“Between me as evil, and me as…” pauses Mike, “yeah, evil! I think they’re the same.” Despite this, Louis’ own appetite for music is voracious, something displayed in the ever-shifting palette of their DJ sets and Brodinski’s much-downloaded internet mixtapes, covering LA rap style Jerk, Deep South chopped and screwed hip-hop, his recent
G.Vump ‘Nvthin Bvt A Gvxxi Thang’ collaboration and the self- explanatory ‘Best Of Everything’. “I need to listen to 20 new tracks a day,” he says brightly. “Especially in the techno world. Guys like Alan Fitzpatrick and Gary Beck and Chris Liebing, they are always releasing stuff on their label. It’s good for us because it’s those tools that we can use in our DJ sets.” “He’s my Beatport guy,” Mike retorts. “Every month he sends me a zip with some tracks because I hate to go on the web and try to find the good tracks!” “I’m still like that, going all around the place trying to find new kinds of music,” Louis answers, when we ask about his much-spoken-about online treasure hunting, confirming that he’s never bought a vinyl record, instead contacting posters to try and get a rip when he finds a track he wants from the vast discography of YouTube. “Wes, Diplo, is a bit like that too. Always checking the internet for the last Cumbia release from Mexico. I think it’s good. “If you have a following, you can give people music they don’t know and they’ll have a certain interest in it. It’s why we are actually doing music. I love being educated by people, I love that Ed Banger have released Laurent Garnier. For me, it’s such a big deal.” It’s a reciprocal feeling. Skrillex has recently been incorporating Gesaffeslstein productions into his DJ sets, giving Bromance an airing to US ravers who otherwise might not have heard them. But while Mike praises Skrillex’s success, he’s quick to point out that, “it’s not the same scene, it’s not the same crowd”. “It’s really weird, every techno DJ is afraid of Skrillex. They’re scared that maybe he’ll steal their crowd. They don’t have to be afraid, it’s not the same music.”
FESTIVALS As for their audience, it’s festival-sized masses of abandonment that are their natural environment. “We’re doing music for big rooms,” says Louis directly. “When I play with him, we’re four hands but we’re one brain,” follows Mike on the natural synergy that they’ve discovered behind the decks, their whole being more than the sum of its parts. “We don’t have to talk because when I put the bass off, he’s going to put the bass on just after at the right time. “People say to me, ‘when you are onstage with Louis,
you dance every time and when you play live, you don’t dance!’ It’s just because when I play with him, I’m really happy.” “And that’s such a good mood, the party, having people on stage and having fun,” agrees his partner in crime, harking back to his days as a bedazzled youth watching Ed Banger. It’s also something, they agree, in the world of increasingly expensive light shows, that crowds have come to expect, the only escape from this onstage scrutiny in the bunker-like booth of Fabric in London. “They’re not just waiting for the music, they want to see your face, they want to see videos,” reckons Louis on the expacatation of modern audiences. “I remember seeing Andrew Weatherall DJ eight years ago when I was 16 in Lille and people were not watching the DJ, they were dancing. We have so many gigs when people are watching us.” “They want to see your dick!” exclaims Mike. “No they don’t,” he counters. “No they do, sure! They are crazy.”
As for who might want to see the aforementioned Bromance members’ members, the issue pops up (so to speak), when we enquire as to whether there’s ever any friendly rivalry between the pair. “Never!” they reply in unrehearsed unison, their united front as watertight as their productions. “Maybe sometimes, like yesterday when we weren’t playing the same spot,” Louis reflects on an obvious shared predilection for certain tunes. “We are in competition in other ways,” teases Mike. “No, not this way, we are never in competition this way! I’m like whatever… he’s definitely going to win.” It’s this unpredictable mischief and familial good- natured piss-taking that makes Bromance genial company, both off and on stage. As for their future beyond the label, there have been plenty of Brodinski remixes, including a stunning bass-centric remix of Sebastian Tellier’s ‘Cochon Ville’, his handclap heavy re- jig of Danny Brown’s ‘Die Like A Rockstar’ and a heads down techy interpretation of Miike Snow’s ‘The Wave’. Following the success of his own separate live shows, Gesaffelstein is also working on an album. “I have no plan for it,” he says with an obstructive smile when we ask for more info. “And if I have a plan, I don’t talk about it,” he adds to a combined laugh. Questions out of the way, it’s time for the photos. “I think it’s my first interview in English,” says Mike as he’s getting up to leave. And how was it? “Not so bad.” And with that they’re off, Bromancing all they meet.
FLOORPLAY
Miss Kittin & the Hacker ‘First Album’ (International Deejay Gigolo Records)
Gesaffelstein: “The first album from Miss Kittin & The Hacker was such a big influence for me. Also the Vitalic ‘Pony’ EP, that has one of the best tracks ever.” Brodinski: “I still consider ‘Silver Screen Shower Scene’ with Miss Kittin and Felix a big track. It was coming from France, but it’s not really labelled as French music.” Gesaffelstein: “It was not very famous in France.”
Daft Punk
‘Rollin’ and Scratchin’’ (Virgin) Brodinski: “I still love ‘Rollin’ and Scratchin’’ from Daft Punk. And ‘Turbo’ from Thomas Bangalter. I have a lot of French tracks I really love.”
Justice ‘Waters of Nazareth’ (Ed Banger) Brodinski: “When ‘Waters Of Nazareth’ came out I was listening to it on my iPod. I was 17 and I was like, ‘There’s a problem with the sound! Maybe I’ve got the wrong version,’ but actually it was the right one. I listened to it so much.”
Four French tracks that inspired Bromance
Alan Braxe & Fred Falke ‘Rubicon’ (Vulture) Brodinski: “You remember this one?” Gesaffelstein: “Oh no!” Brodinski: “For me it was like ‘Flashdance’! Such a big influence, such a big track. It’s so good.”
www.djmag.com
035
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82