krankbrother: We Love This Town

Photo: krankbrother

London is home to more than its fair share of world class clubbing experiences. In a city that literally has it all, it's tough to make new nights stand out and compete with some of the more entrenched soirees.

In such a fiercely competitive scene, it's teams like krankbrother that succeed. The dedicated duo have made a name for themselves through a series of parties in unique, 'off location' settings that combined with their skills as DJs and intelligent bookings have earned them the adoration of a generation of in-the-know ravers (see that below).

krankbrother bring their experience to the fore on December 20th, where they appear for newcomers The Qube Project, who have equally amassed significant praise for their intimately set, carefully curated run of events stretching back to the beginning of the year.

Ahead of that, we chatted with the underground figures to find out more about their role in London's nightlife, balancing control of both an event brand and their jobs as DJs, and some of their favourite krankbrother parties.

Hi guys, thanks for taking the time to speak to us. You've got a gig coming up at the Qube Project later in the month, is it your first gig in the venue? How much do you enjoy playing around the city?

We've played at Qube once before shortly after it opened. It's a really cool little club. It's always good to see new clubs opening in London because so many great places have closed. We love playing in London. In our opinion, at the moment it's the biggest city globally for dance music, so it's special to play here. 

Being based in London, how much of the nightlife do you get to sample? 

Lots of it. We are out in clubs a lot, but also enjoy all the other areas of nightlife in London, like live gigs, art galleries, restaurants and bars. We wouldn't want to live anywhere else - we love this town. 

How does it feel to have control of both an event brand, and your jobs as DJs? There aren't many artists that have excelled with both.

Actually I think there are lots of people that have done well with both - a huge number of international DJs also have successful event brands, or started out as promoters. People like Optimo, Yousef, Futureboogie, Pillowtalk, Droog, Ralph Lawson and so on.

When I think about the list above, people that have been resident DJs for a long time at their own parties, these guys have all ended up being phenomenal DJs - because of the wealth of experience they have behind the decks. Often DJs that are thrust to the top because of a hit single aren't at that level. 

Yeah that's certainly true. So how do you two work together, what are the pros and cons of working with a sibling? 

It's all pros for us really because you know where you are with your family, and there is a level of trust between you that's harder to achieve without a family member. Funnily enough our other brother works with our Dad, so being in business with family members is in our blood, so to speak. 

What has been your favourite ever krankbrother event?

Our street party in Shoreditch in 2012. That was an incredible event, I'll never forget it. 

Are there any artists that have stood out for you this year?

John Talabot (above) blew me away when he played for us this summer - technically he's one of the most gifted DJs on the scene. Also Derrick Carter - we'd wanted to book him for years and he didn't disappoint. I could have listened to him for 8 hours! And I'd say Henrik Schwarz's live performance in February was probably the crowd's favourite.  

Have you got any plans for the New Year you can tell us about? 

We are launching krankbrother Records in February 2015 which is hugely exciting. We'll be launching with a three track EP from ourselves, and then some amazing music from young largely unknown artists. It feels like a natural progressions to push the musical ethos we believe in by releasing music on our own label, and we can't wait to get started.

Finally, a hypothetical question, you have the power to throw the ultimate krankbrother event and play alongside any DJs past or present, who would you pick and where would you play? 

I think maybe a party on the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town looking out to sea, with Giorgio Moroder, DJ Harvey, David Mancuso and Andrew Weatherall. 

Catch krankbrother in action at Qube Project on December 20th.

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