Amine Edge & DANCE Interview: Subtleties, aggressivity and style

Amine Edge & DANCE are experts at shaking things up. From their instantly distinguishable productions which are big on bass and small on nonsense, to their equally as unforgettable personas - they are a house music duo you can't forget in a hurry.

Both hailing from Marseille in France, the pair have carefully created their own distinct musical style, characterised by soul, funk, hip-hop and of course, house. Their own tracks and remixes are lapped up by ravers and fellow DJs alike, with most reaching the Beatport charts and the playlists of some of the biggest dance music artists.

We caught up with the twosome ahead of their gig at Take in Brighton to talk about their first raving experiences, giving something back to their fans and keeping up with social media.

You were brought up on a diet of hip-hop and RnB, but how come you didn't go down that route? When did you start to make house?

Amine Edge: That's wrong info in regards to me personally, I always been a house music junkie since day one, but I love every style of music. My musical culture is broad, for example I’m crazy about disco but people don't know that. I love disco more than hip-hop and RnB. So yeah, I started making house before anything else.

DANCE: For me that’s right, I’m really into hip-hop and RnB. I started to make some house tracks in 2011, sent them to Amine to finish them and then we decided to create our project together. And to be honest, I was fed up with the French rap industry.

The hip-hop influences are still there to be seen, like with 'Gimme That Fonky Ass' and the use of the lyrics from 'Boyz N Tha Hood'. Do you feel the pressure when using elements from an iconic track or is it just a bit of fun and your own little twist?

AE: When a label requests a remix from us, it can feel like a big deal and we can feel the pressure because the idea doesn't come from us. When we are remixing something because we heard the track in our head first and we love how it sounds, there is no pressure at all.

D: Yeah that’s just fun, we can remix pretty much anything without pressure. We just try to respect the original track and don’t do something shit with it.

What sort of clubs did you go to when you were younger? When was your first experience of a proper rave?

AE: My older sister brought me to several bars and clubs in my town when I was very young, that's where I’ve saw it all for the first time for what it was - house music with people having fun. For me house music was a lonely pleasure for a teenager in his bedroom at this time. It pushed me more to play in clubs outside home, I thought, "Why not share my music with people?" It was my goal.

D: I used to go to this club in my city (Marseille) with my friends and get fucked up every weekend but I realised very quickly that I prefered making music as opposed to dancing to it. I've never been a huge raver, for example my first time in Ibiza was three years ago when I had to play there.

You guys championed 'gangsta house' and for a lot of people that word has connotations of guns and violence, something that fortunately you're not interested. You've previously mentioned that you want to redefine the word. How would Amine Edge & Dance define 'gangsta' now?

AE: Clichés are shit, people who cliché everything are shit, they are poison of our society. Everything has to have a second sense, a subtlety, our world is subtle and complex, our music and our universe is too. I can love guns and hate violence, guns are not violent, people who use them can be. Gangsta house is a house music sub-genre with lot of subtleties, aggressivity and style.

D: Obviously we are not gangsters. Gangsters are in the street or in prison or whatever. We are musicians/DJs who wanted to mix our influences to create something new. We found this word 'gangsta house' only because we wanted to adopt a name to our music which was different and a little bit more aggressive in comparison to all these house tracks produced at this period.

You record the majority of your sets and share them on your Soundcloud, something that not many artists do. Why did you make the decision to do this? Is it your way of giving something back to the fans who can't make your gigs?

AE: Yes it’s definitely one of the reasons, but it’s also for the people who were there so they can relive a moment in their life. It's like a time machine to relive this moment again and again.

It’s also important to show the world our evolution in music. For example, if I play Germany tomorrow and I play again in six months time at the same club, I don’t want people to expect the same set, it’s gonna be 100% different. So by listening our most recent set you can at least know roughly what to expect.

D: I think it’s a good to give content to people often. Even if someone wasn't there, they can press play and live the party as if they were there. Also we like to show to people that we are not the kind of DJs who always perform the same set. 

One day ill throw a party where no phones allowed. Just to enjoy the moment, no social media, no video, just you, me, us, the music!

— Afrika Bumberclart (@AmineEdge) January 31, 2016

You're both very active on other social media platforms, especially Twitter and Instagram. Do you think its a necessity these days to have this connection with fans and the media through sites/apps like that?

AE: I recently felt very tired about this, social media is very addictive. We have to post because we are artists, but that world is totally wrong, we are disconnected from life. We don't live in the moment anymore, we record it, we don't love anymore, we give likes.

People can kill for likes, that's too much. Sometimes I write something on Twitter and before I finish writing it, I delete it and ask myself, "Why am I doing this? Who am I talking to?" I’m losing interest with all the superficial stuff.

D: We do it because we have to do it, there are so many other good artists. If we stop with social networks, I feel like people will forget us, maybe I’m wrong.

Who is your favorite person to follow on Twitter or Instagram? (and you can't say each other!) 

AE: I love Tiga’s monologues after a gig when he's a little bit drunk ha. One of my favourite profiles is 'History In Picture'. I love history and they always upload amazing content.

D: DJ Khaled obviously. He’s the key!

Your CUFF label is doing better than ever at the moment, how involved are you guys with the process of selecting tracks etc? 

AE: That is very simple, we get promo in our email, we listen it, then when we like something we play it. After playing and trying it a few times, if we still love it, we sign them. Easy.

D: We listen to everything. About 500 tracks a week. And yeah, we play the ones that we love and if we are not bored of it after playing it quite a lot, we sign it.

What track off the label is without a doubt making its way into your sets at the moment?

AE: Tim Baresko 'Marilyn Monroe' is a one. I don't think people expected us to sign a track like this and they were very positively surprised.

D: Yeah definitely Tim Baresko. You can listen this track one time and the melody and vocal will be stuck in your head - it’s just too good.

You guys have a fair few UK dates penciled in, starting with Take in Brighton in early Feb. Have you played in the city before? 

Amine Edge & DANCE: Yes we have played in every single respectable club in Brighton, and it’s always a pleasure.

What other upcoming gigs are you looking forward to? 

AE & D: We play in Italy soon and we haven’t been there for long time because of our crazy calendar. We also got our religious CUFF night at Ministry of Sound in March, plus Coachella in April - that's really exciting. 

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