Music interview: Leftwing & Kody

Both Mixmag and DJ Mag named them as ones to watch a mere year after they paired up, with DJ Mag even nominating them for ‘Best Breakthrough DJ’ in their Best of British Awards. Since then the duo has gone on to present a monthly Rinse FM show, earn residencies at Fabric (London) and Sankeys (Ibiza), as well as releases on Hot Creations, VIVa, Truesoul, Mobilee and Knee Deep In Sound, as well as their own renowned imprint Lost Records.

Tell us about your latest EP on Moon Harbour and your idea behind the track?

We had wanted to work with Room 303 for a very long time, so when he sent his vocal back for ‘Marvellous’ we pretty much built the track around that. Then with Detune we went with our usual track aimed for the club floor, and ‘Ruff’ we had created while still in the head space of ‘Sound Boy.’ Finally, ‘Rock That’ was just an experimentation around a groovy track. We knew they had the Moon Harbour vibe to them and when we sent the tracks to Matthias Tanzmann he came back within a week asking to sign all four which was amazing.

When delving into your production, how do you collaborate on the music, who does what?

We do everything in the studio together. It’s like our day jobs – we work 10-6 almost every weekday except sometimes Monday if we’ve had a particularly busy weekend. We always talk through ideas of tracks that we want to create, and which label we are tailoring the music for. Jon is in control of the computer and I’m like the worst backseat driver saying things like “no change that”, “make that better”, “go left here” ha ha.

You played in Leeds recently, tell us about your memories here?

We’ve had some amazing nights in Leeds over the years including a showcase we did for our label Lost Records, which included Richy Ahmed and Josh Butler on the bill. We also played a ‘Knee Deep In Sound’ showcase here with Hot Since 82, Nic Fanciulli and Cristoph – that was a pretty memorable night.

And leading into the summer, are you excited for festival season?

Yes, super excited. Can’t believe we are already talking about the summer season already it seems to come around quicker and quicker every year.

Do you prefer the more intimate shows or the bigger festivals?

They both have their plus points. We come from a background of playing the smaller intimate clubs so we feel like we definitely thrive better in that environment. But it’s also great getting to play big stages too. One of our best shows last year was on the Tall Trees stage at Beat Herder Festival. The sun was setting and the vibe was amazing.

Finally what other releases and projects will you be working on in 2018?

We have an EP forthcoming on Loco Dice’s Desolat label that will be out at the beginning of March. Then we have another track coming out on Moon Harbour on their In House Compilation. A Lost Records EP will be coming out in the summer and we also have some releases that are just being confirmed for between March and June which we are really excited about. One of those projects includes a collaboration project which we can’t wait to unleash.

https://www.facebook.com/LeftwingKody/