Eli and Lonely C make Soul Clap, one of our favorite duos. We got the chance to speak with them at Sea Dance Festival, part of Exit Advanture and you can find their answers below.
First of all, thank you for an amazing set. I believe everyone here enjoyed it. And thank you for your time. So how did you two met and how did you started to produce together?
Eli: So we are called Soul Clap. We are from Boston, the East coast of US and around 3 hours from NY. So we started DJ-ing when we were kids. We were going to raves in the ’90. We got into all kinds of music, especially house music. And we learned from an early age that house wears many hats. So that basically means that house can be many things. And over the years we learned from many people, many mentors, from listening, partying about disco, jazz, funk, hip-hop, techno… all the different kinds of electronic and dance music.
Lonely C: I couldn’t say it better. And it was different time then. The parties we were going, the raves, they were very, very underground. That was long before anything like EDM was even on the radar. In fact, it was so far in the past that if you fast-forward for 10 years you still have DJ from US that have to travel to Europe to be able to perform and build the name for themselves. So the changes are really big over the last 15 years that we’ve been in the industry.
And what would you say are the main influences on you two during your early ages?
Lonely C: Well in the ’90, we’ve been influenced by everything. We listened to jazz, funk, soul, reggae, hip-hop, rock, punk, and on and on and on. I mean, both of us were into jungle and drum ’n’ bass as some of the first forms of electronic music.
Eli: And as far as house is concerned, there were Maters At Work was a major influence. The sound that was coming from NY. And also British stuff from late ’90.
Lonely C: But on those raves, you know, because we were too young for the clubs, there were often a house room, a techno room, a trance room, a chill-out rooms. All different DJ playing all different kinds of music and through the night you could taste all the different genres. You cannot do that today, even at the big commercial festivals there is a lot of the same things. So variety was something that marked the beginnings of electronic music.
You compiled latest Tempo Dreams for Bastard Jazz label and released ‘So sedated’ over there. So tell me more about it and what’s coming up next?
Eli: Well that was real fun. We got a chance to dig deeper and explore underground funk scene, the modern funk scene. And our friends did some special funk tracks for that project. And Bastard Jazz is really cool label! Now we are working on a mix for Watergate. That would be our housey side. As we said, we have a lot of influences and we do a lot of different stuff.
Your Soul Clap Records is also doing a great job. Can you point on some releases that our audience should check out and what is coming up?
Lonely C: We put out new EP with Funcadelic and one with George Clinton. That’s the work we are most proud of and you should definitely check them out. And there are some new artists. John Camp, he’s our friend from NY and there is upcoming EP from him. Davis from Brazil as well. We are keeping it moving. But we are also working on our album.
Eli: And there is some regae coming up. Hahaha I’m kidding
About that album, what can you tell us about it? Can we expect some new collaborations? And when can we expect it?
Lonely C: Well we actually don’t know yet which songs are going to make it on the album. But there are a lot of collaborations with other artists that we have prepared. There is some more material from Dayonne Rollins that was on ‘So Sedated’, there is another girl called Emily Houston and with her we did some stuff. Also we did some music with Sadi Ali, she’s our friend and we made some collaboration with Life On Planets.
Eli: We worked with
You are here few days already. So how do you like it here at Sea Dance Festival? And what did you like to most?
Lonely C: It’s so beautiful! I love it! I think yesterday we went to Kotor and climbed up on the fortress to catch the sundown, it was amazing. My legs hurt today, but it was really cool. It been very hot but we had nice swim and the food is great also. I think I’m over oceans, just seas for me from now on.
Your next stop? How do you adjust to all those different places?
Eli: Munich, we play in small club over there. Then we go in London for Lovebox and Metl festival in Berlin. So we have a busy weekend. And we try to listen to the crowd, every gig is so different. I mean, you could follow us and hear none of the same songs few days in a row. It depends on the setting and the place. It goes back to the first thing, we had too many influences… Honestly, in the beach is the best, really. Forrest as well, boats…
Lonely C: Outdoors, always. Castles. RIVERS! We should definitely visit Belgrade.
How did you like the crowd here? Sunset and the beach?
Lonely C: Today we had very positive crowd but it was too hot. And I heard there was no water and bears. And we had to finish right before the sunset. That’s a pity because people were just start to dance and everything. Now the weather is starting to cool off. Later party would probably be better.
Eli: I just ran on the quote form Frankie Knuckles I think, and he said that you should always find one person in the crowd who is filling it and play for that person. And in places like this I feel like that’s the way to do it!
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