I urge you to snag the debut E.P. from Vanguard, Oysters In The Half Shell. Fans of french filter house, Le Knight Club, Fred Falke, Thomas Bangalter & Alan Braxe will be hyped on Vanguard’s tunes. This is an incredibly talented duo and I’m excited to talk with them about their art. Thanks to Sphyramid for showing me this music..let’s go!
DD Hello Vanguard! What are you up to right now?
V Right now, working on a new mix, new tracks and a couple of remixes while watching White Men Can’t Jump.
DD I feel like you guys and I would get along very well. Daft Punk’s Alive 2007 was my first electronic show, and from there I got hyped on filter house and Ed Banger Records..
V How could we not when you have such impeccable taste in music?
DD Listening through your debut EP “Oysters In The Half Shell” is very open-hearted experience. The productions are warm, balanced with that strong throwback feel. Nothing sounds overdone. My favorite track is “Mount Helicon”, that drop at about 2:06 is just perfect! A smooth loop that could last forever. When it was in the works, did you get constructive advice from Kris Menace or any other producers you respect? What kind of narrative do you feel this release has?
V The EP itself we made without any input from anyone else, we had complete free reign to do whatever we wanted and Kris liked it and released it just the way it was. Wouldn’t have had it any other way though. It’s important to us to be able to release the music exactly the way we first envisioned it and WIB is a record label that allowed us to do exactly that.
Narrative-wise; heart break on a Miami Beach…
DD To have your EP released on Kris Menace’s Work It Baby Records, which has played a huge role in showcasing this style of house music must be a total dream. What is your favorite Work It Baby release?
V A toss up between fred Falke’s ‘Look Into Your Eyes’ or Xinobi’s ‘Best Of Me’ EP.
DD When producing, how often do you have to stop and just groove out to the samples and loops? Sounds like a blast to put together!
V We hear the same loops over and over, often, we can’t groove out to it until we’ve finished the track. It’s fun at the start, then we get to the serious part of mixing the track which can get a bit boring, then the last hour or so when the song is nearly finished it gets exciting again and we can groove the fuck out.
DD I love these old school Vanguard graphics. Who designs these? Do you have any stickers? :]
V No we don’t have any stickers. Our friend Hefin designed our logo then we just find cool pics from the 80s and put our logo on them.
DD After listening to these three Vanguard remixes (“Because If I Die”, “Eskimo Boy”, “Uptown Beat”) and the original versions, your character and energy comes through instantly. The use of filters, EQ and reverb on the vocals brings everything up to a more ideal level. Does the production process with these remixes feel the same as your EP productions?
V Remixing is very different because we already have something to start with so sometimes it can be a lot easier to get a remix done and it can be a challenge if the track isn’t something we’d usually work with. Our own tracks can sometimes be difficult because there’s no pressure to finish them and we we want to get them perfect and improve on older tracks.
DD Lastly, what kind of legacy do you hope to leave with Vanguard?
V We aren’t thinking of a legacy at the moment, we’re just concentrating on making the best music we possibly can.
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– Jimi Jaxon
dd 