After a hugely successful 2012, Soundplate caught up with Mexican duo Jay Blakk & Kiko Deal aka Climbers ahead of their massive 2013 live schedule..
Charlie (SP): You guys have only been releasing music together for just over a year now… are you surprised with how quickly things have moved? Or was it one of those ‘Eureka’ moments when you got in the studio together and you knew things were right?
Jay Blakk (Climbers): Well for us its been an incredible ride, we are just so blessed to see how people react and support to our music thru the web and each time we go and play to these incredible cities. And trust me when I say each time we go to the studio we try to print ourselves in the music, with the feeling we have that exact moment.
We truly believe life is all about moments.
Charlie (SP): You’ve just remixed ‘Hey, Hey’ by the mighty Dennis Ferrer, how did this come about?
Kiko Deal: Well it original the idea from our manager Andrew Salsano, and once we knew it was this track we said yes. We respect so much Dennis Ferrer and also this track we love it, so in the studio it was an incredible flow and each time we are playing it people go crazy.
We are really happy with this remix.
Charlie: And Frankie Knuckles on the remix of your own track ‘Left Your Love’?
Jay Blakk: Well what can we say. Its just incredible to say the least to have the Godfather of House music to do a remix of one of your tracks. Once we got the news from our friend and partner in crime Silky that Frankie loved it and he was down to do a remix we just had the best feeling in the world, and let me tell you that we just got the remix from the legend and the track I truly believe is going to be one of those tracks your going to listen a lot in the summer, he did a timeless track.
Charlie: It seems as though you guys don’t like to give too much away with your recent 40 second ‘snippet’ previews, which of your forthcoming releases are you particularly hyped about?
Kiko Deal: Well we want to keep it really close each release, but we are really excited about our next single with Get Physical along with the girls of Blond:ish when they came to our town to make some music and there is the result. Obviously we are super excited about our single Left your Love on our label Faceless Recordings along with our partners and friends Silky and Barber remixes. And also a release on Off Recordings and some remixes.
Charlie: As you mentioned, you’ve just started your very own label ‘Faceless Recordings’… are you likely to be releasing more forthcoming material via your own outlet, or will labels like Get Physical still play an important part in the Climbers setup?
Jay Blakk: When we started with the idea of opening our label it was for 2 things first of all to support new acts that we think deserve to be heard and involve our friends in the label too, and of course to release our music. But Culprit and Get Physical are those two labels that have been always there for us and we will keep releasing music with them because we are part of the family, and you know that family comes first.
Charlie: You’re confirmed to play the Akbal Music Showcase alongside fellow Mexicans Betoko, Robbie Akbal, Balcazar & Sordo and Miguel Puente. Obviously Betoko worked wonders with your track ‘Equal Responsibility’ towards the end of 2013, while Balcazar & Sordo jumped on the remix of Miguel Puente’s ‘Baby Gurl’… you guys all seem to really love working with each other. Does it feel almost like a brotherhood between you all? And are there any more Mexicano collaborations in the pipeline?
Kiko Deal: Yeah it will be a great show, well yeah Betoko did an incredible remix for our track and all these guys we have mad respect for them, because they are working so hard to make Mexico a respected country in the electronic scene.
Right now we have Balcazar and Sordo doing a remix for the second ep of Faceless Recordings and we have 1 track we haven’t released we did with Betoko so good things going on.
Charlie: Are there any artists you particularly love at the moment?
Jay Blakk: We are feeling a lot the Innversions guys and Life And Death those two labels are incredible, but we really love what Clarian North from Footprintz is doing, he is an incredible guy and he deserves all the good things.
Charlie: And finally, if Climbers had to choose one of these scenarios to play out with a famous celebrity/celebrities, which one would you choose and why?
– Skinny dipping with Rihanna
– Doubles table tennis with Aphex Twin and Richie Hawtin
– Cheese rolling in Gloucestershire with The Prodigy
Kiko Deal: I mean I would love to skinny dipping with Rihanna but alone, if you throw Monica Belluci I would go with her and leave Rihanna to Jay.
You can catch Climbers playing this Friday at The Akbal Music Showcase at Sidlings Warehouse in London.
https://www.facebook.com/events/158670947619714/
