Speedy J and Rødhåd Announce Collaborative Event with Extended Sets in Rotterdam
On the same day, February 5, Clouds will see their debut EP on the Electric Deluxe label.
Scottish duo Calum Macleod and Liam Robertson (a.k.a. Clouds) will drop Timeslip Roadmender on Speedy J’s Electric Deluxe imprint next month.
Hailing from Perth in Scotland, Clouds made their mark on the scene with a series of releases on Turbo back in 2012, before putting out full length Ghost Systems Rave a year later. They have since been busy with more releases on Turbo, Soma and Opal Tapes last year alone. Timeslip Roadmender marks their first releases of 2016, and also with Speedy J’s Electric Deluxe camp.
To mark the occasion, at next month’s Electric Deluxe X Dystopian party in Rotterdam (featuring both label bosses, Speedy J and Rødhåd), the first 100 people to enter the venue will win a copy of the vinyl release with their ticket stub.
You can pre-order the EP at Juno. Ahead of the release and gig, we spoke to each of the acts, with some questions for Clouds first:
How did your relationship with Speedy J begin, and how did you come to release on the label?
We have been huge fans of Speedy J for as long as I can remember, but we’ve never actually crossed paths unfortunately, so we’re really looking forward to meeting him at this party! We had seen a YouTube clip of Jochem playing one of our tunes at the Awakenings festival, and figured it might be worth a shot to send him some new demos we had just finished—luckily he liked them!
Do you maybe have any Dystopian weapons in your bag?
Yeah sure, the new Rødhåd is very interesting, and we are also into the Sohne Der Erde record, as well as Daribow’s Nightfall.
We also spoke to Speedy J:
You and Mike are both veterans of longer sets, but have a different style—how do you think you compliment each other? How much does the crowd affect your track selection while playing an extended set?
We have played on the same night a number of times before, and I do think we compliment each other. I would even say it doesn’t make much difference what order we play in—I guess there is enough versatility in both our styles to play before or after each other. Playing an extended set is always an opportunity to intensify the conversation with the audience. I would say the crowd doesn’t affect the direction of the set directly, rather that the performer and crowd are on a journey together, and the direction is determined by both. I’m afraid that this sounds totally tacky, but so do all other descriptions of club nights!
Finally, we had a question for Rødhåd:
You have previously played at Electric Deluxe events alongside Speedy J—how did the two of you come to agree on a Dystopian x EDLX battle? Do you prefer to play a longer set? How do you prepare for it?
Yes, I already played a few nights together with Speedy (a.k.a. the King of Holland). For me it’s special to be on the same line-up as him, naturally. He was around when I started to go out. I liked listening to his Electric Deluxe releases, and now these days his label and his music are still in my collection. He’s somehow part of my life, and for me it’s really interesting to collaborate with him—I could learn a lot, and I hope to get a little bit of his energy back as well. The idea to combine our labels to one night was a logical step, so that we can hang out longer, invite friends and partners to our night, and play longer sets, because it’s our party!