Interview: Amine Edge & DANCE talk founding G-house
G-House's inception was much like a Reece's Peanut Butter Cup: Gangster rap is good, house is good, so let's get that shit together. The resulting relationship hasn't been as picture perfect, though. Since French producers and CUFF label founders Amine Edge & Dance first experimented with the sound in 2012, the output has been wildly unpredictable: Unknown producers snap up a '90s rap sample, lay it over a syncopated beat with heavy snares and wait for the gigs to roll in.For a piece called "How To Talk To Your Kids About G-House" for Insomniac.com, I talked to the duo about how they've been so successful with a sound that has yet to lay the path for any sustainable future. Their answer: G-House producers have to have a strong passion for both house and rap genres or you're a fraud. Eazy E might have called you a studio gangster, ironic now in this context. So, basically, if you love Derrick Carter as much as you love Dr. Dre, you've got a good head start.Here's our full conversation. G's up.BTC: You guys have been largely credited with founding the gangster house sound.AE&D: Yes, we created this style of music two years ago but now we don’t control the success anymore as it’s become a massive movement.What's the story behind CUFF? At what point did you decide this sound warranted its own label?AE&D: At the beginning, the idea of CUFF was like our secret Pandora's box. About 90% of the tracks we play are unreleased and people go crazy for them and want to know what they are, so we created this label at the beginning to sign [those] tracks. But now it's a mini empire and we’re selling out 3,000 capacity events in the UK, USA, Brazil, France etc...Where is G-house's place in the dance music spectrum? As producers of this particular sound, do you have a hard time trying to fit into the glitz and sparkle of EDM? AE&D: G-House has its place, but it’s hard for us to keep this shit real when all the others kill the image of it. To be honest we never wanted to promote this genre at all; too much exposure can kill a genre, so we don't want the success of EDM even if it’s massive.Do you think there are a lot of fakesters in the genre?AE&D: G-House now is a kind of fashion, unfortunately. Authentic G-House can be only made by producers who have a passion for hip-hop culture and a strong house background. Unfortunately 90% of the producers who pretend to do G-House have neither of these, so most of them are crap and this genre is not respected by the underground scene.Take me back to what's so far been your BEST gig. What was good about it? Have you had any particularly challenging gigs where the patrons maybe didn't "get it"?AE&D: When you have 200 gigs a year it’s impossible to remember them all, but a recent gig at Orlando for EDC was very cool. Initially not a lot of people knew us, but we came with fresh tracks and a good mood - it was a blast! Now our fanbase in Orlando has exploded which is very cool. It’s like this in almost all cities we play; we arrive unknown and we leave with thousands of fans, how amazing is that?In terms of bad gigs, of course we have some, it happens. Recently we played in a club that is in the DJ Mag Top 100 Clubs list, so we were happy to play there. The crowd was sick but the sound-system in the DJ booth was missing bass, so imagine playing in a club with a filter on with no low frequency! It’s like playing with iPhone sound, which was horrible for us because all we play is bass shit.What song do you absolutely want to sample from but is too risky, legally? (Frank Ocean was pretty bold)AE&D : We try to not sample anymore, but the most risky tracks to sample are the tracks that go to number one on the Billboard chart. It's not that interesting at all to do it -- it's too easy. Yes Frank Ocean was risky but we did it!Where do you think this sound will be in 5 years? AE&D : We have no idea and we don't give a shit. Our music evolves constantly, so in 5 years our music will be completely different and we're pretty certain and happy about that. Change is exciting; DJs who build a career with one track and keep doing the same track sucks. We like to keep things completely different.Any upcoming projects?AE&D : A new album ! ;)[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/57010802" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450" iframe="true" /]Tour schedule:
APRIL '15
Thursday 2nd - Coda, Toronto, Canada
Friday 3rd - Celebrities, Vancouver, Canada
Saturday 4th - Pacha, New York, US
Monday 20th - Green Valley, Camboriu, Brazil
Saturday 25th - Up Club, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Saturday 25th - XXXperience Festival, Curitiba, Brazil
Monday 27th - Kingsday Open Air, Naritaweg, Amsterdam, Netherlands
MAY '15
Sunday 3rd - Glas, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Sunday 3rd - Mission, Leeds, United Kingdom
Friday 22nd - Sizzle Night Club, Zante, Greece
Saturday 23rd - Outbreak Festival (CUFF stage), Castle Donington, UK
Saturday 23rd - Pacha Festival, Jana Eiland, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Saturday 30th - S2S Festival, Northern Lights, Newcastle, UK
Saturday 30th - CUFF @ Switch, Southampton, UK
Sunday 31st - We Are FSTV, Upminster, UK
JUNE '15
Saturday 27th - Lost City Weekender Festival, Pontins, Southport, UK
Saturday 27th - The North Pier, Blackpool UK
Monday 29th - Hideout Festival, Zcre Beach, Croatia
JULY '15
Saturday 18th - Fontwell Racecourse, Chichester, UK