With an initial release on Zulu Records featuring Roland Clark as their statement of intent, Son Of 8 have stepped onto the scene with big intentions and an even bigger sound. Lined up to hit the main stage of We Are FSTVL later this month, just as their second single drops on Armada Deep, and right before they head to Ibiza as the new weekly residents of Judge Jules’ long-standing Judgement night, we caught up with the duo for a quick chat about what to expect from them this summer…
Interview by Simon Tillotson
Hi guys, great to have you here – for those not in the know, can you
tell us a bit more about who Son Of 8 are?
We’re Paul Hampson and Colin Airey. We’re from Liverpool and have been mates and DJs for over 20 years. Individually, we’ve worked for brands such as Cream, Ministry of Sound and Hed Kandi, playing in clubs all over
the world. Now though, we’re Son Of 8..
We hear you’re the new residents at Judgement this summer in Ibiza? How
did that come about?
Our management at Fresh also look after Judge Jules who we’d met several times previously and got on really with, and then because we’re set to have a very busy summer due to two new releases coming out, it seemed a perfect time to introduce Son of 8 to Ibiza and promote our name and tracks. We’ve both played before in Ibiza but this will be our first full summer residency as Son Of 8 – needless to say, we can’t wait!
Your sound is very definitely house – can we expect a different kind of vibe
at Judgement this year?
Yes very much so, for ourselves anyway. We play anything from good solid vocal driven house to a deeper, techier vibe, but never losing our way with just one specific genre of house. We like to mix it up in order to keep the crowds interested! Our aim at Judgement this season is to introduce clubbers to our style of house music but also to set the night up perfectly for whoever follows on from us, whether that be one of the many incredibly talented guests we have this summer at judgement or the main man himself to take the roof off Eden.
Have you got any memories of Ibiza that stand out in particular for you?
(Colin) Playing Space Terrace back in 2009 was without doubt the stand out memory of Ibiza for me.
(Paul) Playing at Cafe Mambo is something you just never forget. Hopefully there will be a few more to add to that list after this summer!
You’re also playing the main stage at We Are FSTVL – are you nervous?!
Nervous yes, but only in a good way! We are more excited to be able to play our sound to the thousands of people watching in the sunshine. (It will be sunny!)
Do you have to tailor your festival sets compared to a club set?
We think you do, yes. It also depends on what time you’re playing. We have a daytime slot at We Are and like we’ve said, it WILL be sunny, so summer vibes and feel good house music will be the order of the day. It’s a great opportunity to play a different type of set so we’re really looking forward to it.
Back to Ibiza again – you’re playing every week, will you be living out
there for the summer or clocking up mad air miles?
Unfortunately due to such a heavy work schedule in the studio over the summer, it’s just in and out for us. However, out of the 14 weekends that we’re doing, if previous Ibiza experiences are anything to go by, there may be a few flights missed! But the plan is to fly home every week.
And we hear there is a new track on the way too – can you tell us a bit
more about that?
Yes. We’ve collaborated with LA based producer TAI, who’s just had a hit with Watermat & Becky Hill, on a track called ‘In & Out’ which is coming out on Armada Deep on May 25th (just in time for We Are FSTVL!). We’ve just finished the shooting the video for it this week and we are so excited about the release.
And finally, anything else we should know about Son Of 8?
Yes, we do a weekly show called ‘Our House’ which gives you an insight into what we play on the road, what’s hot in the clubs right now and also a few tracks that are a little left field to our normal style in our section called ‘off the beaten track’. You can subscribe to this on iTunes or Mixcloud by searching Son of 8 or just go to sonof8.com for links to all our socials…
You can catch Son Of 8 every Friday at Judgement Ibiza this summer at Eden
https://www.facebook.com/sonof8
https://twitter.com/sonof8music
https://www.mixcloud.com/sonof8/
