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Issue 68

Monthly newspaper and online publication targeting 18 to 35 year olds. The ultimate guide to the hottest parties, going out and having fun. Music, fashion, film, travel, festivals, technology, comedy, and parties! London, Barcelona, Miami and Ibiza.

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THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TALK- ING TO US, I IMAGINE YOU MUST BE QUITE BUSY AT THE MOMENT WITH QUITE A FEW GIGS AND YOUR FORTHCOMING ALBUM. FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAVEN'T BEEN LUCKY ENOUGH TO SEE YOU PLAY LIVE, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR SETS? YOUR SOUND IS GENERALLY VERY UPBEAT AND SUNNY, BUT DO YOU TAKE IT DEEPER AND DARKER? Adam: We judge it case by case really. When we played at Water- gate in Berlin we were on from 4 til 6am, so you can't really get away with summery, piano, house records - different shows mean different sets every time. Jake: It's good fun as well because we're both into a really broad range of music so we have an op- portunity to showcase some stuff that we're really into but isn't necessarily what people are ex- pecting from us. SO HOW WAS BLONDE BORN? Adam: Well I run a YouTube chan- nel called Eton Messy, and Jake sent me some tracks that he'd been making under a different alias, Thieves. I really loved them supported him on the channel, and then we got chatting on Facebook and we just hit it off re- ally. I started sending him some- stuff I'd been producing and he did a remix. That remix went down a treat so we decided to do a collab project. The track that came out of it was unlike any of our other projects, and the re- sponse was fantastic – that's how Blonde began really. We haven't looked back since. SPEAKING OF THE DJ LIFESTYLE, WHAT'S THE WEIRDEST, STRANG- EST OR FUNNIEST THING TO HAP- PEN WHILST YOU'VE BEEN PLAY- ING? Adam: Well when we were play- ing Bestival the year before last, I went to plug in my phone charger while we were playing and it ex- ploded in my hand! All the sound stopped and the power went down, and everyone just started hooting and booing, and there was smoke coming out! I was having a mini heart attack. Luck- ily they managed to get it going after 5 minutes. Or maybe less, but it felt like more! THAT MUST'VE BEEN A PAINFUL 5 MINUTES! ONTO MORE SERIOUS SUBJECTS, WHAT'S IN STORE FOR YOUR FORTHCOMING ALBUM AND WHEN CAN WE EXPECT IT? Adam: Well, it will be a lot differ- ent from what people will prob- ably be expecting. We didn't want to be stuck to house music in terms of what we've done be- fore, so we've mixed it up with different styles whilst keeping the overall sound. There's a bit of RnB in there, some garage stuff, just all our influences in one al- bum, not just our normal house. And that's really exciting for us - we've got loads of cool upcom- ing acts and a bunch of vocalist features, but we're not really sure when it's dropping. Jake: We've got a lot more sin- gles to put out in the new year and we'll be looking to put out the album when it feels ready I suppose. We're working really hard on making it as good as it can be - we're both quite perfec- tionist, and there's always been a high standard of quality con- trol with what we put out. At the moment we've got a lot of really great songs, but now it's about really refining them into a cohe- sive work. As DJs especially you want to put out an album that re- ally works from start to finish. Adam: We want people to see it as a well put together, well thought-out album, instead of 10 songs that we've shoved togeth- er. I think the album is a dying art form anyway, if you're gonna do it now as opposed to playlists, you- tube channels or mixes, you need to make it work start to finish as an album as opposed to just some songs. Jake: The way that people con- sume music has changed a lot, and that shapes the way good successful albums work, - you can't get away with filler or duds anymore. You want people to put on the whole album. BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE QUITE RE- LUCTANT TO GO AND BUY AN EN- TIRE ALBUM THESE DAYS. Adam: Yeah its a big investment because you can either buy a song for 79p or an album for £15, so why not just buy the 3 singles? You have to make sure that every single song on the album is just as valuable, and that's when you get onto a winner. NOW FOR OUR FINAL FAMOUS GUESTLIST QUESTION... THINK ABOUT YOUR ANSWERS CAREFUL- LY. IF YOU WERE AN ICE CREAM, WHAT FLAVOUR WOULD YOU BE? AND YOU HAVE TO THINK HARD, IT'S NOT JUST YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM FLAVOUR, IT'S ABOUT *WHAT* YOU ARE... Adam: Bubblegum and sunshine! It would be, something fruity, I reckon, maybe like, mango. Jake: Fineapple. Adam: Fineapple? Jake: Like, girl, you so fiiiineapple. Adam: What does fineapple taste like? Jake: I dunno man. Fine. Just fine. Thanks Blonde! INTERVIEW Miriam | guestlist.net BLONDE " All the sound stopped and the power went down, and everyone just started hooting and booing, and there was smoke coming out! I was having a mini heart attack!" follow @Blondesound 7 9 Issue 68 / 2014 HOUSE / TECHNO guestlist.net Comprised of friends Jacob Mansen and Eton Messy founder Adam Englefield, Blonde's upbeat style of pop-house has seen them rocket in popularity this past year. We were lucky enough to catch up with them in a cute coffee shop in Shoreditch.

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