Ahead of their first trip to Australia for three years, as part of their Endless Summer world tour and in advance of an upcoming studio release, JOSH LLOYD jumped on the phone with Pitchin and Charly, electronic genre-slayers Dirtyphonics.
Endless Summer is treating French production crew Dirtyphonics well. Pitchin chimes in from San Diego,“It’s 70 degrees outside and beautiful.” Charly, in Denver due to touring requirements, says, “It’s great out here. The shows have been awesome, the response has been great, and we’re just on a couple days off right now, but so far so good.”
The Endless Summer tour comes off the back of a hectic 2014 for Dirtyphonics, including the Tomorrow World, Electric Zoo and Electric Daisy Carnival festivals. Pitchin explains that “it’s about playing the music that you make and you love every night, meeting people from around the world and soaking up culture and all that. We’re really enjoying the road life.”
Despite spending so much time on the road, the duo have also been working on an impending studio release, the biggest since their full-length studio album Irreverence which came out in March of 2013. Asked how it’s all coming along, Charly says, “Very well. We’re super happy, man. After Irreverence, we’ve been on the road and focusing on writing remixes for other people instead of our own music. We went on the road in America a lot, so when we got back to our studio in Europe we started writing a bunch of different things. We probably have like an album’s worth of new material right now but we’re not going to release it all at the same time, but yeah, we’re really happy with how the first EP is turning out.”
It’s demanding, trying to rule the world and churn out productions at the same time. “There’s less of a road now than there used to be when we used to produce on the road,” says Charlie. “Back in the days we’d have to sit down in the studio and gather everyone together but touring has made us used to it and I think honestly, now we work faster.”
“When we were writing Irreverence we were touring so much that we had to start a bunch of tracks on the road,” Pitchin continues. “The funny thing is that we also didn’t take those songs as far as we do now, now that we’ve gotten into a better rhythm with being on the road a lot and new tools that make it so easy to produce. It pushes us to work faster and more efficiently.”
It’s been three long years since a Dirtyphonics tour has made its way to Australia, but they recall their time spent down under fondly. “So many memories,” laughs Pitchin. “Yeah, we can’t wait to go back, cause we know you guys are going to go hard. All the shows we played had a really fucking great vibe and amazing people, so now we’re really happy and excited to come back and bring some new material.”
On that tour three years ago, Dirtyphonics were remembered for their creativity, originality and bringing a cutting edge to the decks. With three years being a long time to maintain a reputation in dance music these days, Charly explains that the secret is “Doing what you feel in the moment, you know.”
“Yeah, absolutely,” says Pitchin. “We’ve never been about making one song and thinking, ‘Oh, that’s cool, let’s do it again and again’. For us it’s more like, ‘Let’s do something else‘,which is how we came to be known for playing and producing a lot of different styles. We started out with DnB but then moved to dubstep and electro and more. after each song we want to jump onto a new thing and do something different. Plus the kids at our shows are really driving us, it’s key to having that longevity as an artist.”
“When we go to put on a show, it really depends on what we’re producing but on what others are producing, too,” says Charly. “When you’re travelling with a lot of cool new DnB tracks then obviously you’re going to play more DnB, you know. We just go by what we love at the moment. That really keeps us excited to jam on different BPMs. It’s refreshing and you can kick even harder when you go down on a selection, or play smoother stuff at a lower BPM so you can go harder when you bring it back up again.”
This vein of multi-genre exploration is becoming more prominent in modern dance music, but has always been commonplace for Dirtyphonics, as Charly explains. “For us, it’s really natural,” he says. “It’s what we’ve done since the beginning, so I guess we’re really happy that everyone else is catching onto the same thing, because, yeah, it’s definitely a lot more awesome and exciting.” It’s clearly a point of pride for them, as Pitchin adds that “It’s a new thing that’s catching on now but it’s always been that way for us, we’d play at parties and people would be like ‘Oh, you guys play other shit, too?’.”
Expecting more of the same dynamism and energy from Dirtyphonics shows across Australia in November, Pitchin has no doubts. “It’ll be extremely energetic music. Whatever the BPM will be, it’s going to be a full on raving, partying and energetic vibe.” Charly continues, “We’ll be playing music that we love and feel strong about, we’re going to play our new stuff and we’re super excited to share that with the Australian crowds. We’re definitely there to have a good time and party with you all.” Pitchin: “Oh yeah.”
