Prok & Fitch: Familiar Samples In A Way You've Not Heard Before

Photo: Prok & Fitch

Following on from our preview of Bitch's eagerly awaited eighth birthday party, which lands at Venus on September 27th, we thought we'd try and grab a few words with the night's headliners - Prok & Fitch, two prolific producers that have been causing a real ruckus in the world of house music for a number of years now.

Happily, the two Brighton lads were up for it, so we went on to find out more about their lives in the studio, what it's like to being championed by Roger Sanchez, and relive some of their favourite records and remixes.

So you’re back in Manchester for Bitch on September 27th. How did it go last time? Are you excited to return?

We certainly are, and have both been looking forward to this for a long time. We made our Manchester debut at Venus last year and had a wicked night, the crowd were amazing and we're itching to play again.

For those of us that haven’t caught you before, how would you describe your sets? And what do you think it is about your sound that has been embraced so closely by house music lovers across the globe?

Groovy peak time house, made for the dance floor (hear that above).

Good grooves, some vocals here and there and more organic sounds.  We think people have become a bit obsessive about genres, unfortunately it pigeon holes you in something for a certain public, when really a lot of the time it's very accessible to lots of different people!  

We call what we play house, yet if you put the tracks we play in to genres they cover everything - house, tech house and techno. We edit nearly all of the music we play and try keep our sets as unique as possible. You’ll often hear familiar samples but in a way you’ve not heard before.

You’ve been a double team for about eight years now, what are your respective roles in the studio? Does one of you have a strength for say beats, and the other for melodies? And are there ever any creative disagreements!?

Yeah hard to believe its been that long, it's great having two of us in the studio, we're rarely stuck for inspiration and generally get the ideas down very quickly.

The lengthy period is finishing the track, with the most important objective being that it works in the dance floor, which involves testing the track out and tweaking many times. There’s one track we’ve been working on for the past eight months, and still isn't finished.

We both bring different strengths to the table - James is extremely technical and has a really good ear for detail, whilst Ben is great at pushing the boundaries and being experimental, but consistent, his risk taking always pays off! We’ll often have different ideas, always developing both to find the right solution for the good of the record. 

How did it feel to get your works championed by the likes of Roger Sanchez from the get-go? And what’s been your career highlight since?

We still can’t believe our luck today, when we finished 'Outro Lugar' (listen to their Re-Pitch above) we both joked that if anyone could sign the record it would be Roger and Stealth. It’s fair to say Roger’s massively helped us out, supporting our music since day one. 

Apart from that its difficult to pick out a single highlight. It would be a very tough call between playing the Space Terrace for the first time, DJing at Sensation or playing at the Pride Festival in our home town Brighton to our friends and family plus another 10,000 locals. 

You’ve been highly sought after for your skills as remixers. Which stands out to you as your favourite remix, and what special challenges does the task of creating a good remix present?

As long as we’re into the original and like the parts, we find it quite easy to remix a record - The hook's already there so it's just a case of adding our twist and making it work in our DJ Sets. Our favourites would have to be Cevin Fisher's 'Burning Up' & Kraak and Smaak 'The Future Is Yours'.

Have you any new tracks that you’ll be playing at Bitch? What have you got slated for release soon that we can look forward to?

Yes plenty of new records to play and tasty new edits, including our forthcoming release 'Keep On' (hear that in their podcast at the top of the article) which is a collaboration with Rene Amesz released September 29th on Toolroom Records. There’s also a new EP we’ve recently finished and a remix for Incorrect music both to be released in the autumn.  

How has your summer been? Any big highlights?

It’s been a great summer, lots of festivals, travelling and wicked outside parties, the notable highlights would be Aqua Park Festival in Macedonia and Quai-Jacques Cartier in Montreal.

What have you both got lined up for the next few months?

In the week we’ll be working as usual in the studio. The majority of our gigs will be in Europe, which is much appreciated after a very hectic summer. Of cause ADE is just around the corner so will be looking forward to heading over to Amsterdam for a few days. In November and December we’ll be in South Africa for a Space tour, which is looking to be pretty special, also we're lucky to have a few days off to explore. 

Finally, a hypothetical question: You can go back in history and sign any record from any producer for Floorplay. What record would it be and why would you pick it?

'Lifelike & Kris Menace - Discopolis'. It's a monster record that we’ve both hammered. I remember giving this to James as a promo in the record shop days. It's a special record that we’ll never get tired of hearing.

Catch Prok & Fitch in the flesh at Bitch's Eighth Birthday by getting your tickets here.

Tickets are no longer available for this event