Fusing techno, house, and disco with plenty of soul, Leeds duo Death On The Balcony has been catching the right ears as of late.
Along with labels like Pets Recordings, Holic Trax, and Akbal Music, Mark Caramelli and Paul Hargreaves most recently caught the attention of D-Edge owner Renato Ratier, who released the duo's 'One Time Too Much' on EP on D-Edge Records,' an EP chock full of emotion that speaks volumes about their musical experience and knowledge.
Behind the decks, they're equally ambitious, cutting through shades of dark and light, melodic and deep, all the while capturing that soulfull essence that makes them, them. This has lead to a steady diary of gigs in their native UK, as well as South America, Barcelona, Berlin, and even Turkey.
We caught up with Mark and Paul via email to find out a bit more about who they are, their feelings on the upcoming holiday season, and what's next, and they provided a Fresh Blood mix, which you can download below.
For people who don’t already know you, can you tell us a little about yourself? We are Paul & Mark, a duo producing and DJing within the electronic realms of music together since around 2006, both initially from the same hometown of Blackpool in the North of England, but met in Leeds. You can find releases from us on labels like SUOL, Pets Recordings, Dirt Crew, D-Edge Records, Holic to name a few. We share a love of all things house and techno with a splash of disco – also, a love of all things ‘80s, warm brews and a penchant for Rich Tea biscuits.
How did you get into electronic music, and who were some of your early inspirations? Inspirations for us range from NYC disco scene in ‘70s/’80s and the Paradise Garage, and Larry Levan and David Mancuso’s Loft, through to Ron Hardy’s Muzic Box and all the Chicago House sounds heard there. Larry Heard has always been one to us that stands out but when you start naming names you have to name them all!
Also, the sounds of the UK such as the new wave/electronic-pop scene, the Blitz sound, Visage, Depeche Mode, etc., into early ‘90s music like Beloved, Portishead, etc., then obviously into acid house with the Hacienda sounds and also older labels like Strictly Rhythm, Cajual, Hard Times with Todd Terry, Cajmere, Masters At Work...
There is also a great wealth of European electronic music that needs mentioning like Kraftwerk and ‘80s Italo disco. Also ‘70s and ‘80s soul music like Rose Royce and the more popular choices like Prince – but a popular choice for a reason! Soundtracks and scores have also always had a big influence on us personally, and our style as another point of inspiration! This has only really scratched the surface…
With the year drawing to a close, how would you say 2014 has been? As an artist you can be your own worst critic, and potentially, this is one of the reasons that drives you on to improve and acts as a motivation. We have been very happy with certain aspects of 2014 and also some that can definitely be improved. We are very happy to have been involved with releasing music on labels like Suol and Dirt Crew this year. We were really happy with how our EP on Disko went, too.
We’re also looking forward to seeing some of the music come out that we have signed to some labels for 2015! We have been very selective with who we are putting originals out with, so we’re very happy to be working with these labels. A valuable lesson from this year that has really sunk in is that patience is most definitely a virtue!
You’ll be playing the Christmas Special at Egg London next month with some serious names, including Nicole Moudaber and Tobi Neumann. What have you got in store, and are you big fans of the holiday season? Yes we are very much looking forward to that. Other than that we have a few parties on ourselves in London one at our favourite pub rave, Horse & Groom, and the other a Vice&Virtue party for 100 people – also a trip to Bulgaria.
I wouldn’t say we are Christmas crazy by any means, nor religious. Christmas, like most other festivals, has been diluted into an annual consumer madness groundhog day to the sound of Slade with big business and moneymaking, kind of like Scrooge, but without the redemption at the end. Somehow the original message was lost… but we do love a chocolate orange still don’t we.
For us, the positive message that can be taken from it is simple. Time spent with the family & loved ones, catching up with old friends, time for reflecting...
What’s been the most satisfying moment of your career thus far? Not sure there is that one seminal moment beyond all the others. When we get to travel places for gigs or people who you don’t know on the other side of the world contact you to say they are enjoying what you have done, those are the moments you remember.
Obviously you want to see your music doing well and get support, be on the radio and whatnot, but the simple fact that you connected with someone, somewhere reassures and drives us to keep doing this everyday.
You’ve released on labels like Suol, Dirt Crew, and most recently, Renato Ratier’s D-Edge. Where else would you ideally like to see your tracks released? As we touched upon earlier, we have been being very selective who we are contacting with original material recently. We want to make it count and make sure it’s heard via the right platform. We want to release with people who we respect and are supporters of their sound. A release on Ostgut Ton (Panorama Bar series) would be nice! Also Rush Hour, Delusions of Grandeur and Permanent Vacation are releasing consistently great stuff.
There are many more than that who we also value but we would be here all day listing them if we continued! We would also like to release again with our existing label connections. As much as we will be looking to do stuff with new labels we will want to build something with them too.
Can you tell us about how you approached the exclusive mix you’ve provided us? These mixes really build themselves. It’s a selection of tracks we love, old and new, that have either been doing it for us when we play out or that we have just pulled back out to start playing again.
What’s next on your horizon? Next up is a remix of Asadinho’s ‘Love Capacity’ on RVS music. Then next year we have something on Exploited’s Black Jukebox series and some stuff coming on Lee Burridge’s All Day I Dream and San Fran’s Smoke N’ Mirrors imprint, too.
Also, we will be releasing a second mixed artist EP on our label Vice&Virtue where we have done a collaboration with NUDES. Other artists involved are Bearight, Stassy & Wilck, Remi Mazet and Picture House. All being well it should be out on vinyl in February or March time.
Other than that just continuing with our gigs and travels – we will be going to Brazil in February to play D-Edge and Warung plus a few more to be announced as part of a tour, so we are very much looking forward to that! A few festivals have come in already so will be glad to be back at Hideout, and also another one in Southport. We will also be continuing our series of A Tale of Vice&Virtue parties. We have some other stuff in the pipeline for the studio, and a few collaborations with other artists on the horizon, which we hope will come together next year.
All to be written yet but will be very interesting if it comes together!
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