Their collaboration with Miniminds, ‘Guillotine’, marks the beginning of an exciting new era for Global Underground. This brand new slice of future techno – released today – shows the duo at their finest and is exactly the kind of music we’re going to be putting out regularly in the weeks ahead.
We grabbed a moment with the DJ/producers, aka Paul Maddox and Filthy Rich, to talk about coming to GU, where their heads are musically and their plans for the summer…
Tell us a little about how ‘Guillotine’ came about?
Paul: We first met up with the Miniminds boys when we did a gig over in Northern Ireland and ended up back at their flat for a morning of heavy drinking and crude jokes where we decided that a collaboration was on the cards! Read our interview with Miniminds too.
That said, we weren’t actually together when writing the track, as all the production work was split between ourselves at my studio in Sheffield and Gary & Stevie’s (Miniminds) in Belfast. We came up with an initial idea, which we sent over to them. We got it back a couple of weeks later fleshed out with all the crazy sirens and percussion, then did the final mixdown back in the UK.
Rich: Musically we were aiming to make something that reflects both of our styles and I think we managed to achieve our goal pretty well. ‘Guillotine’ is a club banger that has been destroying our floors for some time now. The new Christian Smith remix is also rocking and the icing on the cake for us!
Listen to and buy both mixes from the player:
What does it mean to you to be recording for the Global Underground label?
Paul: It’s great to be involved with such an iconic and renowned brand, and exciting to be a part of the relaunch of GU Music.
Rich: GU is a globally recognised musical institution and we are proud and excited to be involved with something we have both grown up on. We’re looking forward to the forthcoming release and getting more involved with the label tours as well.
Catch Spektre playing for GU in Barcelona at our off-Sonar party on June 16th
What is your favourite GU memory?
Paul: Nick Warren’s Budapest and Sasha’s Ibiza compilations were among the first mix albums that really got me hooked on dance music – still listen to both frequently!
Rich: For me it would have to be the Global Underground Departures CD…still love that mix to this day…other highlights would be Tony De Vit, Tokyo and the more recent Carl Cox, Black Rock Desert. Both awesome!
What kind of sound do you hope to bring to the label?
Paul: We make techno for the dancefloor, but always loaded with atmosphere and always aim to write tracks that have something of a plot rather than being entirely disposable.
Rich: Dark, moody and highly energetic techno.
Where are your heads at musically at the moment?
Paul: All over the place as usual! We’ve been really busy with remixes recently, but have been trying to temper our usual dark vibes with a bit of summer sunshine – so keep your eyes peeled for a couple of less moody Spektre moments coming soon.
How do you stay on top of all things digital, from downloads to DJ equipment? Do you enjoy how quickly it is constantly changing?
Rich: The new technology available to DJs is a valuable tool which adds an ever increasing amount of possibilites when you are playing out. It is especially useful to us for our Live shows and we are constantly looking for new ways to enhance our performance. The challenge for the artist is to find the right technology that compliments their style and allows them to best represent themselves and their music. At present we are using both Traktor with an X1 controller and Ableton with the APC controller, as well as a drum machine and an iPad for a few extras. But in the future we would love to extend that even further and look at adding live synth’s and vocals to our set-up.
Paul: The digital revolution is obviously a very important part of how the music industry is evolving right now and is something that every artist needs to stay on top of. From a music point of view we are generally playing our own tracks in the Live shows but also make sure we stay on top of other music through the online stores and the many promos that we get sent.
Where in the world can we hear you play in the coming weeks?
Rich: We just played Athens at the weekend for our very first Respekt label night, which was fantastic. Vienna next weekend alongside Sebastian Leger and the following week we have both GU vs Intec at Sonar and Great Stuff Showcase in Paris to look forward to…
Which date are you particularly looking forward to any why?
Paul: The very first Respekt label night on the beach in Athens will be difficult to top. We had label favourites Sasha Carassi, Axel Karakasis and Tom Hades – a great start to our new venture.
Rich: I can’t wait to play during Sonar for the GU and Intec party alongside Wally Lopez, Kaiserdisco and Phunk Investigation…I’ve been going for the past few years and the vibe is pretty special. We’ve also just been confirmed to play at We Love Sundays at Space in Ibiza in August, which will be our first time at the club. That will also be one to remember for sure!
What other plans do you have for the summer?
Rich: I’m actually moving to Ibiza for a couple of months so it should be a rather interesting summer. We have some awesome new releases coming up on our label and also have Mexico and USA tours in the pipeline.
Buy ‘Guillotine’ from Beatport now