We’re delighted to chat with UK D&B duo GLXY this week, whose soulful and enigmatic tunes/remixes have been turning heads in and out of the scene. They give us a lowdown on how the project is going, and what we can hope to hear next from them.
We’ve been keeping watch of all your recent releases! What was it like to remix Submotion Orchestra and how does it feel to be one of only few D&b artists who’ve had the honour of doing so?
Firstly, cheers for getting in touch! Remixing Submotion Orchestra was potentially our biggest opportunity to date, and having the privilege of putting the GLXY spin on their incredible sound was amazing. As you say, only a few artists have remixed Submotion and we’re massive fans of them, so having this opportunity around a year after our first release is pretty bonkers.
It’s great to hear you take a completely different approach with your latest remix for Vigiland, could you tell us the process of how you tackled ‘Pong Dance’?
Yeah, it was definitely an interesting one! Upon first listening to the track, it wasn’t immediately obvious how we were going to put our spin on it and keep it sounding fresh. But after toying with a few ideas and sitting on it for a bit, the hip-hop influenced sound developed nicely.
What’s the reaction been like when playing the remix out live?
Pretty crazy actually! It’s not something we would traditionally necessarily play in our sets, but it actually brings a refreshing twist to the dance floor.
Do you have any other releases coming up you can get us hyped about? Any original material on the horizon?
So we’ve got some more remixes coming out, one for BCee on Spearhead, another on Soul Trader, and one later in the year on a big label that we’re very excited about. We’ve also got another EP due to drop sometime later in the summer, it’s a bit more of the darker atmospheric side of our sound – so that should be interesting. We also have a remix EP inbound for Limitless. Happy to say there are 4 amazing artists on there that have all smashed it, so big ups to Phil Tangent, Stu Pennygiles, Alex Phaction and the Data 3 lads.
We see you played your first show abroad over in Belgium, how did it go down and any wild stories from your first international show?
Yeah, that was a lot of fun! The night didn’t start very well as Jon stacked it on some stairs and basically broke his ankle – made such a gully crunch. Apart from that and his one leg skanking all night, it was a definite success. Their beer is a lot stronger than in the UK though…
Who have been your top three musical influences since starting the GLXY project? Feel free to pick three each if you can’t agree…
I think we both take influences from quite different sources, but there is definitely common ground in our influence from class D&B artists. Jon has a keen interest in hip-hop and Tom in house & techno, so I definitely think you can hear that in our sound.
Tom: Since starting the GLXY project I would say Calibre, Technicolour and Jon Hopkins.
JC: For me, it’s probably been Halogenix, Lenzman and Calibre too.
What has been your career highlight so far?
It’s really hard to pick one so far, so we’ll list of a few. Definitely playing Hospitality Leeds alongside some of the biggest names in D&B. Our first international show as we spoke about before, getting our first vinyl releases this year, getting a release on Spearhead and also linking up with The Bassics Agency. Guess you could say this last 12 months since our first release has been one long highlight!
Lastly, as you’ve been smashing out the remixes recently. We want to know what’s your favourite D&B remix?
Tom’s current favourite would be ‘Breathtaking’ (dBridge’s Soul Steppers Mix).
JC: My favourite D&B remix of a non-D&B tune still has to be Calibre’s remix of ‘Garden’ by T.E.E.D, it’s a bonafide classic.
