The Brighton Producers Just Blowing Up Everywhere
Ben and James, two DJs who after meeting in the famous Brighton record store BPM by chance, set your stall out from day one – pure unadulterated house music, be it on the decks or in the studio. What artists/tracks back in the day made you fell in love with this sweet sound in the first place?
“We’ve both got lots of artists that we love in common here, Daft Punk have been a massive influence on both of us getting into dance music, as were Full Intention. They have always made tracks that rocked the dancefloor and their productions always faultless.”
A big tune coming out in August featuring the mighty Cevin Fisher – ‘Mundo’. Last year saw you remix two of clubland’s biggest records, Cevin’s ‘Burning Up’ and ‘Freaks Come Out’ – how did this special relationship with Cevin arise in the first place?
“Yeah, we have a really good working relationship with Cevin. Cevin’s an extremely talented producer and vocalist. The vocal he put down on ‘Mundo’ has given the track a massive hook and really set it apart from anything else we’ve done, as it sits in the groove, rather than over the track like a lot of vocals do. Initially we hooked up with Cevin when we were approached by Martin from Subversive, he was planning to re-release – ‘Burning Up’ and was keen to get us on board. Obviously we jumped at the chance, like many people the original track holds a special place in our hearts’. It’s fair to say we worked pretty hard on the mix and were both really pleased with the end result. We were then invited to play at Cevin’s party at ADE and ever since we’ve got on really well.”
Who are your House music DJ legends?
James – “Jeremy Healy, love his energy and technical ability behind the decks.”
Ben – “Carl Cox, I have never seen him not smash it and has always musically done his own thing and never sold out.”
So your Floorplay label, one year in and already twelve releases under the belt. ‘Mundo’ is preceded though by ‘Red Light’, a collaboration with DJ Disciple no less, a bumpy underground vocal anthem, simply a slab of pure house music – atmospheric isn’t the word. So talk us through both of the tracks, how would YOU describe them?
“‘Red Light’ is a bouncy slice of main room house, with an infectious male vocal that adds a touch of soul to the track. Big break down and total dance floor destruction every time. ‘Mundo’ is a deep groover that fits into really well any part of our set, there’s a serious remix package here with a mix for every floor. We called in some massive favours here resulting in our strongest release yet.”
Biggest clubbing/DJing/promoting disaster?
“We played at Cream in Amnesia last year for the first time and half an hour into our set after a few too many Vodka Limon’s, we managed to put the same track on 3 times in half an hour! Funny thing was though that the third time it came on the dancefloor was hanging from the rafters…”
Brighton Beach at dawn off your knackers is one of my favourite places to be in the Summer, except when a seagull shits on your head. But still, those crazy mornings surely must have inspired you to make music and start putting on club nights? What have been the highlights of your monthly Floorplay nights down on the south coast at Coalition?
“Ha Ha, happened to me on my way of the first Fatboy Beach party – a big smelly seagull shat all over my head and I lived nowhere near Brighton at the time so had to deal with the stench for the rest of the day. Yeah its a good place to live, most importantly, by the sea and not too hectic. Like any city, it has its good and bad points, fortunately the good heavily out do the bad. Favourite haunts’ include a Sunday sesh in Hanover, loads of good pubs and most of them doing good food, a nice BBQ on the beach or in Preston Park. Our favourite has to be the Floorplay NYE party last year, playing to our home crowd with the club full by 10.30pm and an atmosphere that was beyond words. We’d say check YouTube and that would fill in any blanks, plus we didn’t have to get any flights the next day, touch!”
What is the Brighton club scene like at the moment?
“Fortunately it’s definitely getting better. It went through a bit of a loll last year, a lot of nights were very similar, promoters were getting a little lazy just relying on their guest DJs or the reputation of the club to bring the numbers in. Unfortunately some legendary nights have either gone or no longer have the buzz they used to. On the plus side the promoters have now upped their game and are reaping the rewards with busy clubs and great atmospheres. It’s really good to see Brighton buzzing again.”
Best album ever made?
“Daft Punk ‘Homework'”
Best House record ever made?
“That’s a tough decision, perhaps Three Drives ‘Greece 2000’
Biggest 10 tunes in your box right now?
1. Prok & Fitch Feat. Cevin Fisher ‘Mundo’ (Wady mix) on Floorplay
2. Union Jackers ‘Drop’ on Nervous
3. Last Rhythm ‘Last Rhythm’ (Prok & Fitch Mix) on Defected
4. Tiko’s Groove feat. Mendonça Do Rio ‘Para Sambar’ (Vocal extended) on Azuli
5. Minimorph ‘Spanglish’ (Original) on Minibus
6. & ME ‘F.I.R’ on Keinemusik
7. Chemical Brothers ‘Star Guitar’ (Prok & Fitch vs Jorgensen booty) on CDR
8. Filthy Rich ‘Lovestruck’ on Floorplay
9. Avicii ‘Ryu’Laidback (Luke Edit) on Mix Mash
10.Prok & Fitch Vs Filthy Rich ‘Naga’ (Original) on CR2
What were the best moments from…
a)DJing with Roger Sanchez in Miami this year at his Stealth party?
“Playing our Chemical Brothers – ‘Star Guitar’ bootleg and seeing one of the most ridiculous sights ever when it kicked back in!”
b)Your first Australia tour
“Playing at Family in Brisbane and meeting two legendary personalities: Tom Piper dropping gun shots into his sets, and Groove Terminator blagging us the biggest breakfast ever in the Quantas lounge after 2 days without sleep! Bang Bang!”
c)Playing at Holland’s Queens’ Day festivities
“We can’t remember, we smoked too much weed that day…”
What one artist dead or alive would you like to work with in the studio?
“Thomas Bangalter…say no more!”
You have worked with the likes of the Utah Saints, Freemasons, Shamus Haji, Kraak & Smaak, Funkagenda, Hoxton Whores, Filthy Rich, Kid Massive, DJ Disciple, Juan Kidd and Daley Padley to name but a few. Who out of this lot did you enjoy working on?
“DJ Disciple was great fun to work with, and since then there has been a new vocabulary in the studio when we need perking up: the Money Sound, make it global and the 40 minute arrangement – and we didn’t got hungry, that’s for sure.”
You’ve DJ’d all over the world, apart from Miami, you’ve made arses shake in places like Dubai, Germany and Spain – which country have appreciated you the most, who have the maddest clubbers?
“Definitely has to be Eastern Europe for both. They are bang into their music, love to party and get pretty wrecked and enjoy themselves. Plus we get to write some pretty funny things on people who want autographs – I feel sorry for whoever has to translate the phrases!!”
And also, apart from your own, what’s the best club in the UK?
“East Village in Shoreditch, it just goes right off!! I hear someone’s starting a wicked bi-monthly party there soon!!”
Yeah wonder who! What’s next from Prok & Fitch?
“For the time being we want to keep working our arses off in the studio, we’ve got so many ideas to put into music and want to stay as creative as possible. Our music is taking us to lots of new places and that’s very exciting. We’ve got lots of great tracks and remixes finished and in the hands of the labels due for release and lots of hot tracks to release on our Floorplay label. Thinking about the future, we really want to keep building the label and the party. There’s no reason if we keep working as hard as we are that we can’t rival the big labels like Toolroom, CR2 and Defected and that’s what we’re setting our sights on. Over the last year we’ve really seen the hard work we’ve put in start to pay off, you have to make lots of sacrifices along the way but hopefully it’ll all be worth it very soon!”
“Thanks Dan…”