Eric Galaviz and Brian Varga, known respectively as Hipp-E and Halo, are back as H-Foundation, reinvigorated and inspired by the very interests that first brought them together over two decades ago. It’s been over five years since they last released and performed together, but with releases incoming on Halo’s own Muted Noise, Hipp-E and Halo are ready for another H-Foundation chapter.

H-Foundation’s early years lie in Chicago, where Halo worked at record store Hip House during high school. In 1999, he met Galaviz, originally from Denver, Colorado, and they began working in the studio together, both in their early teens and pushing a deep, smooth, and groovy sound that packs a real dancefloor punch. “…Halo had started writing music and I wanted to as well, he helped get me started on learning the MPC 2000 and just wrote some songs as we learned the MPC and they turned out really cool and so we wrote more and more,” Galaviz recalls.

The collaboration gained worldwide recognition for its dub-influenced sound, fuelled by tracks such as “Hear Dis Sound” and “Tonight.” In 2001, the pair made their debut at Fabric, and put out a special seventh edition to the London club’s mix series the following year. This opened the door to a residency and work with labels like Moody, Siesta, and Soma, further expressions of the duo’s timeless house grooves. They took a break towards the middle of the decade, returning in 2012 with a string of new EPs and another Fabric promotional mix.

The pursuit of their respective life goals—notably Halo’s Muted Noise and Hipp-e’s ROOTS company—eventually took them their separate ways, which gave them the much-needed break to reflect on their musical ambitions. But they’re now in the studio together, creating what they call “sophisticated, ground-breaking rhythms” which will be announced soon. There are bookings in Los Angeles and Detroit already in the diary, and they’re also set to play Altus Festival later this month alongside Rhadoo, Visionquest, and Derrick Carter.

Celebrating their latest reunion, Hipp-E and Halo have compiled a mix for the XLR8R podcast series, recorded in Halo’s California studio earlier this month. At just over an hour in length, it’s high in energy but filled with the more groovy selections from their timeless collection. In there you’ll hear Malin Genie, Lazare Hoche, and Eddie Richards, among many others. It precedes a new H-Foundation album and showcases what we can expect to hear them playing on the road this year.

What have you been up to recently?

We have both been continuing to work on solo projects, and we’re now working on several new projects for some great labels. Plus some exciting collaborations and remixes.

You’ve recently reunited. What’s driving the reunion?

Our mutual passion and direction of music. We feel we have a lot more to do because we have always seemed to bring out the best in each other. We truly do have magic when we flow in the studio and behind the decks; we are like brothers and after this break, we have a renewed sense of where we want to go musically.

How do you think the project will be this time around?

We are excited to reach the new generation and we’ve been truly grateful for long time supporters and support from some heavy hitter tastemakers that all feel it’s a great time to jump in and get this going again. We have pretty big plans and hope to capitalize on everything. We hope for that support to only grow.

Where and when did you record the mix?

We recorded the mix at Halo’s studio about two weeks prior to this streaming.

How did you select the tracks that you included?

When we did our pitch black series, old mix series, and when we have made mixes that are in the studio, the music we try to get on the project has to have a timeless feel. Some of our mixes we did 13 years ago are still fresh sounding and the tracks are able to stand the test of time.

Is there a wider concept to it?

Yes, our goal is to have this mix show a deeper groove side, while still keeping some energy and pace with timeless selections. The next mix from us will be a live set and will showcase more of what we do at the party.

What’s on your horizon for 2020?

We are working as much as we can in the studio, and we’ve started to take bookings again, we have had remixes of one of our most popular songs “Hear Dis Sound” with some great artists that will be out soon. We plan to do a new album this year for release in 2021. We are excited to get out on the road again.

XLR8R has now joined Mixcloud Select, meaning that to download the podcast you will need to subscribe to our Select channel. The move to Mixcloud Select will ensure that all the producers with music featured in our mixes get paid. You can read more about it here.

Tracklisting

01. Steve Lawler “12 Bottles” (Halo Varga Remix) (RAWthentic)
02. MOi “A1 A” (MOi)
03. Paulo, Oboe “Eloi” (Honne Music)
04. Alice Clark “Rocket” (Mihai Popoviciu Remix) (Decay)
05. Malin Genie & Per Hammar “Skull” (De Vloer)
06. Eddie Richards “Someday” (BLA BLA)
07. Tripmastaz “Game of Senses” (Bass Culture)
08. LOy “Ten” (Laate Records)
09. Lazare Hoche, Traumer “Belhara” (Lazare Hoche Records)
10. Floog “Suprapus” (Visionquest)
11. Giuliano Lomonte “Electric Eel” (Brouqade Records)
12. Superlounge “Tool #3” (Superlounge Records)
13. Jarau “Hypnotize” (Visionquest)