Currently one of the hottest names in house and techno, GoldFFinch talk us through their recent EP Proliferation. The Belgian duo have worked with some of the most esteemed electronic labels and are playing at WECANDANCE and Laundry Day later this year.
Firstly, where are you speaking to us from?
Back in Brussels, Belgium. We’ve just spent the past few weeks touring Asia, which was amazing but still it’s great to be home.
How does it feel to be described as ‘one of the hottest names in house and techno’?
Really it’s not something we expected, but of course it’s really nice for people to say that! We’re going to do our best to live up to it!
To those unfamiliar with your sound how would you describe it?
To be honest it’s never easy as we have been experimenting a lot along the way – going from Bass to UK House to the more loop based Techno sound we’ve been working on over the past couple of years. Right now that’s something that we still really enjoy exploring.
How did you both come to work with each other?
We’ve been friends since forever. All that time we’ve been busy working on several project related to music together, promoting parties, making music…
What’s the dynamic of the duo like?
Well the fact is that we are old friends and really it’s just great to work with someone you like. I think being a duo helps us to stay aware of what’s going on. We push each other when needed and it keeps the vibe alive.
What’s the creative energy like between you both?
It’s good, we know each other so well that we can bounce ideas off each other and pick up on what the other is doing quickly.
You’ve released music on many esteemed labels – has working with different labels predisposed your sound?
No, we’ve never really tried to write tunes to please any labels, or set out thinking let’s do something that Turbo or Get Physical, for example, will like. That’s probably why we have released EPs on so many different ones. We just like making music and trying different things out and I guess we’re lucky that so many great labels seem to like what we do. I think right now though as our sound has become more defined we are going to settle down, stick with just a couple of labels and stop going in all directions!
Proliferation (EP) was released in April through Turbo Recordings. Can you talk us through what inspired it?
Honestly there’s no big story behind those tracks, we just hole ourselves up in our studios and make as much music as we can. We’re always working on tracks, building loops, music that we want to play in our own sets, then we send them out to friends to test in clubs, refine them and eventually one of the labels we work with will be like: ’ok we’ll have these now, thanks’ and that’s it.
What kind of atmosphere were you trying to create with Proliferation?
Really just a dark and intense atmosphere, this is Techno for the club.
What are some key pieces of gear you have used for your work on Proliferation?
In term of equipment, we generally think that less is more. Right now we’re mainly working with just a Virus Ti, an SPL Frontliner and an Allen & Heath mixer.
Who are you currently listening to?
Techno basically! We’re really enjoying the stuff coming out on LET records and DVS1’s label Mistress Records, plus people like Shlohmo, Artefakt, and Etapp Kyle. We could go on and on!
What are the five albums of all time that have influenced you?
For me I’d say…
Burial – Untrue
Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 85-92
Mobb Deep – The Infamous
Goldie – Timeless
Serge Gainsbourg – Histoire De Melody Nelson
For Gilles it’s…
Metalheadz – Platinum Breakz II
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
Kruder & Dorfmeister – DJ-Kicks
Adam F – Colours
Sound of the Pirates – mixed by Zed Bias
How do you keep the creative momentum alive when coming up with new material?
We both have our own studios now so generally we don’t go in and work side by side anymore; still when we meet up (and that’s often) we’ll discuss a lot of the tunes we like and the soundscapes we find interesting. We always challenge ourselves to go further in the directions we like, but importantly we also take some break times to go off and do other things.
You were recently named as ones to watch 2016 by DJ Mag. What lies ahead for you in 2016?
We’ve got a few festival shows coming up over the next few months, events like WECANDANCE, Paradise City and Laundry Day in Belgium, then there’s a couple of new remixes due out soon and we have just signed an EP for Fuse Records, which should be out after the summer.
