My Digital Enemy 'We have to pick our releases very carfeully'

Photo: My Digital Enemy Credit: Toolroom Records

Earning both commercial success and underground credibility is one of the toughest tricks to pull in dance music, but one duo that have successfully walked that tightrope for the past decade have been house music heroes My Digital Enemy.

Having enjoyed a top three hit very early in their careers which then spawned remix requests from Snoop Dogg, Beyonce, Ke$ha, Britney Spears, Usher, Lady Gaga and Groove Armada, My Digital Enemy were primed for mainstream stardom, but their love of the underground and steadfast resolution to cater to it have meant that they have stayed this side of over exposure, revelling in the club dynamic rather than the ever prevalent and often impersonal stadium scene.

Their command of bass fuelled house is pure dancefloor fire, with catchy hooks meeting cutting edge beats and productions, which is exactly why Bitch have called on their services at the end of the month. We spoke to the long serving house pioneers ahead of that appearance.

You’ll be heading to Bitch at the end of the month. Is Manchester somewhere you’ve enjoyed playing previously? What can we look forward to from your set there?

Yes! We've played in Manchester a couple of times and its always been to a good crowd, nice and underground! We'll be playing some new exclusives that we have just finished up in the studio... and a lot of housey bass business.

You had pretty busy year last year by all accounts, with tonnes or gigs as well as some really well received releases like 'Shamen' (below) for instance. What were some highlights of yours?

Well we had a few Beatport number one's which is always nice to see your music been liked by so many people.. Also we got to play in Ibiza along side Mark Knight which was great. We played to our biggest ever crowd last year to in Germany, there was 10,000 people there which was amazing! 

How is 2015 shaping up? What can we expect from you both in the coming months? Any new material that you've got due for release?

2015 is looking good so far just signed up to a new management company in LA and will be travelling out there early February for two weeks to work in the studio with some of their other artists. We have a few gigs out there too. Next up release wise is a two tracker called 'Back to the Underground' Vol. 1 on our Label Zulu. It's out on the February 2nd.

You've been hailed for your unique position of being able to have both commercial success and underground credibility. Just how hard is that to achieve, do you have strict criteria for each record you produce? 

It's really difficult actually, we end up writing loads of tracks that never get released as they are to commercial! We have to pick our releases really carefully.

How does your relationship work with production? Do you each have separate roles or different strengths that you bring to the table?

We generally like to bounce ideas off each other so one of us will start a tune and the other will finish it...

And what about in the DJ booth? What is the dynamic there?

Generally we go Back to back but with a few little loops or vocals thrown over the top in places..

You guys have been going for the best part of a decade now, what does it take for a duo to be successful in dance music for so long?

Just have to stick at it in the hard time when stuff isn't going so well and working even harder when it is going well to get to that next level.

And finally, hypothetical question - you've been asked to throw the ultimate My Digital Enemy party and play alongside any DJs past or present, where would you have it, who would you pick to join you, and what track would you play to define the evening?

Annie Mac and Pete Tong would be amazing to play alongside for sure and I think it would have to be in Ibiza at the Radio One party. The track to define the evening would be Majestic & Jungle 70 - 'Creepin In The Dark (Armand Van Helden Remix)'.

My Digital Enemy headline Bitch! on Saturday January 31st. Get your tickets here.

Tickets are no longer available for this event