Tough Love: No intention of slowing down soon

Image: Tough Love 

First cutting their teeth on the hallowed London club scene, it was not going to be long before the distinct bass bounded output of local lads Tough Love would gather enough momentum for the rest of the country and beyond to embrace their sound. 

Inevitably, that's what happened, and the duo have never looked back, with their output being cited on the likes of Rinse FM, Kiss and Radio One. They recently justified that initial hype with their sublime cut, 'So Freakin' Tight' (below), an urban slab of inner city inspired dance music that was picked up by the likes of influential taste makers Pete Tong and Annie Mac.

Staying true to their roots, Tough Love descend upon one of London's prestigious clubbing meccas, Ministry Of Sound, for burgeoning imprint Audio Rehab alongside Mark Radford and Shiba San on Saturday 31st January. With a lot more to find out about one of the UK's hottest talents, we sat down for a chat with the twosome to talk business.  

Hi guys, thanks for chatting to us! First up you're heading to Ministry Of Sound, one of dance music's many gems, have you any previous experiences of Ministry Of Sound growing up, what does it mean to you to be playing there?

We're buzzing to be back at MOS. Both being Londoners we grew up buying MOS records and spent many nights and early mornings at the club. It’s a staple part of London & UK club culture and way beyond, so for us to be headlining there, has an extra sentimental value.

And then there's Audio Rehab, which was recently given some very high praise in The Guardian no less. Have you worked with the brand before?

We actually played the opening night for Audio Rehab at MOS and we’ve guested on the their Rinse FM show a few times over the last couple of years.

Mark Radford is a good friend of ours. We regularly catch up and exchange views on the scene, emerging artists and always say we’re going to get together for dinner, but as yet we’ve never managed it… maybe pre gig will be the time!

Getting behind the decks with friends always makes the night so much better, so we’re really looking forward to the 31st.

Tell us about Get Twisted and signing to Island records, how'd that materialise and what direction are you heading with them?

Get Twisted Records is our own imprint, we started it as a voice for us and other artists who’s material we really believe in. GTR is an extension of the Tough Love sound, everything we sign we love and support heavily in our radio show and club sets. We’re not limited to genre just as long as we love it. We’ve had loads of success with the label both with national and international radio play and plenty of specialist chart success.

At the end of last year we joined forces with Island Records and 2015 will see us release a string of singles starting with 'So Freakin Tight'. We’re currently working on the album which we’re really excited about alongside loads of club material built solely for the underground.

Speaking of 'So Freakin Tight', it's been given well earned exposure by the likes of Pete Tong and Annie Mac, how taken back are you by that?

Its been an amazing journey with ‘So Freakin Tight’. It’s a record we’ve had for over 18 months and believed in from the very first moment we played it.

It started off as a DJ tool just for our sets and naturally built momentum. At the end of last year we decided the time was right to put it out. Thanks to our manager John, we managed to clear the sample, sent it over to Annie and within 48 hours it had its first play.

The support on it has been amazing & from a really broad spectrum of people. Its not just your house specialists that seem to love it and that’s the best feeling, to know its being accepted across genres. On that note we'd like to thank everyone for their continued support.

You recently appeared on Radio 1 and have a regular show on Kiss FM, how important to you is the medium of Radio in conveying your music and how does it differ from playing in a club space?

Radio is essential to all artists, having your music played on radio gives artist a voice. It's shows appreciation and what you've created is being accepted. When you’ve spent countless hours on either writing or producing a record that’s all you ever want. It’s a massive platform and alongside our own touring schedule it helps build momentum for forthcoming releases.

Having our own show on Kiss (here some of that below) is something we’ve always wanted. We get to interact with the listeners and get their thoughts on what's hot or not too.

Our club sets are almost all Tough Love originals, dubs or edits, so we rarely get a chance to play everything we get sent, but our Kiss show gives us 60 minutes each week to experiment and support tracks that we genuinely love which still fits into our trademark big and bumpy sound.

We've noticed you're supporting Hannah Wants in Brighton on her upcoming tour, is Hannah's path something you'd like to emulate and perhaps embark upon a tour of your own in the near future?

Yeah we can’t wait to play Brighton again. Hannah is a good friend of ours, we’ve become a lot closer in recent months, spending more time together working on new projects. She’s carving a great lane for herself in a heavily saturated market which is not easy!

We try not to emulate anyone though, from the beginning we always knew what we were setting out to do. Were just staying focused on that and loving every minute of it. Rest assured though there will be a Tough Love/Get Twisted tour coming in 2015!

You mentioned on your Facebook page that you have some big announcements coming in 2015, can you let us in on a few of those secrets?

We can only touch on a few things at the moments but we can mention we've got a VIP Mix with Hannah Wants of 'So Freakin' Tight' coming soon, alongside a number of other collaborations with some good friends and some prolific artists we’ve grown up listening to. We will also be announcing some more news with Ministry Of Sound soon, so lets just say keep May 3rd free!

Lastly, we want to know what your New Year's resolutions for 2015 are, and how you plan to stick to them?

We’ve both said that health is key this year, we work our arses off and there's no intention of slowing down anytime soon, so we’re taking better care of ourselves. Not just the basics like what we eat and working out, but trying to balance things a bit better as well as looking after old injuries and of course our ears!

Catch Tough Love in action at deep tech night Audio Rehab on January 31st. Tough Love 'So Freakin' Tight' is out on Island Records on 16th March. Pre-order here.

For more on Ministry Of Sound, head here.

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