FREAKFUNK
Philip, tell us about Freakfunk’s background… ”It’s myself Philip Byrne and Brendan Crowe; I started making music as a hobby when I was fifteen. I started by playing the piano and then I got a PC and started programming. Then I met Brendan by chance on a bus on our way to a Prodigy concert; he was experimenting with making dance music so we hooked up from there. We’ve been making music for about six years, developing our own sound.” |
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You mentioned The Prodigy; what other acts influence your music?
”Our influences these days aren’t from dance music, they’re very broad. I used to be into acts like the Chemicals and Prodigy, but through living with different people I’ve broadened my tastes, taking in rock, dub, chill out and drum’n’bass. We draw our inspiration from everywhere; anything from Jeff Buckley to The Stone Roses and Fatboy Slim.”
On the subject of Norman Cook, some of your material has been compared to Fatboy Slim…
”We don’t try and tie ourselves down to one style, but if you find a good loop, a good break then go with it. We like to use a lot of hooks, our music definitely isn’t underground material, it’s structured in a more traditional song style. We both come from musical families, so we’re used to listening to more song-based music, it’s just that dance music is our preferred outlet for making music with. Anyway, with technology it’s much easier to get a track together in your bedroom nowadays, you don’t need to hire a forty piece orchestra!”
How come you entered Sonarstate?
”I saw the posters and it attracted my attention. It seemed like an ideal outlet for dance music seeing as there isn’t a huge infrastructure in Ireland. It’s a unique opportunity really, it’s the first thing that gives bedroom producers a chance. There’s only a few labels and a limited amount of clubs and they’re run by the same people who’ve been doing it for the last seven or eight years and you get to know everyone involved in the scene. It’s great to be treated like a proper act for once as opposed to a bedroom nerd.”
What did you think of the standard of the entrants?
”I was surprised by the quality. I knew a lot of people were producing, but the submissions to Sonarstate were really diverse, everything from really dark techno to drum’n’bass, break beat, house and trance. Basically, all the styles are there and there’s quite a few people who entered I’d like to collaborate with.”
Are you looking forward to playing at the final?
”Of course! We’ve been playing live for the last five years, so playing live doesn’t scare us; mind you, we know it’s probably the most important gig we’ll ever do! There’s so much riding on it, it could change your life.”
So you’d be pretty happy if you won?
”No, I’d be chronically depressed! It’s a dream combination of a record deal, playing at festivals and all the exposure you’d get. Winning would be amazing, in fact it’s the dream really, to get paid for doing something you love. It’s an ideal situation, not to have to do a day job!”
