Monkey Freakz
Origin: None
It’s the simple story of 2 Dubstep lovers from Switzerland who decided to join their skills from Hardstyle/Hardcore music to start producing EDM with a very specific purpose: make the floor quake everywhere they go!! Starting the project in early 2012, they manage to climb up the national EDM scene very quickly with apparitions in important local festivals such as Mapping Festival, Balelec Festival, or Electrosanne. They have just signed an EP on Dub-All Or Nothing Records and already signed forthcoming EP’s with Audiophile & Anemnesis Records! Matchword: WAKE THE MONKEY INSIDE OF YOU!!
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I have two musicians as parents so I was literally born with music all around me. My mom used to put headphones on her belly when she was pregnant. I immediately knew that it would never leave me, that I would have to do something related to music one day. Music, from my point of view, has always been a way to express feelings because music is all about emotions…some songs make you feel happy others will make you feel sad, powerful, lonely, calm, even scared. Music can transmit so much with such few notes…it is truly amazing.
Interview
Home Town: Geneva, Switzerland
Currently Living: Geneva, Switzerland
Origin Of Name: We were at the Zoo (a famous venue in our town) and we saw this monkey silhouette above the DJ—it was the same time we were looking for a name that sounded crazy and fun. Freakz was really the second word that would complete the impression we wanted to give when people hear our name for the first time.
Weapon of Choice: Bananas—wake the monkey inside of you!
Source of Power: Skrillex, Bar9, Zomboy, SkiSM, Knife Party, Pegboard Nerds, Lets Be Friends, Pendulum, Torqux…and many more.
Was there one particular moment in the recording or mixing process for your Discovery Project entry that made you feel like you were creating something pretty damn special?
Every experience is special and we try to do everything we can to make every set special. So creating something for one of the biggest festivals—we could ever dream to play—is inevitably pretty god damn special indeed. But we can say that it’s when we received the call from Insomniac saying that we were selected over hundreds of participants that we realized how special this experience was getting…and that this was just the beginning.
Are there any dots to connect with where/how you grew up to your musical output?
Not really…and even if that would exist, nobody would now about it…
What do your parents think of what you are doing?
They think we’re trying to get in touch with aliens or something with our distorted weird bass music. Hahaha! No, in fact they are really proud and they actually turned themselves into social harassers to get us the most votes they could for the Las Vegas Alumni Competition.
What’s the strangest part of your job? What makes you shake your head in wonderment about being a DJ and producer?
Hmmmm…probably the hours we can spend creating a punchy snare or compressing a kick…but here’s one real strange fact: You post a cat photo on your Facebook wall—100 likes, 16 shares. You post a new song—eight likes, no shares. Lol—guess that’s just how social networks run these days…
What’s the biggest misconception about being a DJ? Surprise us with a fact about your profession.
That real fans can be found thousand of miles away and your biggest haters may probably be closer than you think…and how God damn hard it is to do a good mix down!
How does what you do for a living affect you on a day-to-day basis? Does it affect your friends and family?
It changed everything. Now everything we do is based on our music (sports, cinema, advertising, clothing…).
What is your ultimate career dream?
To be invited to play at the incredible Red Rocks stage! Or to play in weightless conditions with a crowd of flying people in a giant spaceship around earth, or to play in front of Giza’s pyramids. And probably a lot of other things…
Are you impulsive with your work or do you have a sketch in mind before you start?
Can be both. From having the entire idea in our heads or starting from nothing on a new project at the studio and see what comes up…
How, if at all, does listening to music figure into your creative process?
Of course listening to music is the basis of our inspiration. Last time was with Taylor Swift “I Knew You Were Trouble.”
What’s the most important piece of gear in your studio?
Speakers. Because at the end of the day, you want your tracks to sound good in a club so you need neutral speakers to get the best resemblance.
How important is it for you to experiment and take on the risk of failure?
It’s very important; it’s what makes everything we do so special and exciting! Without the risk of failure there’s no glory in recognition…
Do you have a list of people you’d like to collaborate with in the future?
The list is long…it goes from circus artists to VJs to light engineers…because the show is important.
If we pressed Shuffle on your iPod while you went to the bathroom, what would you be embarrassed to come back to us listening to?
Absolutely nothing! I don’t listen to something I could be ashamed of…
What sound or noise do you love?
I like the sound of a thousand marbles falling on a hard ground.
What should everyone just shut the fuck up about?
Everything around this idea of dubstep not being dubstep anymore and how so many people think it’s so easy to make (couple of wubwubwub gnegnegne whaawhaawhaa) when it’s from my musician opinion one of the most difficult electronic music to make.
What gets you excited when you think about the future of electronic music and club culture?
The fact that it’s getting bigger worldwide so it makes more space for upcoming artists like us…so we can keep believing in what we do…and the future looks pretty bright at the moment.
When you look at electronic music and the surrounding culture, what worries you about the future, what do you wish would change or that you could change?
Drugs and the mass production of shitty music.
What are your weaknesses?
Our principal advantage: We love what we do. So we can forget about the rest, which can be dangerous with promoters—and women, hahaha!
Do you have a secret passion?
Not really.
How would you describe your sound to a deaf person?
We’d have to show you a video, it’s hard to describe but probably with a lot of movements with the arms, mouth and eyes. We would probably look like total idiots doing it but for a deaf person, hell yeah we’ll do it!
Is success physical or internal?
Success is internal. Because success is not defined by people. It’s defined by your music, so, in a way, by your emotions and feelings.
What do you remember about your first DJ gig?
It was at the Pickwick’s Pub in Geneva. A friend of ours had won a thing where he could organize a party sponsored by the brand that made the competition so he invited us to play. We had started the project one month earlier. We played in front of 12 drunken friends and ended up dancing on the desk holding the booth speakers…it was a really funny night and our first gig!
What’s the hardest professional lesson you’ve learned thus far?
Every lesson is supposed to make your life easier. The hardest we’ve learned was being part of a team that had good members but bad management.
Tell me about your most memorable night out.
It was without a doubt the Balélec experience. It’s a festival near Geneva where we got to play last year. We were not famous, not even in our town, but yet we managed to contact one of the bookers and against all odds he said yes! We played in front of a crowd of 1,500 people and after us it was Dirtyphonics live on the same stage. That was truly amazing cuz we never thought so many people would come see us. The days that followed the festival we received so many messages about our set…a lot of people discovered us at this venue and it really helped us get famous in Switzerland.
What advice would you offer someone thinking about entering the Discovery Project competition?
To send the music you want to share, not the music you think people wanna hear.
Winning Track:
Winning Mix:
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