USA & UK Take On The World
Hi guys. Bit of a weird start up for such a brilliant duo – your new track ‘Our Time’ is coming from your forthcoming album ‘No Requests’ – but what many of us may not know is that Cory, you live in Austin, Texas, USA and Jimmy – you’re from Leeds, Yorkshire, England – how the hell did a this come about?
Cory: “Many years ago I met Jimmy in Austin. He and his friends would come over in the Winter to ride while the weather was too shitty in the UK. We kept in touch for a few years and eventually he joined my old hardcore band, The Rise. Whilst together one Summer working on the last record, we would work on some more electronic focused stuff after all the guys left the studio. It started as a much noisier project, more along the Kid 606, Squarepusher lines. After he went back to the UK we put together similar home studios with doubles of a lot of the gear and started zipping up and sending each other files and sessions over aim. It has downsides but generally seems to work for us. We have a lot more freedom now to get together for longer periods of time to take advantage of things that happen musically when we are in the same room.”
How did you meet your label boss Mark Jones from Wall of Sound – in DMC’s eye’s a musical genius who just knows talent and how to turn them into gold…
“We were introduced to him whilst meeting with various labels in London after our original demos made some rounds. Being from America, Mark as a person was new to me, but the label was obviously not. The legacy and artists that Mark has cultivated didn’t really leave much else that needed to be said to cement the desire to work with him. I’ve learned that Mark applies the same prowess he has for talent to desserts.”
Talk us through ‘No Requests’ – what are your favourite tracks and what artists influenced these songs?
“My favorite tracks change a lot, but right now ‘Beating Hearts’ probably takes the lead. We worked with a relatively new artist from London called Emile. His voice is incredible – like Off The Wall era Jackson meets ‘Purple Rain’ Prince. It will be the single that drops right before the album. ‘Never Trust A Singer’ is a track that we took a long shot on and were able to work with Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy). It’s always nice when you reach out to someone you’ve listened to for a long time and taken inspiration from and they turn out to be really solid people. We did a track with Dennis from Refused as well as a small nod to our Hardcore past and he was unbelievably great too.”
Best vocalist of all time?
Cory: “Robin Gibb”
Jimmy: “Freddie Mercury”
Cory – was it a major point in your life when you decided to turn your back on rock and when your band The Rise failed, you turned to what we all love – electro pop, house and techno?
“I grew up in the 80’s and also had an older sister so synth based music was always part of things I liked. The Rise stopped because most of us weren’t having fun in the Hardcore scene anymore. We didn’t like what the scene had become and more importantly, we didnt like touring in a van for months all the time. All of us had other things we could be doing so we decided to stop. I went to work as a graphic designer for a few years and Ocelot wasn’t a lot more than a hobby. What was a major point though was when I had to make the decision to quit that job and give Ocelot a shot. But even when I played Hardcore, I was always the guy picking up the new Oval record or trying to get people at least into Daft Punk.”
Cory – coming from Texas, what is the best and worst thing about Leeds?
“The best? House parties and us”
“The worst? Severe lack of Tacos”
Jimmy – coming from Leeds, what is the worst thing about Austin, Texas?
“The best? Tacos
“The worst? Hippies.”
Ocelot – what is the best remix you have ever done?
“We really like the Youth Attack mix we did. It’s probably our favourite to play out.”
Dead or alive – ten people you would invite to your finest dinner party?
“Will Ferrel, Vic Reeves, Rick James, Keith Moon, Serge Gainsbourg, Michael McDonald, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Bird Peterson, and Glenn Beck (but just so we could punch him inthe face and throw him out of said dinner party)”
Cory – can you understand a fucking word James says with his accent?
“Yes, it’s the effeminate lisp that actually gives me trouble.”
Is there an artist/DJ/producer out there we should look out for in 2010 that you’ve noticed?
“Our friend Gato Viola had one of his tunes in Giles Peterson’s Winners of 2009 Chart. Could be a good year for him if he knuckles down. Also, Bird Peterson has been steadily rising but I think this is the year that should solidify him as one of the best producers’ out there.”
Best album of 2009?
Jimmy: Moderat – Moderat
Cory: Ghostface Killa – Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry
You two have such different musical tastes – what one record that each of you play all the time, does your tits in to each other?
Jimmy: “Alexandra Burke – ‘Bad Boys’.”
Cory: “Buck Up Partner! : A guide to re-saddling up your woman” AudioBook as read by Gregory Peck
What is coming out next from your studio in 2010?
‘Forbidden Touch’ single in March, ‘Beating Hearts single in May, and the album is out on May 31st plus more remixes and production for other people.”
