Following our interview from last month, No Artificial Colours (Lewis Wright & Ryan Ellis) have delivered a mix of sexy house beats to supply this months exclusive new Groovecast named Street Wise. We also asked the boys a few more questions about their debut appearance at Fabric and where they see themselves in a year’s time.
Listen and download:
What has been your favourite gig so far would you say?
R: We played at Cable a couple of months back. It was the May bank holiday and it was the first time we played out our tracks! I remember we weren’t really sure how it was going to be because we were playing 4-6am.
L: We thought 4-6am, everyone’s been out all day, there isn’t going to be a soul there! But, it was a complete sell out. We enjoy most of the stuff we do, but that was memorable for us because the reaction was really good. I mean although it’s a dark and dingy place, from a DJ point of view, everyone was there for the music and the sound system was good, so that’s why we would say that gig.
R: Everyone was there until the last song and the lights came on and people were going out and queuing up for Jaded again. It was busy until the end.
Do you play in a certain way when it gets to that time in the morning?
R: We try not to plan stuff. The only way I think you can really plan a set is if you are doing the first set. I think its hard to plan a set if you’re playing after people because you don’t really know where they’re going to be at music wise necessarily, and what the crowd are going to be like, so we try to do it as much off the cuff as we can.
L: We have always said we would never turn up to a gig less than an hour before. If we can we like to spend the night there to get a feel for it and build up to the night. You see these people turn up five minutes before and they’re rushing or they’re late on. They are just going to come and they’re going to play there thing regardless of what’s been on before and I just don’t agree with that. Not that we would just accommodate for others, we will always play our sound and to be honest most of our sets now are 50-60% of our own tracks, so that’s cool. But, we’d always turn up well before.
Visionquest @ Full Moon DJ Festival Playing NAC’s ‘Detroit Baby What’
Are you looking forward to Fabric? (They are playing at WYS on 6th November)
R: Massively, we are really looking forward to Fabric. It’s actually my first time at Fabric, actually going in the club full stop. I was going to go last week, but I think I want to save it for the when we play there.
L: First time he’s going to go and he’s going to be playing. It’s mad! That goes back to what we’ve said before about getting out more. We’ve been so busy for the last few years.
So are you going to play all your new stuff?
R: Definitely. It will be the first time, since it’s released, that we play the EP out.
L: We played at Krankbrothers, which we really enjoyed too because we did six hours and we played about 6 or 7 of our own tracks that night. ‘Street Knowledge’ went down really well and ‘Girl You know’ is actually the track that Krankbrothers approached us about, that’s how we ended up playing with them. It’s mad really how music just connects everyone together. That sounds like a cheesy line, but it does, you know. The way YouTube works now, you can go from a video of Lee Foss and because he played at that rooftop party, underneath is a track that we’ve made. It’s just really important to get those videos and use all these things to our advantage. So in the next few months we will really be trying to keep an eye on our music and get it out there as much as we can.
Where do you hope to see yourself in the next year or so?
R: I try not to think about it too much because I want to take it all as it comes. To think about where we would be this time next year, can be quite daunting. We’ve got a good momentum at the moment and we are progressing quite well, so if we can keep the same sort of pace up for the next year, hopefully we will be somewhere good.
L: I think its all about the music, the productions. We’ve said from the off, it’s easier to look at a track and say ‘I want our track to sound like that’ and you go ahead and do it, and you might be successful. But then you’re going to hit a brick wall when that genre of music or that style is not fashionable anymore or people are not into it. So from the first EP, we sat there and made it because we enjoyed it. It was a laugh, it wasn’t too serious and we’ve done that again and again and again. We went to college to learn (Point Blank Production College), and they taught us to get other tracks up to take influence from them. But I would never take the influence of its style, just the way it’s made, its frequencies and stuff.
R: Also, by the time you come round to copying a sound, it’s out of date, because that track was made three months ago. So, we’ve always said just make the music we enjoy and then if it is successful, you’re not going to struggle to carry on making tracks. That’s what we’ve done so far.
L: That carries through to the DJ’ing as well. You see some people turn up and they’re miserable, but that’s not what we’re about. We want to get involved in the party and enjoy it, like we do with our music.
What tips would you give to aspiring DJs who are trying to get their sound/music/name heard and gain recognition?
R: Just do your own thing really. We have done that with the stuff that we make and the stuff that we play too. We also try not to play somewhere if they ask us to play a sound that isn’t ours. We have done this in the past and from experience, it just doesn’t work.
L: I always say just do what you want to do and eventually, you will be found for your own place.
Words: Samara Moss
