This Saturday was the much awaited ''Filth'' Easter special at the Ironworks Inverness. Among the brilliant selection of local DJ's across two rooms were headliners ''Clouds'' the worldwide successful DJ/Production duo hailing from Perth, Scotland. Liam and Calum are literally fresh out of high school and only recently quit there jobs (which im told were at McDonalds) to persue their careers in dance music, after being signed by Fake Blood, Tiga and Turbo Recordings also recieving huge support from Proxy, Boys Noize and Annie Mac its obvious these guys are the dogs bollocks. I managed to catch an interview with Liam after there set on the main stage. I should say with my lack of interviewing skills and preparation (also being half shot didn't help) meant that i didn't really ask the questions i would have liked to although after a few beers and banter about terrible 'chart cheese' clubs i think i had a good understanding of there attitude on music.
''Okay so, you've just finished your set here at the largest club venue in Inverness, how do think tonight went and what do think of what you've seen tonight?''
Liam '' Yeah, it was energetic tonight, everyone seemed to being going nuts.
''Well we haven't exactly been blessed with big names playing here until recently..''
Liam '' Alright, well its a cool thing yous have running here, the venue is.. like pretty awesome, i understand its a small town and so its hard to do these things.''
''Okay, so if you could describe your sound.. (*both laugh noticing iv knicked this from their interview with 'GottaDanceDirty') in a couple of words without saying what genre it is what would you say?''
Liam ''emmm loud? (
*laughs) is that what it is? Kind of like brash and raw i mean everyone calls it electro but... i dont think thats what we'v really aimed for.''
'
'How do think this comes out in your music i mean, what do yous aim for..?''
Liam ''Well, we never really listened to dance music a lot, i mean like bands and stuff were not really... well we don't take dance music so seriously.
''Yeah, so being from Perth just down the road from us here, its fair to say Clouds success with being signed by Fake Bloods label and Tiga.. has been an inspiration to anyone starting out DJ'n here, Do you have any advice for these people?''
Liam '' I guess just get on with it... like keep pushing and if things aren't working out you might end up hating it sort of thing. But if you start just doing do or die .. like forcing it you might end up going further field with it.. i dont know (*laughs)
'' No i get you. So the latest EP 'numbers' is sounding really good by the way and seems to be doing very well, you probably shouldn't being talking about it but is there anything else we should be looking forward to? I mean anything you can tell us about the near future? ''
Liam ''(*laughs) well we'v just finished a remix that should be out soon and me and Calum have been working on some stuff lately, and we'r gonna see how the numbers thing does then take a new approach. Its just that a lot of 'numbers' things we did like a year ago so we want to see how that does then try something new.''
''Awesome, so i know im not the only one that wants to know but working in a pair to produce music can be a real pain in the arse, how do yous go about working together?''
Liam '' Yeah, we dont, well we do but we don't do it together. Its really hard to i mean you know yourself when your by yourself you dont have to ask what do you think of this or do you like this the whole way through... where us the way we do it is like we do it by ourselves then with the final product we'r like what do you think of this then either me or Calum will say 'yeah i like that' or 'i dont like that bit' so its more a share of opinion, so like maybe il make the track or he will..
''
So its more like, il make a track then you make a track and agree on a final sound?''
Liam'' Yeah totally, its like a solo project then one of us will take and add certain parts''
''Alright, So whats in it for Clouds for the next couple of years?
Liam '' Its all come on so fast so we don't really have a plan, we'r just taking things as they come because theres no structure to it... we can keep making tracks and hoping they still do well and if not then we'l just have to get jobs! (*laughs) I don't know how its going to work out!
''Well Thanks very much Liam and all the best for the future''
Liam ''No problem, Thanks''
Clouds new EP 'Numbers' is available to purchase now from Turbo Recordings
While your off buying that heres something to keep your head in the Clouds, Calum was mentioning this remix they had just done for coin operated boy and they seemed really pleased to do it, after checking it out im telling you its brutal! Enjoy!
Coin Operated Boy - Trust Me (Clouds Remix).mp3
Whether you love him or hate him you have to admit Joel Zimmerman has been an inspiration for many producers and has been a superstar DJ now for many years, however from the majority of critics i hear talking about his last album 4x4=12 they seem to think he has lost his touch. I bought the album and although i wasn't too keen on the dubstep turn towards the end (progressive electro artists shouldn't make dubstep) I wasn't to fussed by it although it lacked what 'Random Album Title' and 'Lack Of Better Name'' had and that was songs which you could attach emotion to (gay i know). His new material (which im guessing is part of an upcoming album this year) has got that feeling back. Looks like hes not just showcasing his new sounds but actually writing music, something which is hard to find in electronic music nowadays.
