Chew The Fat meet Streetlife DJs!
Reported by Tom Cypher
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Submitted 06-08-07 19:43
Streetlife DJs – you might have heard of them, currently touted as the hottest thing since sliced bread and ‘the UK’s very own 2ManyDjs’ AKA Stewart Rowell and Louis Gaston, SLDJs are responsible for mashing up sounds, creating A-list booties and generally rocking the arse off parties with their own unique turbo-charged mash up sound.
In their sets you can expect to hear everything from Mowtown, Studio One, Sugarhill Gang, Public Enemy, Justice, Nirvana, Strictly Rhythm, NWA, in fact just about anything that’s good. Having remixed everyone from Groove Armada to Muse to CSS these guys are smashing it on another level so we’ve booked them to headline our next End date on Saturday 11th August. Like to find out more? Read on my friend, read on.
CTF: So why ‘Streetlife DJs’?
Er, well why not! No, it was a reaction to becoming quite bored & disillusioned with the way house music and the dance scene generally was heading a few years back. We’d closed our proggy, techy, house label Jan 2003 as we were putting all our time & money into it, but simply not selling enough records to make it pay and we actually took some time off from making music. I started listening to 2 of my favourite albums again (Leftfield “Leftsism” and Daft Punk “Homework”) and they got me totally inspired all over again. I suggested to Louis we should start playing around with some of our favourite old tracks, throw a few parties for our friends, take it back to basics and just have some fun with it. We did re-edits of 2 tracks from those albums (Space Shanty and Alive), both of which received quite a lot of tastemaker DJ support.
Around the same time, I started to get into the new wave Parisian sound, it was sounding so fresh & exciting, even reminding me of why I got into dance music in the first place. Newly formed labels like Kitsune & Ed Banger were putting out some incredible music; it’s been a huge influence on our production work. I think we were both drawn to the indie edge too, particularly Louis, it’s quite a punk rock sound & attitude, almost like, “fuck you, we’ll do it our own way thanks”, I like that. We decided to make some mix CDs, mixing up music old & new from all different genres. They were very well received, and certainly got us noticed. It’s kind of grown from there really. As for the name Streetlife, it's comes from the music that influenced me as a teenager. I was heavily into old skool hip hop & electro, music that came out of the streets & block parties of New York, music that made me go get my first set of Technics back in the mid 80s. My favourite label at the time was the infamous Street Sounds, so I guess our new name was a combination of all those things. And I liked the sound of it!
So Streetlife DJs are about entertaining people, what’s the most entertaining thing you’ve seen at a party?
The man in the suitcase, remember him? He was entertaining, for about 5 minutes! It wasn’t even a nice suitcase, it was a ropey old thing that Frank & Betty (Spencer) would have used for their week in Clacton. He could have at least got a Samsonite.
You have to ask what that was all about really. No, the funniest & most entertaining thing I saw was while I was living in Ibiza back in ’97. I was playing at club Summum one night, Brandon [Block] & Alex [P] were coming on after me. They turned up (pissed & late of course), got behind the decks, looked at each other, and then both pulled down their trousers & pants in unison! They then proceeded to DJ for 2hrs pissing themselves laughing, and waving to the crowd but with their strides round their ankles with all their bits and hairy arses hanging out. But the funny part was that no one in the club actually new it, except for me and the Spanish lighting bloke (who was looking rather too frequently if you ask me). Peasey & Blocko…you can’t help but love ‘em!
And the most entertaining thing you’ve ever done? (DJing aside!)
Oh we’re regular entertainers and club fiends us, break dancing, stage diving, handstands on the decks, pole dancing, juggling, fire eating, you name it, I can even saw Louis in half! I’m joking, the music’s the entertainment, and it’s not a cabaret act! Anyway, Louis’ beard is probably the most entertaining thing about us (apart from the DJing), well it keeps me busy thinking up look-alikes you see. So far we’ve had, Bill Oddie, David Bellamy, Chas (from Chas n Dave), Dave Lee Travis, and someone at Global Gathering shouted out “Magic Numbers” as they walked past, quality, big thumbs up for that one. He was well pleased as you can probably imagine. Peachy! Louis also pointed out that someone said he looked like Jim Morrison, but I think he’s just making that up.
You’ve remixing everyone and their dog, who’s been your favourite so far and why?
Yeah we’ve done a few so far this year, Groove Armada, Ash, Muse, Future Loop Foundation and we’ve just done The Cazals for Kitsune in Paris. But the one that probably stands out most as our fave is the CSS mix. Some clever sausage over at Warners had the idea of mashing it up with the old disco tune Wordy Rappinhood by Tom Tom Club, to make it sound like a bootleg, and they specifically asked us to have a go. So we replayed some of the key parts from TTC and worked them into a bouncy electro groove, added some of the CSS vocals, and it literally came out sounding like the 2 records were made for each other! It’s had so much attention and DJ support (particularly from Sasha), its been great for us, and even more so now that the CSS single has gone on to be really big.
