Last week we got down to Clockwork’s promo mix for this Saturday’s Life
and Death records showcase but the second act to get on it with the pre-
party sonic experience are Thugfucker
(a name devised to keep it out of the commercial sphere of club music).
Decisively underground, the New York come Iceland duo made up of Greg
Oreck & Holmar Filipsson have a rich history embedded in The Big
Apple’s off the beaten track party scene - avoiding the shiny lights and
fighting their way through a dance prohibition that swept the city
earlier this decade.
DOWNLOAD: Thugfucker fabric Promo Mix
Interview
Thugfucker have triumphed to maintain their underground spirit both
through Greg’s label, Live and Death, and most importantly as a DJ
partnership primed for after hours grooves bringing just the right kind
of beats to Room Three this Saturday. Tune into their fabric Promo Mix
and read on to get to know the real story and sound of Thugfucker.
Tell us how you guys met, what’s the background to your friendship?
Well we'd sort of moved in similar circles for a long time in New York
but didn't really know each other. Like moving in concentric circles in
the same scene. But we finally ended up getting into a long discussion
at a party Holmar was throwing and we realized we were really cut from
the same cloth, so to speak. We became good friends pretty quickly and
by now really do feel like brothers from another mother.
What was the defining moment that made Thugfucker? Can you tell us who does what exactly?
It was above a former brothel in Chintatown where Holmar was throwing
that party. We were both in the middle of the dancefloor, which of
course is where some of the best ideas come. We were communing with the
universe and with each other and with several drinks when suddenly we
realized that we had to unite forces in order to help the plight of
genetically Rhythmblind. So after setting up a charitable foundation
just for that purpose, making music together seemed like a logical thing
next step...
As for what we do, we both do a bit of everything and when things are
really going along nicely there seems to be a fair bit of mental
telepathy involved. But when there's tom programming to be done, that's
usually Holmar. He's unstoppable when it comes to the tom-tom drums.
Really.. it's impressive.
What’s in the name Thugfucker?
The name does come with all kinds of things built into it.. some of
which we knew at the time we came up with it, others we've slowly
realized along the way.
We knew from the start that with a name like Thugfucker we were never
going to be sold in Wal-Mart or any place like that -- which suits us
just fine. Also, we're pretty sure it's impossible to take ourselves too
seriously or get our heads stuck too far up our own asses with a name
like that. And then of course you don't get a lot of random people
seeing the name Thugfucker and thinking "oh yeah, that sounds like
something i'd be into". So as a result the people who do come out to
party with us have either heard us, heard our music or heard enough
about us from friends that they get the the sort of eclectic, "good
vibes but let's party hard" feeling that we're about. Basically we have
this silly yet really hard sounding name which works out to be a bit of
verbal camouflage for what we're really like. Keeps out the riff-raff..
and then of course the people who know, really know.
What’s life like in New York? How is the city an inspiration to you and the music you make?
Super inspiring. Greg left for 8 years living in Europe but he's back
now and we both really love this city. Right now there's actually tons
of great stuff going on and coming out of New York in terms of nightlife
and dance music. But even in the periods when NYC might not have been
on top of it's nightlife game what has always made this city unique is
the people. There's so much diversity and everyone somehow gets along
and connects together in ways that all kinds of interesting things come
out of it.
Plus this place can be totally insane sometimes. In all the various ways
that we like. It's like gas for our engine.. or some other better
metaphor. Anyway, we try to take it, make nice things out of it and then
take the feeling with us when we travel...
Tell us about some of the first parties you put on and how have you seen things changed in the scene over the years?
The first parties we threw in New York were in the shadow of Giuliani's
crackdown on clubland in NYC in the late nineties. He had just started
reinforcing this old cabaret law that prohibited dancing in venues
unless they had a special permit -- which was basically impossible for
smaller venues to attain. So most clubs where we made parties were
battling this issue and staff were running around asking people not to
dance. It got so bad that Giuiliani actually had a cabaret squad raiding
bars and clubs looking for dancing people and if they would find people
moving and shaking big fines were issued, venues were shut down and
even the DJ's sometimes had to pay fines. It was ridiculous and it was
definitely a dance prohibition era back then. The parties were really
fun but always colored by the enforcement of this law and ultimately
when the parties got bigger we were forced to move to more commercial
venues.
Those parties were fun too of course but after 9/11 happened things went
into a real low period. But now NYC is very different, dance
prohibition is gone, (Guiliani is divorced and has lost all of his hair
and credibility) and tons of great parties are happening.
What are your thoughts on the new wave in slow
house territory, and RnB edits… it’s a sound you have been pursuing? How
do you feel the sound with develop next year?
It seems like the new wave of music happening at the moment is even
bigger than just that sound.. though certainly that's been a starting
point for a lot of what's happening now -- and it's a sound we do like
quite a bit, though not exclusively. Overall it feels like there's a lot
more dance music that's taking cues from pop, R&B, soul and
alternative/indie music.. the music's becoming more songlike and less
about DJ tools (not that there isn't a place for those). People are
taking ideas and sounds and structures from all these other styles and
bringing them to a different level. It's exciting because while it's got
a lot of familiar elements it doesn't feel like retreading over old
territory, it's very new and evolving. And there's so many people doing
great stuff right now. Tons of great, amazing music and a lot of it
made by people we know and who we happen to like a lot on a personal
level. The underground music scene is in a really good place right now
and is still getting better all the time. It's a really exciting time to
be a part of all of this.
