Clubs

Tuesday February 21 2006 was a very good day for Layo Paskin. ‘Time Out came out and that was fucking great news [The End was voted Best Club in Time Out’s Live Awards], Matthew [Bushwacka!] and I had a great day in the studio and then Arsenal beat Real Madrid.’ The duo, like so many DJs, are ‘massive’ Arsenal fans. ‘I was saying to my Dad all I needed to do was kiss Scarlett Johannsen and my happiness would be complete!’ Feature continues

It’s already clear that 2006 would be a good year for Layo and Bushwacka!. Their third album, the rather wonderful ‘Feels Closer’, was released, and they celebrated the release by relaunching their monthly party at The End. ‘All Night Long has run for three years and we never do things forever,’ says Layo. They named the night after their new label, Olmeto Records, to mark ‘a fresh chapter which reflects changes which have been happening anyway, but we will have the odd guest DJ in too.’ Layo is looking forward to being able to release ‘maybe one track a month’ on their own label. ‘People could be surprised when they hear how minimal some of our production is, but we’ve always enjoyed playing and making the most upfront electronica.

’While their new single, ‘Life2Live’ featuring Green Velvet on filtered vocals, is a chuggy, warm dancefloor beast, ‘Feels Closer’ is very jazzy and Brazilian-flavoured (like their DJ sets) – which must be partly what they intended when they took themselves to Brooklyn and Brazil to record it. The recording experience was ‘as good as it could be’, recalls Layo, as they worked with many different musicians and artists and ‘we pushed ourselves as producers.’ So which producers impress him right now – any tips for 2006? ‘There’s a never-ending stream of great 12s from labels like Kick Boxer, Poker Flat and Get Physical, but there are so many others too. Electronic music has rediscovered its confidence, and its roots.’ Layo and Bushwacka sure sound confident too.