Skiddle Mix 008 – People Get Real (Faversham Garden Party Part 3)

The art of the resident is an oft forgotten practice in clubland. It’s down to them to know the club’s dancefloor inside out, what records work at what time of night and to create the platform for the guests to shine. The worst ones ignore the fact it’s 10pm and empty to smash out their latest Beatport bangers, but the best… well they get under your skin regardless of the time of night they play, and never take the shine unnecessarily off their (allegedly) more illustrious counterparts.

One of the best at that practice is People Get Real, whose ability to deliver in any aural environment has ensured that since being made residents at Wax:On in the last decade, they’ve since ensnared plenty more across the globe. In fact it was their performance at Leeds’ infamous day time session du jour The Faversham Garden Party in August last year that led to them being asked back at all three 2013 instalments.

It’s ahead of the third instalment that they deliver this mix for us, a snapshot as to the intricate manner they deliver on the groove front. We also had a quick chat with them to see how they were doing and everything else cooking in their musical landscape.

Hi PGR! For those of our readers who might not have heard of you, tell us who you are and what your style is.

Thanks for having us, so we are People Get Real, by night it's Simon and Peter residents at Wax:On, Canal Mills and further afield at Hideout and Unknown Festival's in Croatia. By day in the studio we are joined with our long-time friend and king of the studio magic / fairy dust John-Paul Denton.

Stylistically we are house / techno focused, our DJ sets tend to focus on the slower side of the genres as does our productions; reduced BPM's, groovy and big on bass.

The DJ's we really admire are Craig Richards, Michael Mayer and Ivan Smagghe they've all carved their own unique styles and careers based on being slightly left of centre -  something we admire greatly in the trio.

You're playing for the Faversham Garden Party; is this something you've done before?

Last year we played the Garden Party finale on August bank holiday and since then we've been booked to play all of the parties this year, which so far has been fantastic.

The Faversham has a great musical pedigree and the Garden Party events have become key events in the Leeds clubbing calendar. There is something very special about a gig in a tent, the heat and energy in the 'room' seems just that little bit more intense.

How important are they on the Leeds clubbing landscape, particularly with you both being important parts of the local scene?

These days they are a Leeds institution and something people really make an effort to attend and dress up for in a way only a Leeds crowd would. Colourful characters that know how to kick their height and have a good time, the perfect crowd to play in front of!

You've done a mix for us; thanks! Tell us about it.

So the mix starts out with a great piece of modern classical music from Gregor Schwellenbach, which is a cover of Closer Muziks ‘Maria’; a true People Get Real classic track. From there the mix builds and swells, hopefully carrying you from the bar to the dancefloor.

Something we absolute love doing is warming up, there is simply nothing quite like setting the tone for an evening, watching people come in and slowly over two to three hours entice them onto the dancefloor. The mix is heavy on baselines in places but not overly aggressive as the narrative throughout the mix / tracks is the groove.

We've clocked your remix of Avec ft Jake Shears on here, which (along with the original) we are big fans of here at Skiddle. Would you agree it's shaping up to be one of the biggest hits of the summer?

We certainly hope so. We heard the original and got straight onto Doorly for the parts. We just knew when we heard it there was a People Get Real remix itching to get out and compliment the original version. A big shout to Doorly and the guys at Southern Fried for supporting us, a true honour to be involved.

The remix fell together so easily over the course of a few hours, as I'm sure other artists say often the strongest material is the stuff you don't labour over for days.

How has your summer been so far?

Summer has been great so far. The Garden Parties have been fantastic fun, we've been to Japan to play in Tokyo which was an unreal experience, hopefully get back out there soon for a little tour as the scene seems to be really strong for the music we are pushing.

Hideout festival in Croatia is now in its third year and we didn't think it could get any better, but this year the vibe blew us away. From our hip-hop set at a pool party, our welcome boat party and playing across all the stages it was special indeed. Playing and partying on the beach with the sun coming up between two mountains is marvellous.

Have you got any other productions forthcoming that you want to let us know about?

We've got some fantastic music to come on our label Join Our Club so watch out for the next vinyl release dropping soon from a band called Anti-Tank, which features a remix by us and the super talented Daniel Avery.

We also have a track upcoming on Horn Wax and an E.P on FamilyNAME.  We also have remixes for Saint Etienne and Lulu James due out later this year. If you've not heard of her yet, by the end of the summer you will have. She's a local lass (from Newcastle) who is ridiculously talented.

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