in mainland UK – Wicksteed Park! If you haven’t visited yet you’re missing out. The astroglide is flipping bonkers.”
What is the record that…
…reminds you of your childhood?
Lewis: “Kool & The Gang – Celebrate.”
Laurie: “Madonna – Material Girl.”
…you wish you would have made?
Lewis: “Para One – Every Little Thing.”
Laurie: “David Bowie – Let’s Dance.”
…always gets you dancing?
Lewis: “Sammy Bananas – Move Your Body (Cassian Remix).”
Laurie: “Will Smith – Getting Jiggy Wit It.”
…reminds you of being broken hearted?
Lewis: “Daft Punk – Emotion.”
Laurie: “Red Hot Chilli Peppers – Universally Speaking (damn you just made my heart hurt searching for that! Or is that the steak and béarnaise sauce I had for dinner…).”
And finally…a lot of artists come and go, some don’t get that big break, some miss that opportunity because they weren’t ready. So, are you ready now for the rollercoaster, are you going to grab this with two hands…?
Lewis: “More than ready. I read a good quote once that luck happens when both preparation & opportunity meet – we’ve been prepared for this for a while now so when that opportunity comes along, we won’t look back.”
Laurie: “I really appreciate every opportunity that I’ve had, and every experience along the way. I’m super exited for what the future holds and I’m just going to keep working hard at what I love doing.”
