Before the techno duo Spektre kickstart their India tour forย Submerge’s Access All Areas, The Sherp caught up with them for a chat. Find out how they first met, their take on the Indian dance music scene, and more…
Sherp:ย How and where did you guys first meet?
Spektre: We went to a lot of the same clubs in the UK back in the early โ00s, but somehow our paths never crossed until a mutual friend introduced us and suggested we get in the studio together, which we did!
Sherp:ย What is your studio like? How often do you guys meet up to make new music?
Spektre:ย Itโs primarily software based these days, and because we donโt actually live that close to one another any more, we will generally start a few rough ideas individually, then spend a week or so solidly in the studio developing them together.
Sherp:ย India is growing its musical intellect in terms of dance music, including techno. How far do you see the techno scene going in our country?
Spektre:ย The Indian scene is really vibrant, and whilst historically it has had a strong association with trance, there is definitely a big rise in interest for other genres, so it will definitely be interesting to see how things grow over the coming years.
Sherp:ย Any new stuff you guys are working on? The Sherp would love a bite.
Spektre: Well, the vast majority of our studio time recently has been dedicated to finishing our second album โCyclic Operationsโ which will be released on Toolroom on November the 4th.
Sherp: Weโre sure you get this a lot, but weโd like to know โ Whatโs on your rider?
Spektre:ย Weโre not divaโs, haha! As long as all the technical stuff is right and weโve got a few drinks, weโre happy.
Sherp: โRespektโ, your very own imprint was a milestone launch for you guys. Could you run us through how that came about?
Spektre:ย It was initially intended as an outlet for our own material, which it still is, but we were getting so many great demos from other artists that it made sense to turn it into a platform to push other music that we love as well as our own.
Sherp:ย Describe the โSpektre soundโ in three words.
Spektre:ย Tough, atmospheric techno
Sherp:ย Do you have any pre-gig rituals?
Spektre:ย Not really, although on a hectic tour a pre-gig snooze is usually essential, weโre so rock-n-roll, haha!
Sherp:ย As an artist, who or what has inspired you the most?
Spektre:ย Weโre both into such a varied range of music that pinning down a single top influence is almost impossible, but we try to take little ideas from as many different places as possible.
Sherp:ย Best moment behind the console?
Spektre:ย Probably when we played at Hyperspace in Budapest: stepping out to the biggest crowd weโd ever played to in a line-up with some of our heroes was pretty special.
Sherp: Biggest fail behind the console?
Spektre: Weโve both had the odd occasion where weโve made little technical slip-ups, but nothing catastrophic thankfully โ Itโs all about being able to style it out so it sounded deliberate!
Sherp: Lastly, do you have any message for your fans in India?
Spektre: Yeah, really looking forward to returning to India, so will see you on the dancefloor!
FESTIVAL FIVE
1. Best festival experience?
Spektre: Probably Glastonbury last year, glorious sunshine the whole weekend, which is rare for a UK summer!
2. Weirdest festival experience?
Spektre: Also Glasto, but 2011 where I somehow ended up at a wedding where the soundtrack was entirely from British reggae band UB40 – weird!
3. Festivals youโd like to play at and why?
Spektre: BPM in Mexico has rapidly developed a big reputation, and a nice holiday inMexico in January wouldnโt be such a bad thing!
4. At what age did you attend your first music festival?
Spektre: Homelands when I was 18.
5. Craziest fan youโve encountered?
Spektre: Thereโs been a few, but we love them all, the crazier the better!
Spektreโs new album โCyclic Operationsโ is released on Toolroom Records: 04/11/13