HEAVYFEET ARE CAUSING QUITE A STIR ON THE SCENE AT THE MOMENT WITH A STRING OF HOT PRODUCTIONS AND REMIXES. WE CAUGHT UP WITH THE MANCHESTER DUO TO FIND OUT WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN UP TO

Hi Guys, thanks for taking the time do this interview. Let’s start at the beginning, Please introduce yourselves?

We’re HeavyFeet, two Manchester based purveyors of all things wobbly, fidgety and beastly! Made up of post-production extraordinaire Mike Burgess, and wizard DJ James Medina, we meet in the middle on the music production front.

How did you get into music and then into DJ-ing?

Mike: I’ve played various instruments since I was 7 years old, grew up on a variety of music styles, finding an interest in Electronic Dance Music when I was about 13, acquiring decks around the same age, as most kids do.

James: I remember listening to my parents’ music as a kid and always being fascinated by the songs without lyrics, so the progression to dance music was almost inevitable. From then it grew into clubbing and DJing as a teenager, and not chucking my decks because I hadn’t made a living out of it within two years like many do!

Who did you take inspiration and influence from when you started out and who inspires you today?

Mike: I’ve been influenced production-wise by a pretty wide range of studio geniuses, from Trevor Horn, to Stuart Price, to LA Reid. Musically, these days anything from Liquid D’n’B, to West Coast House, to UK 2 Step.

James: I have a bit of a soft spot for old Motown and Disco… and Happy Hardcore. I can’t think of anyone specific from back then because my memory’s so crap! Nowadays it’s very similar to what Mike listens to with the addition of some techno, a lot of solo pop artists and, increasingly, dubstep. Basically, it’s great that we can draw influence from so many angles with the way that the UK music scene has evolved over the last 10 years, constantly amalgamating different genres and pushing things forward.

You’ve just recently done a bootleg of a Kanye West song, Tell me a bit about that and the reaction it has got?

Mike: The Kanye boot was something I wanted to do after hearing it (Goodlife) on Entourage (US TV series), which we’re both big fans of watching when we’re not in the studio. It screamed ‘remix me’ to us, and we did the whole thing in an afternoon. It’s had some really heavy support from some heavy players on the scene over the last few months, especially from the main man Micky Slim, who’s been smashing it.
James: The fact that we put it up for free download also means everyone can grab a copy no matter what. The reactions have been so great we put a new bootleg of Timbaland’s ‘Give It To Me’ went up on our MySpace a couple of weeks back, as a bit of a ‘thanks for the support’ thing from the Kanye one! The free download thing is definitely something we’re going to continue with.

What have you been up to in the studio recently?

We’re remixing tracks for about ten different labels at the moment! Also working on two new EPs which we’re sure you’ll be seeing dropping on some rather credible labels in the not too distant future!

What labels will you new tunes be coming out on?

You can expect to see releases dropping on, Potty Mouth Music, Fat! Records, Bad Advice Inc., Fakt Recordings, Junky Trunk Records, Bomb Squad Records, Splank Records, and several more that we’ve been asked to keep hush hush about for the time being! Watch this (My) Space…

What software/hardware do you use for your productions and remixes and how would you describe your sound in 2008 (both as DJs and a producers)?

Mike: Sequencer-wise, we use Ableton Live for pretty much all compositional aspects of our production at present. We’re not massive fans of soft-synths, so 90% of the sounds you hear in HeavyFeet tracks come off hardware units. We’re currently rinsing a Moog Little Phatty and a Access Virus Classic in a lot of our work. As for the sound, we’re simply trying to tie as many influences as possible into our music; quite how this ends up is always going to vary from track to track!

James: The HeavyFeet DJ sound consists of everything from Chicago and Jackin’ house, through to fidgety beats and big basslines, with some rather monstrous party tunes and a selection of that Electro-tinged Rave-type stuff that’s coming out of London at the moment. Whilst, for the most part, DJ sets are completed using trusty CDJs, we are going to be incorporating FX units and other little toys to make for a more interesting dual performance form the two of us very soon, as well as experimenting with some live MCs and a turntablist!

Moving away from your own production which artists feature in your DJ sets the most at the moment?

James: Anything Chicago and bumping, on a DJ Sneak or Phil Weeks tip, lots of The Bulgarian’s and Herve’s tracks, some of the more fidgety electro-house beats from the likes of Twocker and that boy Slim. Also anything Mowgli, Jaymo or Andy George and a lot of Dutch tracks too, like those from Bart B More, Benny Royal and Rene Van Munster.
Mike: Whilst I don’t get too entwined with the DJ-ing side of HeavyFeet, I will always get James to play some silly classics, or an unfinished bootleg we’ve been working on when we’re at a club together. Also, you can never go wrong with a bit of Trevor Loveys or Justin Martin in my eyes!

I hear you guys just did a big guest mix on Kiss FM. How did that go and will you be doing anymore in the future?

Haha, yeah our mix for the Loose Cannons went really well actually. You can check it on our MySpace, we just uploaded it for folks to download/listen again. We’re going to be back on the show sometime in the summer, as part of a Bomb Squad special that’s being talked about at the moment. Keep your eyes and ears open for that one, will be even heavier than the last show, no doubt!

A quick look at your diary for the next couple of months sees gigs all over the UK. Which ones are you looking forward to and where would be your ideal place to play?

We look forward to every gig! As it stands we’re just happy to be going out and letting people experience what we think is one of the most refreshing sounds around. We also watched Fatboy Slim’s DVD of his Brazilian tour the other day; it’d certainly be pretty f**king cool to go and play to 360,000 people on the beach in Rio De Janeiro at some stage…

If I had never heard of you guys before, how would you describe Heavyfeet and what sets yourself apart from other DJ’s?

James: A right mash-up of all things house, breaks and techno with some massive bass! I’m not one of those DJ’s that turns up to a gig and plays the same records no matter what time slot I have, so you’re always going to get something different from HeavyFeet. It’s also nice to try and put that party atmosphere back into a club by playing tracks that everyone can enjoy, something that seemed to disappear for a while a few years back, also hence our clubber friendly all-accessible bootlegs!

Finally, do you have any surprises up your sleeve for the rest of 2008?

Yeah, several! But if we told you they’d no longer be surprises when you hear about them! Keep your eye on our MySpace page for details, http://www.myspace.com/heavyfeet