This week’s interview & mix comes from Bakkos.
Introduce yourself and tell us about the part of the UK you’re from?
I’m Sean Williams – the tall one. I grew up in Torbay on the south coast but moved to Bristol for its music scene, culture and its beauty. When I first properly moved here in 2008, there were only a couple of really decent house/techno parties that existed; Electro, Dubstep and DnB were everywhere. The city has come such a long way since then it’s unreal. There are more house and techno nights than you can shake a stick at. Motion used to be a skatepark with some turntables and speakers – now its one of the biggest and best clubs in the UK. It’s been an absolute pleasure to be here amidst its rise. Bristol has churned out some key players in the industry and long may it continue.
I’m Ben Watkins – The Chubby one. Born and bred in Bristol, which is where i also currently reside.
Tell us about some of your British DJ heroes?
Eats Everything is a prime example of what hard work and dedication can get you. It has not been easy trying to pursue careers in music whilst working full time jobs. He knows how hard it is to make a name for yourself these days and he has inspired us to keep going during the darker times. He is also one of the best DJs in the world. Also, Nicolas Jaar gets a mention here. Probably one of the most gifted musicians of his time, I get the feeling we will be talking about him in years to come like we talk about Bowie now. Interesting fact but whilst he was globally touring his debut album ‘Space is only noise’, he was also doing a business degree at university. It’s easy to say there isn’t enough time to do things, but it really depends how dedicated you really are.
What have you been working on recently?
Most of our time recently has been spent on the construction and moving of studios. We are about to move into our 3rd studio this year – hopefully this one will be a bit more long-term! We are in a sweet spot in Stokes Croft this time, which is a well-known creative hub so, 2017 will be the year for a steady flow of releases. We have just finished mixing down a few new bangers, which will be out early 2017.
Tell us about the mix, how did you put it together, what did you want to represent?
With our main mix, we wanted it to represent our sound when we are in full flow. It encapsulates our sound perfectly. This is the style we love – percussion heavy, jazzy, tribal, Latino influenced bombs. Starting off jazzy, flowing into heavier tribal stuff and rounding it off nicely with some melodic techno. We selected some of our all-time favourites and tracks we’ve played a lot this year. It brings back memories of a few extremely special gigs we’ve had this year and we hope it will also do the same for any people that came and partied with us! It sums up our year quite nicely.
Talk us through the British music featured in this mix? Which British artists are you most excited about?
Our 15-minute mix that The Selector broadcast the other week was actually all of our own productions. When we were asked to compile something purely British, it felt right to showcase the journey we have made as producers up until this present day.
What is on the cards in the immediate future?
We are building our new studio this week, and then we will have some much-needed downtime at Christmas with our friends and families.
Where is the best place in the world you have DJ’d and why?
Space holds a special place in our hearts, it’s the place that really affirmed my desire (Sean) to become a house / techno producer and DJ – so to be able to play there for the first time, two weeks before it closed its doors for good – at Elrow – our favourite party, literally was a dream come true.