Fresh off the Footlocker EU Sneaker Mix Tour and now settling in to complete their 2nd album, Modestep are preparing to attack with a vengeance. I popped down to the Pioneer Music Studio Lab, where the Modestep boys gave some lucky competition winners a chance to play with some top DJing kit (by Pioneer) and even got a mixing session from Dubstep themselves. Check out what the boys had to say!
How was the Footlocker EU Sneaker Mix Tour?!
T: Yeah good, it’s all been pretty sick so far so yeah.
J: Madrid was mad, like the whole dance floor was like a mosh pit, everyone on there was like beating at each other. It was like really violent.
What city have you enjoyed the most so far and why? Who partied the hardest?
Both – Madrid;
T: They really liked to beat each other up …to music; it was really aggressive but just in general really good vibe, but when everyone is going mental it drives us – you can get Josh crowd surfing and fucking spraying champagne everywhere. We always perform better when we’ve got a really good crowd.
J: In saying that, Berlin – it wasn’t the biggest turnout ever but everyone just really went for it and you can tell that everyone was there for the music and that they really wanted to be there. We’d rather play to a crowd of 300 people that really want to be there than a crowd of a 1,000 that stand there like lemons
How did you come together – how was the band formed?
T: We’ve been making music since we were really tiny, think we made our first single when we were under 10 years old. We’ve always been in to music a lot together and producing a lot separately, and when we first heard dustup, we were both really intrigued by it and figured we need to put our own spin on it, and work out how it’s done as it was a bit of a mind fuck. It was awesome and we sort of collaborated, and ModeStep happened.
Radio One blew you up didn’t they – how did that come about?
Both: Mista Jam – by himself.
T: We actually signed our 1st deal with UKF the Youtube promoters and they released ‘Feel Good’ for us and they sent it to Jam and he made it Jam Hot and next thing we knew, Fearne Cotton’s playing it and Scott Mills and it’s become this daytime sort of thing and its gone on Capitol and Kiss – it’s just gone everywhere and we were like…Fuck.
Do you ever get that idea as a dub-step group that you wanted to be underground first but now you’re being played on Kiss, Capitol…?
T: The thing is we didn’t have an identity back then, ‘Feel Good’ was the first tune we ever wrote so it wasn’t as if we’d been making underground tunes for 5 years and we got a break, it was – we made a record for a bit of a laugh and it happened to do quite well. And ever since then we’ve been working back to try and prove that we’re actually good musicians and a good band and I think that album two will reflect that.
J: It’s funny cos there were a lot of producers and a lot of radio DJs who slated us when we first came out because of the kind of tongue in cheek way it was all done, but they are the people who are working with us and supporting us – and it’s cool; we’re getting like Hatcha whose like the guy who made the word dubstep, he’s coming on tour with us next year, so yeah it’s been amazing to have the support from the other way round.
Has it gotten to the point where your parents actually believe you have a real job?
T: Our mum does – she’s probably our biggest fan!! (Laughs) she’s been super supportive.
