The Villains’ are L.A DJ troupe Mad V and Koncept who have been ripping apart the US party scene and the world’s blog-sphere with killer chart topping remixes and a pure penchant to party!.
1) So your “Bloc Party – Ares” remix has been blowing up everywhere at the moment. How did you guys go about making that track?
It’s actually the second Bloc Party Remix that we have done. The first was we did was of “Hunting for Witches,” and it was overall one of our first remixes. Some time after that, their team told us that Bloc Party was going to be releasing their new album followed by an album of remixes and they would love for us to do one of the tracks. We wanted to make sure to match the intensity of the original while turning it into real heavy banger. We also really liked the contrasts between the heavy and the lighter sections of the original and that’s what we tried to stress in the remix.
2) There’s certainly been a lot of movement with bands and electro producers recently, where do you see the future for this genre of music?
We feel like there’s so much freedom and ability to move through different genres and sample different types of music that there really are no limits to it. Just like in all types of music, it comes down to how creative and original you can get with it.
3) What releases are you guys working on at the moment? What can we expect from the production side of things?
There’s an official Little Boots remix that we have been working on but our focus lately has been on our original music. We have taken a step back from remixes so we can explore and develop our sound. Remixes allow us to take songs that we like and give them the Villains treatment and that’s a ton of fun for us but we really want to grow as artists and turn Villains into the force that we know it’s capable of becoming.
4) What do you see as the main influences in your music production?
We both have really strong roots in music. Both of us, since we were kids have had musical influences all over the board. We listen to everything from Rock to Hip Hop to Drum and Bass to House to Dark 80’s synth music to traditional music from various countries around the world. I think I would have to say our main influence in music hasn’t been a specific genre, just our connection to the art of music itself. Good music is good music no matter what kind.
5) How did you guys come up with name “Villains?”
We have always seen the characters in the movies or books etc., as strong people. They have a goal and they set their mind to getting that job done. They want to rule the world, they’ll do whatever it takes to rule the world and that’s our outlook on the way we live our lives.
7) Have you heard anything about New Zealand? What are you expecting from your New Zealand show?
I’ve heard it’s a beautiful country and we are excited to learn more about it by getting to experience it first hand. The only info we’ve gotten on the parties down there and in Australia is that people go wild so we are definitely looking to come down there and party with you.
8 Have you guys always been involved in music and parties? Where did it all start?
Yea... We have both been into electronic music and parties since we were just some underage teenagers sneaking into raves. Being involved in music has been something we both knew we would do our entire lives, but the involvement in party and DJ culture probably began about the time that we both started going to those massive raves and parties.
9) What’s been your craziest party to date?
Every time we go to San Francisco it goes off. That city parties harder than most other cities and on a consistent basis, too. We definitely feel the craziest parties are yet to come. New Zealand maybe!
