What happens when four of the world’s most exciting electronic music producers hit the studio? ‘Colours & Lights’, that’s what! DMCWORLD checks in with Brazil’s colossal Cat Dealers duo and Cape Town’s seminal Goldfish as their natural union between deep house, stirring soul, Jazz and Brazillian bass hits home…
Tell us about your collaborative release ‘Colours & Lights’ and the inspiration behind it?
[CatDealers]: Colours & Lights is a track that we were very excited to release, because the whole process of creating it was amazing. Working with such talented musicians such as GoldFish is great, we always learn a lot. We have wanted to work on something together for a while and when Caelu sent us the first vocal idea, we immediately thought about showing it to Goldfish.
[GoldFish]: The inspiration for this track was ignited at the legendary club Laroc in Brazil. We had just finished playing our set to a massive crowd and Cat Dealers were on next. They proceeded to give us a demonstration in their incredible sound. We knew right there that we needed to create something amazing together. Colours and Lights is a great collab as it really engaged the strengths of both artists. Cat Dealers did a great job with the bass drop elements and we feel we nailed the melodic parts!
How did your collaboration come about?
[Cat Dealers]: We’ve been talking about doing a collab for a while actually. So when we got the vocals for “Colours & Lights”, we immediately thought it could be the opportunity for it. We sent it to them and they ended up loving it, which was very exciting for us, we are super honored to have them collab with us on this track! We loved working on the track and we’re really happy with the result.
[GoldFish]: A year or so later after that show in Brazil we were reunited online by mutual friends and the collab was born.
What was the production process like? Were you working together in the studio or remotely?
[Cat Dealers]: The production process was quite quick! The lyrics have been changed a bit, but other than that, it all flowed really well. We got along during the process and we were all on the same page, which is great for getting a good result out of it. But actually, during it, we’d never met in person. Even so, luckily, it was a total match and a great combination of ideas!
[GoldFish]: Most of this track was done on FaceTime / WhatsApp / Dropbox – a real 2019 collaboration. On our first call we pretty much locked in all the melodies and the structure. Cat Dealers had a rough vocal which we massaged into its current lyrical and melodic state, there are some hilarious voice notes of us singing the parts together with some beats in a hotel room in Johannesburg. From there the Cat Dealers really got stuck into the drop and came back with some killer Brazilian Bass vibes.
What are some of the pros and cons of collaborating with other artists versus alone?
[Cat Dealers]: We really enjoy working with other artists, specially when we admire them. That way, we can learn a lot and we can experiment with things we wouldn’t normally do, and we believe that’s a great way of growing musically. On the other hand, working alone is also very important sometimes, because you’re free to create whatever you want in your own time. We like to research and to study a lot, so this is a momento to put all that into practice.
[GoldFish]: Pro – You expose yourself to new ways of working and always learn something new. Con – Timezones for sure, as we were both bouncing around all over the world trying to stay in touch and keep things flowing.
You both have quite different musical backgrounds, how were you able to implement elements from each?
[Cat Dealers]: Since we decided to make this collab, the four of us knew we’d want the drop to have a bit of both musical identities. So it had to be with our bass line and Goldfish’s famous sax. That way, fans could hear both artists in the song, which is really important to us. We were well aligned with the sound we had in mind for this project, and that made the creation process a lot easier and a lot more fun.
[GoldFish]: It was actually pretty easy as our areas of expertise dovetail so nicely as they each fill up different areas of the frequency spectrum. Each artist managed to include their signature sound in the song which created a unique sonic concoction.
What advice would you give to a young producer who is just starting out?
[GoldFish]: Find your own sound! It’s great to take influences from other artists but the most important thing you can do is make something where people can immediately recognize it to be your track.
Do you have any records on repeat at the moment?
[GoldFish]: This is an incredible remix and have been rocking it whenever possible:
Graceland (MK and KC Lights Remix) by Paul Simon
Cat Dealers, You’ve had a lot of collaborations with upcoming Brazilian producers, what’s the biggest difference between them and the more established artists that you work with?
We believe that collaborations are really important to expand your experiences as a producer and to learn with other artists. We consider ourselves really lucky for having the opportunity of working with so many talented people. The biggest difference is probably that collaborating with some of the up and coming Brazilian producers make us get a glimpse of what’s going on in the local scene and what’s been booming. As for working with more established artists, we get to know a lot more about the industry as well as being a great opportunity to learn more on the technical side.
Cat Dealers, you’ve been on the festival circuit a lot this season, which was your favourite show?
We don’t think we can answer that haha. We played at some amazing gigs this season! We got the chance to come back to Europe, where we’re always so welcomed, and we played at great festivals, alongside so many awesome artists that we’ve admired for years. So, yeah, that’s a really tough question to answer like that.
Finally – what’s next on the agenda for you both?
[Cat Dealers]: We right now are focused on our tour and upcoming gigs, because there are some really important ones coming, but we also have some new music in the works. You can expect some other great collabs coming up that we’re really excited about. Soon we’ll share everything with you guys, we can’t wait! So stay tuned!
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