Just as the summer party season is about to go into full swing, our mates over at Purple Sneakers DJs have given us the perfect tip to get us in the mood with their 30 minute exclusive Ripe Guest Mix.
Long time cult party brand and in recent times, go to place for all things good in local and world music, The dudes at Purple Sneakers know what’s what. A set from the Purple Sneakers DJs (made up of PHDJ and Randal Stagg ) is always a great insight into just how well these guys know their music, and more specifically, what gets people dancing.
A series of compilation CDs, national tours and massive support slots for names like Miike Snow, Sleigh Bells, Bloc Party, Odd Future, The Kills and The Rapture have made their name a synonym for “very messy night”. But never ones to rest upon their laurels, the guys recently stepped into the studio to concentrate on the production of some original tracks. The first taste of these efforts has been the single ‘ Last One Standing ’, a blend of “indie synth pop” and all out dancefloor anthem. The track has had some very tight remixes out with it, from names such as Jeremy Glen and DJ Wool , with more to come, but for the meantime get your free copy over here ( )
Off the back of the single’s release the boys have just wrapped up a national tour. If you were unlucky enough to miss them, the Ripe Guest Mix with Purple Sneakers DJs gives you a pretty good idea of what kind of antics would have gone down in the form a very danceable 75mb mp3 file, what they like to label as “new party music”. In the mix you’ll hear a range of genres across a massive 26 tracks. Names like Grimes, Flosstradamus, Django Django, Oh Mery and Flume all get a run through at a super charged pace in a very tight, very fun mix, that has us wishing they would release another single so they have an excuse to come to Melbourne again.
*****
I had a chat to the guys about whats been happening over the last few months
‘Last One Standing’ is a very fine debut into the original production world. When taking on an original what kind of sounds, or inspirations were you looking to capture?
Oh why thank you!
For us eclecticism and collaboration are always key factors in finding something we love. We always knew we wanted to write a proper song, not just sounds all mashed together. This being said we can’t ever really settle on a sound and those that have seen our live shows probably know to expect any genre to blast out at any second. Having other people on board with us (in this case the lovely Amy Pes of Tokyo Denmark Sweden) helped us go in a direction we might not have otherwise explored. We love that possibility of ANYTHING happening (we’ve come to expect it, so now we embrace it).
New Yorks’ Plant Music have got some great acts on their line up you can now count yourself a part of with the recent single release, how did this partnership come about?
Martin is buddies with those guys through his travels and work managing acts like Clubfeet & such. The guys at Plant heard the track and were mega pumped on it and wanted to put out the international remix package, which features a summery disco house mix by Toronto guy Jeremy Glenn, and also a main room house mix by NYC guy DJ Wool. Since they’ve come on board the Jeremy Glenn mix was also added to the latest Opus compilation featuring acts like Aeroplane, Goldroom, Xinobi etc
Was production always the goal with the Purple Sneakers DJs projects or was it something that evolved and came about more naturally?
It was both an evolution and a piece of timing that came together. When Marty and I first got together we always wanted to create. Like lots of producers we kicked things off with remixes but we always knew producing our own material was something that was going to happen. To date we’ve written LOTS of stuff and have been working on originals for well over a year now. Now we are pretty addicted to creating.
How has the national tour been. What’s been the highlight? Everyone still in one piece?
It’s been really really tame. We finish our sets and go back to our hotel, sip some Earl Grey and watch Notting Hill on our laptops.* I want to be Hugh Grant.
*completely false
Seriously though there has been some pretty mega moments. Almost all of them involving spirits straight from the bottle. The Can’t Say set was definitely a high light. We can’t quite remember what we played or how it went down but all we remember is we had way too much fun.
What are the best parts of working with a great music network and brand such as Purple Sneakers?
Being able to be a part of a community of like minded people is probably the most beneficial part. You get to simultaneously learn and share new music on a daily basis. And the clubs! Not sure if you’ve ever been to Can’t Say in Melbourne, Nite Society in Canberra or Discovery in Sydney but they are all face meltingly brilliant.
Who’s killing it on the local scene at the moment and what does Australia need more of?
There’s a lot of brilliance around and to be honest I think we have everything we need, just need the right people to hear this stuff at the right time. There are some acts that are going to blow up and some voices and vibes we really enjoy.
Here’s a little short list:
World’s End Press (cannot wait to see them live)
Moonbase Commander
Clubfeet
Naysayer and Gilsun (fell in love with these two gentlemen on The Groovin The Moo tour)
Collarbones (we have big BIG man crushes on these guys).
Go Violets
Tokyo Denmark Sweden
Olympic Ayres
Willow Beats
Whats on the cards for PSDJs in the future?
We never stop writing. Ever. So expect to hear a new song from us very soon.
*****
Tracklist:
01. Sinjin Hawke – Shadows
02. TNGHT – Higher Ground
03. Danny Brown – The Black Brad Pitt (Gesaffelstein Remix)
04. The Griswolds – Heart Of A Lion (Purple Sneakers DJs Remix)
05. Flume – Holdin On
06. CHVRCHES – The Mother We Share
07. Elliphant – Cian’t Hear It
08. PH Fat – Kill The Universe
09. Grimes – Eight
10. Bro Safari – Da Worm
11. Sky Ferreira – Everything Is Embarrassing
12. World’s End Press – Second Day Uptown
13. Django Django – Default
14. Clubfeet – Heartbreak
15. Chad Valley – I Owe You This
16. Purple Sneakers DJs – Last One Standing (Original Mix)
17. Purple Sneakers DJs – Last One Standing (Indian Summer Remix)
18. Purple Sneakers DJs – Last One Standing (Wednesday The Rat Remix)
19. Two Door Cinema Club – Sleep Alone (Beni Remix)
20. Collarbones – Hypothermia (feat. Guerre)
21. Flosstradamus – Test Me
22. Oh Mercy – Drums (Purple Sneakers DJs Remix)
23. Surkin – Lose Yourself (Rustie Remix)
24. Purple Sneakers DJs – Last One Standing (Surecut Kids Remix)
25. Purity Ring – Fineshrine
26. Unicorn Kid – Need U
WORDS BY MATT BLADIN
WORDS BY Matt Bladin
Comments
.