Your sound obviously involves a lot of sampling and re-editing other peoples music, what’s your approach to remixing and how would you go about writing an original tune?
When we approach a remix, we try to make sure that we end up with something not too far away from the original record, to compliment it, but making sure its got our own stamp & sound on it too. Some people really don’t take too much notice of the record that they are remixing, some don’t even use any of the parts they are given and I think its ridiculous because then it’s not really a remix. I’ve always thought it important to use some of the original parts, but to use them differently and give it a new twist. Original tracks are a different ball game, we always decide on the vibe first, the style of record we wanna make, listen to examples of other records in the same area, get in the studio, start laying down some parts and then see what comes out. There aren’t really any rules.
What’s the Streetlife DJs recipe for the perfect party?
Its gotta be somewhere hot, on a stunning beach I think, loads of beautiful birds (herons & swans are nice, peacocks even better, very exotic with lovely feathers), cocktails flowing at the bar, fresh seafood on the BBQ, soundtrack supplied by Sasha, Weatherall, Rampling & Alfredo, all digging deep into their record collections and not an old bill or environmental health officer in sight for unlimited raving. I likes it!
Minimal – the most significant thing to happen to dance music in a long time or tedious nonsense for bored people on drugs?
I was asked the very same thing only a week ago in an interview for one of our lovely dance music publications and to be honest I wouldn’t agree with you on either count. I mean, sure it’s been over-hyped, but that’s just the media jumping on one of their bandwagons, they often do, it sells magazines. But you know, minimal is nothing new; it's been around ages. Robert Hood and Jeff Mills started making minimal techno 15 years ago, they formed Underground Resistance around that time, and Kraftwerk have been doing it for twice as long. As for the current wave, I have to admit I’m not a massive fan, but I’m certainly not against it either (bloody hell I sound like a politician!). There’s good and bad in all types of music and there are certainly some minimal tunes that I really like and appreciate, but I wouldn’t wanna listen to it all night. However, I must add that it seems the general consensus is that minimal has made techno sexy and got the ladies interested, and that can only be a good thing! In the words of Mark Broadband from We Love Space, “Nobody likes a sausage fest” and I couldn’t agree more.
With over 30 years of music experience between you, don’t you feel a bit old when you hang out in clubs?
Scuse me. Did you just say “Old”…fucking “Old”? Are you taking the piss? It says 30 years experience BETWEEN us, not EACH! Cheeky bastard, I wouldn’t mind betting I’m younger than you mate! OK, we’re no whippersnappers and yes, you do get people in clubs that could actually be our offspring, but let me tell you something, there’s a truck load of old has-beens still rinsing the arse out of it, that should be hanging up their headphones right now, long before us, we’ve only just begun!
What can we expect from Streetlife DJs at Chew The Fat?
Well, here’s the thing, we’ve played down at The End several times over the last couple of years, but only ever in the Lounge, so for our main room debut, we’re gonna let ‘em ‘ave it! So, expect, a bit of this, a bit of that, plenty of noisy French stuff, a few old skool bangers (Psychotropic ring any bells?!), maybe the odd Streetlife curve ball here and there, something 80s maybe for the ironic touch (for the old folk you see, like me. I’m not letting that go you know). Anyway, I hear that Bollywood Techno is all the rage and will soon be sweeping western club culture quicker than you can say Shilpa Shetty. Just ask Phil Sales, he’s all over it like a rash, he can do the dance and everything, it’s quite something.
You’ve got the A-list of dance music singing your praises, what’s next?
Yeah, it’s surprising how cheaply you can pick up a good A-list quote for these days, they must all be skint! No, next up we’ll be putting the finishing touches to our 4 track EP, which should have been finished weeks ago. Its covering several bases musically, from a live sounding 80s punk cover, to old skool hip hop and electro to techno. It should be interesting, if we ever finish it. There’s a few more remixes coming in, tours of South America and Australia in the pipeline, a Streetlife Sessions compilation next year. We’re also writing an artist album and hope to put a live band together as Streetlife. And I mean a live band, with guitars, keyboards, drums, vocalists etc, not just a couple of specky geeks with their I-books. So move over Jagger & co, you really are too old.
See you on the 10th fatties!
Not if we see you first! Thanks guys see you in London for Chew The Fat at The End on 11th
www.thefatclub.com
www.myspace.com/sldjs
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Other Features By Tom Cypher:
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My Digital Enemy
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The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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