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LISTEN TO MIX: download listen
DARKSTARR INTERVIEW
Hey guys, thanks for the mix and answering some questions! What would you say are your
mutual interests?
Food, music, more food and more music. Wine, families. And then some more food and music.
Can you tell us more about your Darkstarr project ... you've done a couple of remixes together
now, right?
We had been threatening to do something together for quite a long time and then last autumn we
finally put our pedal to the metal and started up the blog, the party and got in a couple of remixes
such as the Mavis ft. Candi Staton - "Revolution" (DarkStarr Mix) and the Salvador Santana "Don't
Do It" (DarkStarr Mix).
The track with Candi Stanton is magical, what was it like to work with her?
We wanted to do something different with the song "Revolution" from Ashley's Mavis project as the
original has a beautiful downtempo feel to it and we thought it would be good to remix it staying true
to the sound that Candi is known for. She loves it so much that she is using our backing track in her
live shows and wants to work on another record together which is quite an honour. She and Ashley
recently hung out doing some radio interviews and she has recently remarried and lives in and
runs a missionary for homeless people in Atlanta with her husband. So here is a lady that not only
sings about social revolution but does something about it!
You are both involved with lots of things in the dance scene, like Cosmo running the Bitches
Brew label, Wild Rumpus and organizing the London Loft parties and Ashley with X-Press 2, the
new project Mavis and many other ventures! Is it hard to find time to work together?
Ashley actually left X Press 2 last summer so that has freed up some time for us to work together. It
can be difficult trying to get us into the studio or a club at the same time but we make it work. We're
both busy people and all of our different experiences are brought together into this project so that is
saying quite a lot.
Are there any original Darkstarr material in pipeline?
Watch this space! We went into the studio this week to produce the first original DarkStarr tune.
Can't tell what it is going to be like though. That is a secret. Lets just say we haven't defined the
genre yet.
You also do a party in London together at a relatively new spot Horatio, how's it going and how
often to you get to do it? Are you trying to push a certain sound at the parties?
We have been doing a monthly at the Horatia which is a new venue in North London and it has
been a lovely vibe on the floor. We also recently played the 7th anniversary of Glasgow's Melting Pot
and are headlining the Trip Festival in Wales later this month. Its a lot of fun playing together as we
play one-on-one so we never know where its going to go (kind of like a good game of basketball).
We keep each other on our toes musically.
What do you think of the present dance scene, is it much different from when you started and
how do you think it can keep progressing?
Its very different from when we started because of the internet which is now essential to promote
your tunes which can be a good thing. However, it fails in the sense that songs don't have a real
shelf life anymore as there is such a high proliferation of music out there. You just have to keep
trying to make something that stands out and create your own universe.
Where else can people catch you on the net/radio playing regularly?
Cosmo has a monthly radio show (for which Ash sometimes covers ;) called Cosmodelica on
http//www.ministryofsound.com/radio, http//www.samurai.fm/cosmo
and http//www.deepfrequency.com. We also do a lot of mixes for various blogs including our own at
http//darkstarr.tumblr.com and we recently joined the new century and we each are on Soundcloud
where we post various mixes.
Any records we should be looking out for or parties not to be missed?
Afrikans on Mars - "The Road We Travel", Phenomenal Handclap Band - "Testimony"
(Cosmodelica Dub Factor), Pete Heller - "Overtime", tunes on the International Feel label and
anything by Still Going and Stallions.
What 5 records did you listen to today?
Cosmic 5:
Skipworth & Turner - "Thinking About Your Love"
Phenomenal Handclap Band - "Tears" (Stallions Remix)
Michael Shrieve - "Transfer Station Blue"
Sunharbour - "A Spark"
Junkie XL ft. Jan Hammer - "Made for Each Other"
Ashley Boogie Business
Pieces of a Dream – “MT. Airy Groove”
Aurra – “Like I Like I”
Motivation – “Color Blind”
The Winans – “Let My People Go"
Terrance T - "Power"
Thanks a bunch! Would you like to give a shout out to anyone?
Hey Mum!
Cosmo
http://www.myspace.com/bitchesbrewcosmo
DarkStarr
http://www.darkstarr.tumblr.com
Wild Rumpus
http://www.myspace.com/wildrumpusmusic
Cosmodelica on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?oid=17227272760&view=all#!/group.php?
gid=17227272760
Samurai FM
http://www.samurai.fm/cosmo
Ministry of Sound Radio
http://www.ministryofsound.com/radio/djs/features/Cosmo
Bitches Brew
http://www.bitchesbrewmusic.com
Lucky Cloud
http://www.loftparty.org
