Interviews Interview: Layo & Bushwacka (UK) | Interview: Layo & Bushwacka (UK) |
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| Friday, 02 November 2007 | |
 Layo & Bushwacka! 's love affair with music started as teenagers at the dawn of acid house; it’s led both of them through techno, breakbeat, electro, dub, electronica, and any other pigeonhole that’s been thrown up in its wake. Emerging blinking into the light almost two decades later with a sound that fuses all their influences, they’ve maintained their position at the head of the pack.
Where does the music come from for you and how did you get inspired to be in this business? The music comes from the love to dance to the beat of house and the power and feeling that is created from this sound. It is global and it has always stayed true to its origins. I was inspired by going to an early warehouse party at 16years old in 1988 and seeing and feeling something new, incredible, and powerful and something that brought people together in harmony to dance all night to a sound that was going to change peoples lives. What DJs/bands/music most influenced and inspired you in the early years? For me, early Depeche Mode and the Police were my favourite bands in my school days. In 83 I got straight into electro and early hip hop. The electro inspired me the most. I loved the sounds in the music. It blew me away. How would you describe your music and what inspires you to be one of the world's most popular DJ's? Djing wise I describe the sound as funky acid house with soul and techno attitude. I am inspired to go and play a set and try to give my energy to the people through the music and the way its put together and putting my heart into making the crowd want to jump around and dance and smile and feel the love and the vibe. Its how I channel my energy and express myself through the music. What are the records you can always rely on, that you'll always love, that define your sound? There are so many it makes my mind go blank trying to answer that. Obviously Love Story has had the biggest impact on people of all the records that we have made. I have so many tracks that I will always love its impossible to list them. Who has continually impressed you over the last 5 years in the realms of this music and why? Richie Hawtin is my number one hero in the world of our music. He is so ahead of the rest with his djing and music and he is a pioneer of the highest caliber for me. What would you consider yourself as a DJ or producer at heart? Both. DJ for the ability to go out and rock a crowd and try to give them a great night, Producer for forging music with love and emotion and creating tracks that will inspire others to follow their hearts and make music too, or just making tunes that have given people joy and happiness through the vibe of the music. From time to time you play alongside to eachother. Which is the most memorable one? Probably Space on Sundays about 9 years ago when we did 11 hours together in the main room coz another dj missed the plane. That was unforgettable. Do you prefer playing on vinyl or cd's? Vinyl for the sound. CD's for the technical tricks and possibilities. Festivals or clubs? Festivals if we can play a long enough set to do justice to what we do, as 1 hour between us is only enough to warm up. CLubs of course if they are great sound systems, good spaces and the right people. What can you tell us about GU:33 Rio compilation? We chose Rio because Brasil is second home to us and we have very strong bonds with the culture, the people, and the scene. Rio is the most beautiful city in the world and it made sense to us to chose this incredible place as our backdrop for the project. Its a 2 CD set and CD1 is a mix of old classic tracks from 20 years ago when it all began for us with the house music revolution. The tracks are not the usual massive well known anthems for the most part, but more tracks that have meaning to us individually in many ways and have relevance to what inspired us to make and play the sound we are into. CD2 is the current style of music we have been playing at gigs this year and a mix that gives the listener a taste of what to expect from our dj sets. There is a variety of tracks from the deep moody sound to the more uptempo funky tek electronic style to the hypnotic haunting vibe we love too., How did you arrange that? We chose lots of tracks from our collections, both old and new and got together and narrowed it down to ones we both felt could work. then we tried various combinations and directions till we got a rough idea of the whole mix. We had to change quite a few tracks on cd1 as it was very hard to get clearance on some of the very old ones, so we went back and tried other options. Then we refined the mix as much as we could to the point that we felt it flowed and gelled. What was your process of picking up the tracks? RE above. Is that compilation representing your usually DJ set or you made it in different direction? CD2 does this fairly accurately though we are always changing the sets we play musically as time goes on and new sounds come along. Both of you are producing a lot of tracks per year: where do you get the inspiration from? Each other, vibes in gigs, and personal situations that bring out emotions within us that are often channeled into making music. Plans for future... Lots of new tracks for our label Olmeto, and remixes for other artists on the way. And developing our regular monthly night at The End bringing new ideas to enhance the vibe of the night. And touring round the world pushing the music and sharing our passion. Could you tell me a bit where your passions lie, not just in music but also outside of music? I am getting into photography more and more nowadays and I am slowly trying to expand with this and get into it in a more serious way. We both are passionate about food and love getting to try different dishes around the world and we both love to cook too. How do you feel about playing in Croatia? I love it. Its a great place to come and play. I hope to come again soon. |
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