2ManyDJs (Interview)

by Rob Pearson on 8.11.09


2manydjs…. well, what can you say about 2manydjs. They are the absolute epitome of the indie-dance crossover scene, in fact, they pretty much invented it! When the Belgian brothers Stephen and David Dewaele first started touring with their four-piece band Soulwax electro rock didn’t even exist, their style was alternative rock, some say post-grunge. Although trying to pigeonhole Soulwax into a specific subgenre is not advisable.

But when their two-part single ‘Too Many DJs’ was released in 1999 from their previous album ‘Much Against Everyone’s Advice’ something had changed. Backing up the main track on the second release was another song called ‘Pop Life’ which contained elements of electronic music, and even more progressive was the cover of T-Rex’s ‘Children of the Revolution’ which was completely electronic.

When ‘Any Minute Now’ was released in 2004 their post-punk style had changed into a new blend of rock with elements of electronic music, and when they remixed their own album under the name ‘Nite Versions’ the following year their transformation was complete. Some considered it a joke, a fad, maybe a sub genre too far. But as the tours continued the world slowly opened their minds to a possible new direction of indie music, a direction that over the next 5 years virtually every major band would follow.
…’Nite Versions’ changed everything.

So where did the DJ element come from? Well, as they explain in their DVD documentary ‘Part of the Weekend Never Dies’ (which I recommend to everybody) the DJ’ing came from the sheer boredom of hanging around after playing their Soulwax gigs. The duo would cruise the clubs and ask the DJ behind the turntables if they could spin some tunes. Their eclectic taste caught on with the public and hey presto, 2manydjs were born.

They released their mix CD ‘As Heard on Radio Soulwax Vol 2’ (the only official release) after months of negotiations and arguments with record labels. In order to get clearance for the tracks they used in the mix they had to sacrifice all the profits of the CD’s sales in order to pay the royalties to the artists. To this day they have only made a small amount of money on what is arguably the most pioneering mix CD of all time.

Their countless radio mixes and mash-ups soon became as popular as the band and eventually they went on tour as the DJ duo. When the ‘Nite Versions’ album was released under the name of Soulwax the brothers were faced with a big decision, to tour with the band or to move into DJ’ing and remixing. Their solution: Do both. Radio Soulwax was born. Everything fell into place, the band would play as Soulwax remixing itself under the name Nite Versions, and then at the end of the night the brothers would rock the venue as 2manydjs, playing tracks that inspired them as a band together with their own remixes of other people’s music. This hybrid of rock, electronic music, remixing, and DJ’ing would change popular music forever, it would finally bridge the ever decreasing gap between guitars and synthesisers.

We arranged to meet the brothers at their next visit in Manchester, it would be at Sankeys of course, but it would be a flying visit for them as they were actually travelling between both V Festivals overnight. They would be travelling back from Homelands in Holland, playing at Hylands Park at 8pm and then travel north to Sankeys to play at 3am. Then they would be travelling back south again to Weston Park in Staffordshire to play the following night at V.

4Q: Most bands would find it difficult to play at both and travel between, you’ve decided to do a gig in between at Sankeys, are you guys workaholics?
David: “We’re addicted to money and we’re trying to kick the habit but tonight we had a big relapse.”

Stephen: “Sankeys is amazing, the crowd is really cool.”

David: “Yeah, amazing”

4Q: Is that what keeps you going? The crowd?

Stephen: “Yeah, I mean whenever we play here people go really nuts”
It was shortly after 5’o’clock in the morning when we eventually got to talk to them. Our original plan was to meet them before their set, but the duo got stuck in traffic during their 200+ mile journey north and arrived just ten minutes before they scheduled to go on. For most of their set we stood and wondered whether we would get an interview before they were due to leave for Staffordshire. The call eventually came from the owner of Sankeys, David Vincent, a 15 minute slot straight after the gig, he would personally escort the brothers through the club to meet us (thank you Mr Vincent). They appeared in the beach club after their set, their faces drained, their bodies weary, but despite their exhaustion they seemed elated to be back in Manchester.

4Q: Are you impressed with the club now after the changes?

David: “We played here over Christmas…”

David Vincent (owner): “Yeah we’ve changed it again, the club”

Stephen: “Yeah because now you have the LED wall, it’s pretty cool. Next time we come back they’ll have a swimming pool and they’ll be having pool parties. You’ve got the beach, I mean we’re ‘this’ far from Ibiza man! (laughs)… Foam, dancers, and we’re there!”

“The reason why this club is special is I think the people who come here are used to partying hard… and also you can play loud here.”

4Q: Compared to other cities you played in around the world is there a big difference with Manchester?

David: “Oddly enough Manchester is comparable to Spain, where you can play late, loud, and hard”

Stephen: “Yeah, you could compare this with Valencia or Madrid… dirty”

David: “Also it’s working class, it’s nice not be playing for VIP’s”

Stephen: “Yeah, these are all kids who want to go crazy”

4Q: You play as 2manydjs, you play as Soulwax, you remix your own tracks, and you remix other people’s tracks. Do you ever get time for sleep?

Stephen: “Well I have to say today I was feeling tired because yesterday we played in Holland, and then we went straight to V festival, and then we drove here, and then tomorrow we’re doing the other V festival, I have to say I’m starting to become a little bit tired. A bed would be amazing right now. But the good thing is playing for crowds like this, it really makes it good, I know it sounds cheesy and a lot of people say it but you can try new things and it’s a really good crowd to play here. On the other hand a lot of our friends say that we’re crazy and we probably are, we’ve been doing this for about 8 or 9 years now.”

4Q: Music seems to be your whole life. If you didn’t do this what would you do?

David: “Maybe poetry… and textiles, two things we’re really into”

Stephen: “Yeah poetry and textiles… and mime” (laughs)
As the sun came up and we prepared for a quick photo shoot we decided to wrap up the interview and let the guys have a rest. We were incredibly grateful that the duo had found time in their busy schedule to visit Manchester, however it seems the brothers may have had an ulterior motive for travelling up north…shopping for records.

Stephen: “I have to say one thing about Manchester, it’s a pretty amazing town, and it’s a shame that it’s Sunday tomorrow because I wanted to go to Piccadilly Records, and it’s closed Sunday…”

David Vincent (owner): “Is it closed? Well there’s another one you might like, what about Vinyl Exchange?

Stephen: “Yeah but Piccadilly is pretty amazing, and I have to say I think places like Piccadilly Records are becoming rare, there’s a couple in the world and I think Manchester has one of the best ones in the UK now… they have a lot of cool stuff, and whenever you’re there you always find really good things, and I’m really, really, fond of towns with good record stores.”

4Q: I’m sure we could probably get in touch with the owner of Piccadilly Records and say ‘could you please open for us’ (laughs).

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