Bruce Tantum chats to Walker & Royce about their XLR8R Podcast.

It was just a few years ago that the NYC DJ-production team Sam Walker and Gavin Royce were spinning opening sets at Cielo, doing the occasional remix for the venerable Nervous label and generally living the relatively simple life. Nowadays, of course, the longtime friends are budding international dance-music kingpins, thanks to a flurry of red-hot work for heavyweight labels along the lines of Dither Down, Crosstown Rebels, OFF Recordingsand Moda Black (read a review of the pair’s recent My Dream EP here). And that’s not to mention the seal of approval from Pete Tong—the BBC Radio 1 tastemaker tapped the duo as Future Stars in 2013, and this past October, he recently selected their “Sister” as one of his Essential Tunes. Along the way, their sound has hugely evolved, morphing from charmingly low-key and emotive deepness into a thumping brand of house that’s considerably tougher and and a bit more twisted—kind of like what you’ll get with this mix from the men themselves.

Podcast 383: Walker & Royce by Xlr8r on Mixcloud