The bootleg kings unleath an anthem of the summer
Welcome to DMCWORLD boys, jeez what a summer you are having. Saturday saw Radio 1’s Danny Howard premiering ‘Rock This City’ to the nation. Tell us about the tune…
(LUKE) “The tune is very energetic. It’s very in your face and we wanted to give music listeners and clubbers that special “Hands In The Air” feeling. We’ve not made anything like this before and we’re very happy with the end product.”
Where in the world were you when Danny spun the tune on Radio 1?
(FRAN) “I was in the hospital. My fiancée had just given birth to our new baby boy (Elijah) the newest member of the Polar Bear family!”
You all have brilliant musical skills, which must help the production process, drumming, piano and music technology. So who brings what to the melting pot in the studio – who is good at what?
(RHYS) “Myself and Luke usually come up with the initial idea as we both have musical backgrounds. Fran is an amazing studio technician and can bring the best out of what we have created. He pays attention to the finest details. Once we are happy with the initial arrangement all three of us will have a brainstorming session to finish the track off. It’s great bouncing ideas off 3 people.”
Your bootleg mixes are stuff of legend. Loving the Faithless ‘Insomnia’ track, what have been your favourites to date and what’s coming up next?
(LUKE) “All 3 of agreed the Faithless one so far has been the best to work on. We’ve had some great positive reactions and have been reliably informed it’s been played all over the world, which is great to hear. For the future we are working on a new bootleg with American Producer Antranig from Subliminal Records, we can wait to get this finished.”
You spend so much time together – what are each other’s most annoying habits.
(FRAN) “Luke and Rhys smoke too much, I always complain about that especially being an ex smoker.”
(LUKE) “Rhys’s time keeping is awful, always late.”
(RHYS) “Fran’s addiction to apples, he leaves bags of apple cores everywhere!”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
(RHYS) “These are getting a lot of playtime at the moment…”
1. Faithless – Insomnia (Futuristic Polar Bears Festival Bootleg)
2. Rene Amesz – Kung
3. Do Santos – Rocha
4. Futuristic Polar Bears – Rock This City
5. Chris James, Hot Mouth – Totally Worth It (Federic Scavo Mix)
6. DJ Chus & Sonny Wharton – Runnin
7. The Cube Guys – Patengra
8. Alter Ego – Rocker (Prok & Fitch Vs My Digital Enemy Bootleg)
9. Riva Starr, Fatboy Slim Ft Beardy Man – Get Naked (Futuristic Polar Bears Vs Fatboy Slim Naked Circus Mix)
10. Umek, Mike Vale – Kids With Money (Ant Brooks Mix)
What has been the strangest request you have had from a clubber whilst DJing?
(LUKE) “I once got asked “Can you play something good”? I replied, “What’s good?” I was shocked with the answer of “Shania Twain”. I had to politely remind them they were in a house club ha ha. “
What has been your summer anthem for 2012?
(FRAN) “Hands down Alter Ego – Rocker (Prok & Fitch Vs My Digital Enemy Mix) on Skint. Huge…”
Tell us all about your Global Radio show…
(RHYS) “We started the show about 18 months ago and it was simply to push our sound out there to as many people as possible. We’ve been lucky to get so many of our friends and colleagues in the industry to supply us with exclusives, promos and guest mixes which is helping the show is growing rapidly. We launch on Radio FG in America this week and are very excited about the future of the show.”
What has been the best club of 2012 for you?
(FRAN) “Best gig so far this year has to be TDUK in Maidstone back in February with D.Ramirez. They have an amazing crowd and it was great to play good quality house music. We had so many friends down there with us as well, it was a special night… Can’t wait to play there again!!”
How exciting was watching Fatboy Slim drop your Get Naked collab at the Ultra Music Festival earlier this year?
(RHYS) “It was pretty exciting. I couldn’t quite believe it. The crowd was going nuts. It gave me goosebumps!!!!”
What have the coming months got in store for us release wise…
(LUKE) “We have some exciting releases coming up on Pacha Records alongside Angie Brown, Milk & Sugar Recordings with Peter Brown and My Digital Enemy’s Zulu Records. All three should be out over the next couple of months so make sure you keep your eyes peeled for those.”
Who are the producers around the world right now that you are giving high fives to?
(FRAN) “High-fives are going to Ant Brooks at the moment. The guy is on fire, every release he brings out we are playing either in our gigs or on the show. Our other high-fives go to Marco Lys, Chus and Jason Chance for making amazing music.”
So we come back to yours after the club, what is the Futuristic Polar Bears’ ‘Back To Mine’ selection you spin us to carry on the party…
(LUKE) “Probably whatever is on my iPod would be the music of choice. I’m really big into podcasts and I can see I’m currently subscribed to Mark Knight, Michael Woods, Nic Fanciulli, Erick Morillo, Moon Harbour and Chris Lake. They would be providing the soundtrack to our carry on…”
Why is clubland so crap in the UK at the moment?
(RHYS) “The UK is awash with talented producers and DJs and there still are some amazing parties to be had in the UK in various cities and town across the country. The problems are promoters and venues still aren’t ready to take the risk on nights due to the numbers of clubbers that are going out every week. The numbers haven’t recovered yet but hopefully they will soon. I blame that and drinks prices, clubbing is an expensive past time in this day and age.”
And finally, forget the World Wildlife Fund line, is the name just a few funny words put together or is there method behind the madness?
(FRAN) “There is a method to the madness, we wanted something that stuck in people’s minds and looked good on a festival line-up. We also have a friend that’s a graphic designer and he came up with the logo. But in all honesty we are proud to be active members of the WWF and would love to do a gig for all the eskimos in the arctic…”
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