BYT Empire

Brightest Young Things

BYT interviews

Interview: Clicks & Whistles

By Denman September 30, 2011 | 3:30 pm
Please enter your search terms

Interview by Denman

...

In a very short amount of time, the deep and blissy trap meets bass sounds flowing from the minds of Jorge and Petey, known as the unified, Clicks & Whistles, have grabbed the attention of producers and labels throughout the US and beyond. In roughly a year, the duo has worked with Embassy Recordings, T&A Records, AC Slater’s Party Like Us, and Kingom’s own Fade to Mind label. Going from parked to full throttle, the group has also hit the road for a relentless schedule of throwing down at parties across many parts of the country. Having caught my own ear early on, I could not have been more pleased to have been given a few minutes of their precious time to chat about how this ship called Clicks and Whistles was built, and to where it’s set sail.

Denman: What is one song that changed everything for you when you first heard it?

Petey: Hudmo - FUSE for sure

Denman: Jorge?

Jorge: I'd have to go with Dexplicit – Aura, or many of his other grime instrumentals

Denman: How would you each say that these tracks created that paradigmatic shift, and how did that influence what drew you in musically afterwards?

Petey: FUSE has a really strong melody. I love the way it works with the pads in the back-ground. A lot of things clicked for me as a producer after I heard that tune.

Jorge: Well for me the experimental nature of it and other similar grime or dubstep instrumentals made me think quite differently about it compared to what I had been listening to for a while at that point

Denman: So, what tracks do you find yourselves each coming back to over and over again right now, and how does the path between those two points both converge and diverge?

Petey: I think I've listened to Rustie - Ultrathizz around 1,000 times. I'm really in love with his sound. There are quite a few parallels between Ultrathizz and FUSE. Strong melody, sampled swung out drums, futuristic prog patches. Love what these guys are doing.

Jorge: Over the summer we kept going back to certain producers’ tracks for playing out including LDFD, S-X, LOL Boys, and the Pelican Fly crew

Petey: LDFD - Outta Control is a big one.

Denman: S-X blows my mind.

Jorge: Yeah! Love his instrumentals

Denman: How do both sets of songs shape the tracks you are working on right now?

Jorge: It's certainly more of an overall influence, we like the way percussion is used in some tracks while others have bright synths with interesting melodies that we draw from as well

Denman: How long have you been producing as Clicks & Whistles?

Jorge: Just over a year

Petey: We did "when I feel" in august 2010

Denman: Wow. I'd say you've come a long way in a short time. How many tracks did you have to make, finished, released, scrapped, or aborted, before the first that made you both say, "This is it; now this is real," and what track was it?

Jorge: The very first track we made 'When I feel' was actually our first effort together and since it turned out so well we knew we were on to something.

Petey: We got it signed right away to a Party Guy Records comp.

Denman: That's pretty exceptional, and explains a lot. So, what's the first thing you always do when actually beginning to write a track?

Petey: They usually start out with me just fiddling on a keyboard.

Denman: Finding a synth line that grabs your ear?

Jorge: Yeah we try to find a hook a lot first when writing a track

Petey: An interesting sound or cool chord progression. We build the loop up as big as it will go, then break it down and sequence. Go back over it and add drop outs and builds and effects and such.

Denman: What programs do you use, and what does your set-up look like?

Petey: We use Ableton live.

Jorge: I have an M-audio axiom 49 midi keyboard, a 24" inch display, and my Rokit-8s for studio monitors

Petey: We both have the same monitors, it helps a lot when trading demos over email.

Jorge: That, we both work with, but Petey also has his own setup with his own Rokit-8s

Petey: Basically just Ableton and a midi controller; no hardware.

Denman: Very nice. Was Cranberry Goose, on Embassy Recordings, your first "big" release?

Jorge: It was our first release that went vinyl as well, so yes we would consider it very big for us

Denman: I love Radiator, by the way. You also have a release coming up on T&A Records, and you're working with Kingdom's Fade to Mind label as well, yes? How is all that looking?

Petey: "Neva Get Caught" and "Raw Passion" are finally being released on T&A. We are releasing "No More" on Fade to Mind at some point in the future. We are also working on our follow up EP on Embassy as well.

Denman: Do you know what that's going to be?

