It was an overcast day in Playa del Carmen but the sun would have gone unnoticed anyway. Jonny White and Kenny Glasgow of Art Department were the puppeteers at their No. 19 label showcase at The BPM Festival 2012. And yes, we were their puppets. They pulled out tracks left and right, but there was one that’s still resonating months later.
Behind the decks, some dude or chick from Radge TV caught a piece of the track on video. [Editor’s note: The 12-minute video consisted of the backs of Jonny and Kenny’s heads, and my face… along with my BPM crew. Shout-out to my ladies!] Two weeks later, it was a YouTube hit, and the demand for Fur Coat’s “You and I” skyrocketed.
With Winter Music Conference within earshot, anticipation for the release of the Venezuelan duo’s You and I EP is growing. I’ve even heard people say the track will be the anthem of this year’s conference. Regardless, Fur Coat and remixer Amirali bring us a delicious two-track EP full of rude basslines and seductive vocals (courtesy of the talented Cari Golden, of course). Plus, it references cocaine and ketamine. Badass.
In light of the hype the EP has received, we reached out to the Fur Coat guys to find out more about their production experience, working with Cari Golden and being part of the Crosstown Rebels family.
EP Name: You and I
Record Label: Crosstown Rebels
Release date: March 5 Vinyl; March 19 Digital
Genre(s): Deep House
Concept or theme behind EP: A space funk odyssey, narrating an analogy of a toxic and hooky relationship… and drugs.
EP production experience: Collaborating with vocalist Cari Golden was a really natural thing for us, and the project flowed smoothly from the start. The remixer, Amirali was picked by the label – a big star for 2012.
Favorite Track of the EP: You and I (Original Mix)
Artists supporting EP: Damian Lazarus, Art Department, Lee Foss, Dubfire, Butch, Clive Henry, Anja Schneider, Lee Curtis, Tiefschwarz and more.
It’s been said that ‘You and I’ is going to be the anthem of this year’s Winter Music Conference. How do you feel about that? Also, what was it like working with vocalist Cari Golden?
Whoaaa…. We feel honored that that’s being said. You leave us speechless. We have seen great anticipation of people and DJs for this track. It makes us very happy to turn heads with our work.
Working with a vocalist like Cari Golden was really great. She is a nice and easygoing girl, really down to earth and friendly. Since the moment we spoke about this collaboration, she was super receptive and agreed right away. She loved the idea we sent her. It really flowed and came together so naturally. She has a really nice voice and lyrical talent. After receiving the vocals, we got into the studio and produced them along the arrangement of the track, and ¨You and I¨ was born.
Art Department played ‘You and I’ during a set at The BPM Festival, and a video of it which now has more than 100,000 views really got people noticing this track. What is it like being a part of the Crosstown Rebels family, and how has it helped you guys gain recognition?
We have seen the video, and we’re so happy that people are asking about our track and grateful for the support the guys (Jonny and Kenny) are giving us. We never realized it already had 100,000 views! We feel really flattered and honored that people are intrigued by our work, and having support from big DJs like Art Department, Damian, Clive, Lee Foss and others is amazing.
Being part of Crosstown Rebels is great. It’s a label where we can develop our sound freely and evolve. Damian has been a great supporter of this project, believing in it and publishing our work. We are also happy to announce that we are almost done with our debut album and that it’s coming out on Crosstown Rebels too. Being part of this family has brought us recognition and really put us out there.
[Another editor's note: We would have embedded the Art Dept. video, but it's been set to "private" on YouTube. Hm. Instead, here's a video of Sergio (Delete) dropping the track at Cirque Bonheur in Paris.]
We recently did an interview with Louie Fresco, another Latino making moves in the industry. How do you feel electronic music is being embraced more recently in the Latino culture? What’s the scene like (if there is any) in Venezuela?
EDM has always been around Latin America. Many great DJs and producers that are living in Europe come from here. Nowadays, we are seeing a younger breed stepping out there in labels, showcases and clubs around the world. Also, the presence of the Latino culture has grown for clubbers, producers, promoters, clubs, etc. With this growing each day, Latin America is becoming a firm fixture on DJs’ worldwide tours. With this happening, and the easy access via Internet to labels and networking, many producers are more easily able to show their work and enter the worldwide scene.
In Venezuela there has been a scene since the early 2000s – big parties with DJ bookings both mainstream and underground – DJs like Tiesto, Paul Van Dyke, Armin Van Burren, Erick Morillo to Sasha, Dubfire, Richie Hawtin, Magda, Marco Carola, Loco Dice, Timo Mass, Davide Squillace, Mr C, Audiofly, Matthias Tanzmann, Nima Gorji, Johnny White, Martin Buttrich, to name a few. Nowadays it’s a little harder for the whole clubbing scene here due to our political situation. No matter what, nothing stands in the way of the passion Venezuelans will have for leading underground events and big music events – they are still happening here.
How did you two end up together and begin producing?
We met back in 2004. Since then, we haven’t stopped hanging out, partying and traveling together. We both had our solo careers; Israel was a DJ for some years and was producing and starting to get stuff signed. I was also working on my solo career as Delete, releasing and touring around the world. We did parties together here and we played back to back when we could in various countries and clubs. Having this strong relationship over the years, we knew we wanted to do something together in the studio, but it wasn’t until summer of 2010 in Europe that we came up with this whole concept and idea to work in the studio. Only then did we start developing the Fur Coat project.
