UPFRONTBEATS

Dirty Channels have just signed off from a huge 2016, which saw them release ‘The Feelings’ with Nice 7 on the mighty Crosstown Rebels. The Italian pair are familiar features in the Italian underground scene, mostly notable residents at Block Milano in Milan. We caught up with the guys to find out about their current releases and future plans for 2017. We hope you enjoy the mix as much as we did.

Let’s take things back to the beginning, how did the whole Dirty Channels project come about’ Furthermore, what were you doing before the project and what lead you to undertake a career in music’ What were your earliest memories of making music and what sort of things were you creating’

Hi guys, it’s a pleasure to share with you our music and words!

Before DC we were both resident DJs in two different Italian clubs and we met in a party where we were invited to play in 2007. We had the same taste and the same approach to djing, so the following year we decided to start a collaboration.

We mixed all our inspirations in the studio and the first tracks were born, as ‘Es Codolar’ on Manocalda records and ‘African Democrazy’ on Reincarnation records, both very respected italian labels at that time.

Also we decided to try some back-to-back dj sets as it was very exciting for us… and after the first releases and gigs a lot of clubs started to call us as Dirty Channels, so we left our single careers and joined the forces on DC project.

One of your first big breaks was your super release on Jamie Jones’ and Lee Foss’ label Hot Waves with ‘Give It To Me’, but what would you say was your biggest achievement to date’ What do you have your sights on in the future’

Yes, ‘Give It To Me’ was the first track that gave us a worldwide exposure and when Jamie told us that they wanted to release it, we understood that it would be very important for our career. Anyway, before it we were already djing all around our country and we had the chance to play in some of our favourite clubs as Echoes in Riccione and Red Zone in Perugia.

The biggest achievement we think it’s simply the opportunity to do what we love as a job, and the only thought for the future is to continue to do this.

Your current release, Feelings/Juno, has been gaining support from the likes of Yousef, Nicole Moudaber and La Fluer, but what was your initial reaction to the record getting signed to Crosstown Rebels’ How did the collaboration come about’ And, what were your thoughts on Nathan’s remix’

One year ago we started to work in studio with our friends Nice7, combining our ideas and our big love for analog synths and old school samples. When we made ‘Feelings’ and ‘Juno’, Damian Lazarus was supporting some of our music and we decided to send him those tracks.
After few days he gave us the good news: we were releasing on Crosstown Rebels, a dream that comes true for us!! We were happy to have Nathan on board as well, his remix has given an added value to the release, with a lot of big supports.

You have quite the collection now, but what’s your thought process behind a track’ Who does what in terms of production’ And, where do you draw your influences from’

Our background comes from Chicago house, Detroit techno classics, disco/funk and afro sounds… and we always try to put them on our tracks. The studio-approach is easy and we don’t have specific roles: we start from a bassline, a vocal sample or something else… we share that idea and when we think it’s good we work together on it.
We love to collaborate with other artists and try to do something new every time. Sometimes we also work with singers, for example we made some vocal songs as ‘On The Way’ with Rosina, ‘Believe’ with Ovasoul7 or ‘Alone’ with Amina.

As time passes, we honestly believe we should cherish the classic’s, but what would you say was your all time favourite track and why’ Does it hold any fond memories’

It’s really hard to say… we have hundreds of favourite tracks 🙂
Now we have in mind ‘Kings of Tomorrow ‘ Finally’, one of the most inspiring house songs ever that remind us a lot of great parties full of love!

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, but what would you say were yours’ Any particular areas you would like to develop’

We think that our strength is the dj set! We grew up playing in the clubs and it’s our most expressive moment. Maybe the weakness is that we don’t want to stop and we want to play more than our set-time 😀
In the future we’d love to develop a strong italian crew that could be a starting point for new big projects, but it’s not easy in our country!

Your guest mix is fantastic, but is there anything in particular we should be listening out for’ Any highlights’

Thank you! In this podcast you can hear our last track on Crosstown Rebels ‘Feelings’, some new tech-tunes as ‘Mr. G ‘ Make Me Mad’, some old (but gold) house tracks as ‘Kim English ‘ Nitelife (Armand Van Helden rmx)’ and new strong disco-edits as ‘Earls Boom Edits ‘ Thank You’. There are also 2 unreleased tracks one of them is our upcoming remix for Dj Le Roi’s new project Breyn!

If any body hasn’t had the privilege of experiencing one of your sets, how would describe your sound’

Groovy, sexy and… Dirty 🙂

2016, was incredibly positive for you guys, but can you let us into a few secrets about what 2017 has in store’ Any exclusives’

We’re just working on new tracks with the legendary eLBee BaD (aka The Prince Of Dance), new projects with our friends Nice7 and a remix for Dj Le Roi.

Our next release will be ‘Dirtytroit’ on a new vinyl-only swiss label called Ostendo, a very interesting release that will include a track from Mirko Loko.

In the end, we’re also working on a new project with our friends of Take It Easy (our home-base party in Milan)… but it’s still a secret now 🙂