Jorge: We have most of the EP fleshed out already yes, but not completed yet

Petey: Serious Bidness and Moment of Truth will be on the Embassy release

Denman: I listened to Serious Bidness almost every day for a month.

Petey: Big tune!!

Jorge: Hah, awesome!

Denman: You're probably a new a name to a lot of people, for obvious reasons. How would you describe your sound?

Jorge: As a bunch of Clicks & Whistles, of course

Denman: Haha, perfect. What artists do you feel are peers, based on what you do and how you sound?

Petey: Myrryrs, LDFD, Lucid, Sines

Jorge: I'd have to add Subvader to that list as well As well as Richelle.

Denman: What do you normally play when you're out, and how do people normally react to your tracks?

Jorge: I think they react pretty well, but we like to play to the crowd and the slot. Sometimes we're headlining and other times we're opening so that plays a huge role in what kind of vibe we want for a show.

We've had to play at various energy levels for quite a few shows because of that.
It's also reflected in some of our tracks, like Raw Passion or When I Feel, when we want to get deeper

Petey: I think Jorge covered everything

Denman: Do you feel that your music is more amiable to UK ears, or is that just a poor assumption on my part?

Petey: Our sound actually goes over really well in the south, in places like Atlanta and Birmingham.

Denman: What's going on in those places?

Jorge: We've received a lot of US based support, producer wise as well
Some of our tracks have southern rap elements to them and that's huge in those cities.

Denman: Based on the peer group you listed earlier, is there any particular umbrella you feel your sound falls under?

Jorge: Well that's hard to say really, but dubstep would probably be the best umbrella to put it under, but it's quite a huge umbrella

Denman: Haha, I'd say.

Jorge: I feel better saying that than making up a genre name!

Petey: A lot of people try to pigeon hole us into the 'trap' sound, but that is really just an aspect of our sound.

Denman: So, somewhere in the progressive end of the bass spectrum then?

Jorge: Something like that. I think we're all waiting to see how it unfolds

Denman: You just put out an official remix of AC [Slater] and Dell's, "Right Now," on an EP with, ironically, a laundry list of my favorite producers currently. How did that come about, and do you feel that says anything about where musical trends are heading?

Petey: AC contacted us directly, and of course we went for it. It was a big remix for us!

Jorge: As for musical trends, we're not sure really where it's all headed but it's a nice sign of support for our sound.

Denman: I just thought it was interesting that a label like, Party Like Us, who obviously go for floor burning music, chose to put Roska, Talk, Lunice, and you on a big remix record.

Jorge: Yeah it's pretty interesting to see it happen but I'm all for it, we love the rest of the artists on the remix EP

Denman: That EP is astoundingly solid. So, you're finally coming to Washington, DC and playing at U Street Music hall, on Oct 1st, with Depressed Buttons and myself. What do you think you'll be bringing to the tables for that one?

Petey: We have a few new tunes to play, and lot of unreleased material from our friends.

Jorge: Can't wait to play on that sound system at Uhall, and hopefully the crowd's into it as well

Denman: Any names you'd care to drop?

Petey: You'll just have to train spot us at the club, Denman.

Denman: You know I'll be doing that if I can stand still long enough.

Well gents, thanks so much for your time. I really do think you're making some of the best tracks out there right now, and I cannot wait to see what the future holds. Anything you'd like to add in closing, relevant, or irreverent?

Petey: Thanks for taking the time out to interview us!

Jorge: We're really looking forward to playing at UHall, and playing a lot of our unreleased tracks on that system!

Denman: I'm looking forward to that too.

Jorge: Thanks again for the interview!

...

Clicks & Whistles will be at U Street Music Hall, in Washington, DC, on Saturday October 1st, along with Depressed Buttons and DENMAN. Entry is $10, and doors are at 10:00PM. Ages 18-20 entry by advance ticket only. For more information, visit: httPetey://www.ustreetmusichall.com/

Clicks & Whistles

  • http://soundcloud.com/clicksandwhistles
  • http://www.facebook.com/clicksnwhistles

DENMAN

  • http://www.facebook.com/DENMAN138
  • http://errorvizion.com/

U Street Music Hall

  • http://www.ustreetmusichall.com/

Previously in BYT interviews:

God loves a cheerful giver.

COMMENTS (0)

  • So Sweet
  • Report
Add a comment

Comment

God loves a cheerful giver.-- 2 Corinthians 9:7

About this Article