Who are your closest friends in the music world and who do you turn to for advise ever?
Wow, that could be a long list. Seriously... All of us in the Life and
Death crew (Manfredi, Matteo, Karm, Federico, Francesco, Sammy, Mikey,
Ryan...) are really tight and we really are quite a family. Which always
shows through whenever you get a few us in the same place at one time.
Seth Troxler has been incredibly helpful and encouraging and is always
full of love and support, as have been all the Visionquest crew.. The
Art Department guys are definitely soul brothers.. and fellow
troublemakers, as is pretty much all of the Wolf + Lamb / Soul Clap
crews.. those guys specifically as well as Greg & Nick from No
Regular Play, Tanner, Deniz, Ryan (Slow Hands).. oh goddamn, this is
starting to feel like a high school yearbook.
But the truth is we really feel like we're amongst such a nice group of
people so much of the time, and we really are aware of it and appreciate
it...
What’s new on Thugfucker Recordings?
Well for the moment we've kind of put it on hold as Greg's been busy
with ‘Life and Death’ and Holmar's been working hard preparing a new
label called 'YAH' that's going to be kicking off pretty soon. But we're
definitely still gonna revisit it now and again for some special
projects and releases. There's also a downtempo label we keep
threatening to start up. We are not, however, awesome at time
management.
How are you looking forward to your Room Three
debut with Clockwork this Saturday? Tell us about the music, vibe and
general craziness we can expect from you guys…?
Oh really, you have no idea. Everyone we know who plays at fabric can
(and does) go off about how much fun it is to play there. Add to the
fact that the whole lineup that night in all of the rooms is great (and
lots of friends!) so you know the vibe's gonna be stellar... and then on
top of that we're going to be playing all night long in Room Three with
our good friends and label mates, Clockwork, which makes it even more
fun (and potentially trouble inducing). And it's Greg's birthday that
week so that kind of adds a bit of a wild card into the mix. It's
definitely going to be a fun night... But yes, it might get messy!
Greg, you founded Life And Death with Manfredi
Romano (aka DJ Tennis). Tell us about the label, its music philosophy,
the artists on board and plans for the future?
Well we first became close friends during these late night sessions
where we'd end up going back and forth playing each other music all
night. Stuff we loved and had discovered from who knows where. So when
the label started to come together the idea was to try and focus on a
sound more informed by our varied tastes in music but that could work on
a dancefloor or the kind of afterparty we'd want to end up at with our
good friends at 5am. Something a little sideways and skewed but maybe
also a little familiar at the same time. Emotional music but not without
a sense of humor. Matteo and Karm came on board pretty early on as well
and those guys are just amazing and I couldn't imagine doing it without
them. Matteo is this amazingly smart young guy with a super wise old
soul and Karm is a force of nature. Like some sort of Dionysian wood
nymph banshee with a heart of gold. And both of them have incredibly
good taste and a musical knowledge way beyond their years.
As for the future, coming up soon is the DJ Tennis EP which I think is
gonna blow people away. And a various artists release that's going to
introduce a few new people. And more stuff from us and all the crew as
well as a few new additions we're all very excited about. And yes,
there's some album stuff in the works too. Very excited about the year
to come actually...
What are your plans for New Years? Whats the best New Year you’ve ever had?
We're gonna get in lots of trouble in our hometown... Then we're gonna
fly to BPM in Mexico and do a Life and Death showcase there with the
PillowTalk guys. More trouble. And then to SF to celebrate the birthday
of our good friend Dax. And he's no stranger to a good time either. It's
definitely going to be a nice beginning of 2012. And then later in the
year, if all goes along as predicted, our consciousness is going to
shift into something totally different and the world is going to be
transformed completely as we move into the next stage of human
evolution. So it's probably important to start the year right with a few
really good parties right out of the gate.
How far down the line are you with new releases and is the longer-term aim to make albums?
Well we've got lots of things we've been working on.. but it's always
hard to predict when things will actually decide to be finished. We've
been doing a bunch of collaborations though that are almost ready,
including a few with PillowTalk, Deniz Kurtel & Tanner Ross out on
Wolf + Lamb at some point. We're also doing a bunch of stuff with this
great new artist, Navid, who's doing really cool stuff that we're going
to be releasing sometime next year. There's also a bunch of remixes and
then another Thugfucker EP coming. And eventually an album too. But
we're definitely taking our sweet time with that.
Finally, can you tell us about the mix you have done for us? Set the scene if you will….
A dark room, nice flashing lights, probably a disco ball somewhere lit
from afar. Late at night with speakers nice and loud and everyone's
seratonin receptors on high alert. An afterparty waiting to happen.
Mix & Interview from: fabriclondon.com
Link: www.fabriclondon.com/blog/view/introducing-thugfucker-and-their-fabric-promo-mix
Thugfucker fabric Promo Mix
