Introducing: Dusky

Over the past 12 months Dusky is a name that has become more and more well-known across the Electronic world, with their wonderfully unique House/Garage crossover sound capturing the hearts of many. Recently I got chance to catch up with Alfie & Nick to chat about a few things, including their musical influences, how they first met and what we can expect from them in the future...

1. For those that don't know - who are Dusky?

A: We are the dynamic duo of Alfie Granger-Howell and Nick Harriman.

2. When did you first meet and how did you start making music together?

N: We met at sixth form college in Camden about 10 years ago now. We were both into music production and started messing round with making beats together pretty soon after we met, though it was mostly drum & bass we were making then.

3. Many people describe you as a crossover Garage/House sound, in a similar category to the Disclosure boys, but how would you describe the music you that make?

A: Our sound is quite varied overall so it's difficult to put it all into one category, but the crossover garage/house sound definitely forms a part of it . In general we try and go for a classic deep house and techno approach but with a fresh twist on things.

4. What did your parents listen to when you were growing up, and how did this influence the stuff that you are releasing right now?

N: We both grew up with lots of different music- classic rock, soul, jazz, classical. It's definitely influenced our sound and our attitude to making music, we try and incorporate varied sound worlds into our tracks and hopefully that gives them some extra depth.

5. Away from Dance music, what other music are both listening to at the moment, and are there any artists out there that inspire you and influence your sound?

A: I've been listening to a lot of classical music recently, and also a lot of ambient music like that of Brian Eno- both are a million miles from dance music in many ways but I find a lot of inspiration from the techniques and attitudes they incorporate.

N: Recently I've been discovering and listening to loads of early detroit techno which I never really gave the time it deserved before as I was more into the New Jersey and Chicago sounds. I also listen to a lot of Jazz and have been getting heavily into Pat Metheny who's use of motifs is genius and very inspiring.

6. Illegal downloading is at an all-time high in 2012, and Dance music suffers more than most genres - how does this effect people like yourselves and what are your views on how it should be tackled?

A: Being a musician of any kind in this day and age is really hard financially, especially if you're working within an underground scene. Illegal downloading affects us a lot, although it'd be counter-productive to slate every case of it outright as I've never met anyone in my life who hasn't done some sort of file-sharing or tune-swapping. The important thing is to encourage people to feel obliged to give something back to the artists if the music has given them something they value. Education on the reality of what it's actually like to be a producer today is probably key.

7. With quite a few EP releases under your belt now, what canwe expect from Dusky for the rest of 2012 and into the start of 2013? Is there a full length album in the works?

N: Yeah we've started planning our next album but we're not going to be fully focusing on it for a while yet. We've got a load more originals done, including 'Calling Me/Muriel' which will be coming out in September on a new label called 'School' that has some really exciting young producers within it's ranks. There are various remixes on the way too including a bumper remix package of our first album coming out in August with some amazing reworks by Midland, Tevo Howard, Goldffinch, Synkro, Andre Crom, and Thomas Langner.

8. Finally, what direction do you see music, Dance music in particular, going in the next 5 years?

A: Dance music is in a really interesting place right now as the charts are in a full-on dance music phase, especially in the USA where that's never really happened before. I think there's going to be some really interesting new underground movements as a result of it's increased popularity as a new generation step up with fresh ideas.

Flo-Jam EP OUT NOW!