The Plump DJs, Lee Rous and Andy Gardner, once again took Taipei by storm as they performed a fantastic set at Luxy last Saturday. With seamless mixing techniques, the Plumps demonstrated an excellent example of what “two DJs on four decks” should be all about. Their animated body language and constant interaction with the crowd kept the energy level so high that the go-go dancers on stage somehow felt unnecessary and even a bit awkward.
The Vinyl Word caught up with both Lee and Andy before the gig to chat about their new album Headthrash, making music, deejaying and more.
Vinyl Word: Do you have a personal favorite on your new album?
Lee Rous: It keeps changing. We listen to them quite a lot on tour and we play them all the time so you become very bored of certain tracks … Stanton Warriors just remixed Changing Gears for us, which is brilliant.
AG: It’s definitely one of our favorites.
VW: When you make a track, do you have any rituals?
LR: We used to test the music by listening to it when we we’re drunk. So we’d make it, and get drunk, then we’d listen to it again at four in the morning. [Laughs.] Now we just trust our own ears so we don’t need to do that.
VW: Do you like to dance?
LR: Yeah, we love to dance! Unfortunately we don’t look as good as we used to so we only dance in private now. [Laughs.]
VW: If you could’ve done the musical score of any movie that’s existed, what would it be?
LR: Probably Blade Runner, love the film and the music of Vangelis. The whole thing has a really powerful vibe and I’d love to have been involved in that.
AG: Probably Requiem for a Dream.
VW: What’s your favorite kind of venue to play?
AG: We’ve done loads and loads of festivals, especially in the UK over the summer. Now it’s nice to go back to some small clubs. And the contrast is really good.
LR: The joy in every venue is totally different. We’ve had a great break this year with gigs, playing main-room in Ibiza’s Space for the first time, playing main-room at Zouk [in Singapore] for the first time. These breaks are really important for us even though the venue might be used to a different style of music.
VW: Do usually plan out the set before you play?
AG: No. We have a couple of tracks that work together but the direction depends on what the crowds are responding to.
VW: Do you play CDs or vinyl?
AG: Just CDs now.
LR: We are mixing with four decks. We’ve set things up a little bit this year, which has been working really well. We’ve burned loads of soundscapes and effects, combining them mixed in with effects and accompanying sounds, so it gives the old set a kind of new unique dimension.
VW: Would you prefer playing on turntables?
LR: Definitely, if they didn’t jump. ... The biggest problem with vinyl is that we make a lot of the music we play in the set. To cut everything to acetate would be very expensive.
VW: Do you ever think about using Ableton Live?
AG: Not really, because there’s two of us. Also, I think it’s a little bit boring to watch.
LR: When you’re dealing with a crowd in a big venue, there’s big things happening, drinks being spilled, people shouting, trying to focus on a tiny bit of writing on the screen and trying to focus on the room again, it’s just too … When you can look at a CD with big writing, you can slap a CD in, a bit like the way you used to play records. It’s much more hands-on, track-by-track in a clearer way.
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