The Dirty Disco Featured On CMU Daily

The Dirty Disco are an electro-rock group based in London, comprised of Adam Boy, 'Big' Kyle Mackenzie, Olly Dexter, Andrew Ignatius and 'Little' Kyle Langley. The band released their debut single 'Sista' at the end of last year, which reached number 21 in the iTunes Dance Chart. The band have garnered support from the likes of 6music's Tom Robinson and BBC South Live's Phil Jackson, and have had tracks including 'Sista' and 'White Room' mixed by Grammy Award winning mixing engineer Dylan '3D' Dresdow. Releasing their second single 'White Room' on 23 Aug, we caught up with 'Big' Kyle to find out more.

Q1 How did you start out making music?
My interest in music started when I was eight years of age when I began (was forced) to play the violin. It was around the age of eleven that I first began producing my own compositions using and old four-track recorder a synth and a drum machine. I was in a couple of bands playing bass and guitar around this time; but my interests became more geared towards the electronic production with the purchase of my first computer around the age of twelve. Initially I used whatever software I could get demos of with magazines, tending to produce the beats on the computer, output them to the four track and then overdub synth parts. From there I generally began to use the computer more and more, realising the endless possibilities of sounds and compositions attainable.

Q2 What inspired your latest album?
Individual tracks tend to be inspired by our lead singer Adam's own experiences but the initial inspiration for our (yet to be released) debut was circumstantial more than anything. While out on many messy nights we found our local music scene to be packed with pretentious, self-important shoe gazing indie. Our inspiration was our desire to create something different, something fresh and theatrical.

Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
When approaching a Dirty Disco track we work in the opposite way to most bands. It either starts with Adam having a vocal melody and singing it in my ear or us sitting down at the computer with an idea in mind of what we are aiming for. Because Adam and I are the producers we tend to get a rough idea of the track down before the other guys do their thing. We program pretty minimal drums and then "little" Kyle takes a click track to his midi kit and plays over it. We produce all in house and go to rehearsals with the tracks all ready written. It's not a conventional approach, but it works for us.

Q4 Which artists influence your work?
Between all five members of the Dirty Disco the entire spectrum of music is encompassed. Prior to the start of the band I was a techno/IDM/drum n bass producer with a passion for writing string scores, Adam was a solo artist with a pop overtone, Andrew and Olly were in metal bands and "little" Kyle played a range of rock and funk. I would be here all day if I was to list all of our collective influences but I think the clearest influences in our music would include David Bowie, Prince, Depeche Mode, Gary Numan, The Knife etc.

Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Keep an open mind and enjoy!

Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
We're still a relatively young band with only our second single being released in August. I think our main ambition is to get the album out to the fans! We're luck enough to have fans that have supported us from the first listen and we just want to make sure the album is perfect! In terms of the future, many more albums, writing/producing for other bands and bringing our live show to a bigger audience; On stage is when we really come to life!