Clubs

David and Steven Dewaele are better known as Soulwax, the Belgian indie rock band, but they’re probably best known as 2 Many DJs, the duo responsible for ‘As Heard on Radio Soulwax Part 2’ the most compulsive and entertaining compilation of 2002. The huge success of the project by the original bootleg and version excursion specialists has made them DJs-in-demand across the world (‘It’s like we’ve been living in a sci-fi movie with a parallel universe’), and they’re one of the best reasons to visit Arena 5 at Homelands on Saturday. It just so happens that this is the tent that Time Out are associated with, so naturally we’re proud that it’s also the place where you’ll go to hear Soulwax’s good mate, Erol Alkan from Trash, the one-and-only Grandmaster Flash (he’s still fast, he’s still cool…), mastermixers like Dexter of the Avalanches and Ninja Tunes’ DJ Food, Daft Punk’s right hand-man Pedro Winter and a contingent of Fabric residents like the superb Unklesounds (James Lavelle and Richard File), Ali B and Jacques Lu Cont, whose recent ‘Fabric Live 09’ compilation is one of best of 2003.

It’s Soulwax though, who are making their festival debut at Homelands. They’ve often guested at Trash and have been monthly residents at the 21st Century Body Rockers and the Return to New York parties at the Great Eastern Hotel, which they’ll return to on Sunday. We caught up with David in Amsterdam last week...

Your next Soulwax album is due in the autumn?
‘Yeah, we’re in the studio all the time right now. I’m not sure if it’s any good but we’re working really hard!’

Are there plans for another ‘2 Many DJs’ collection too?
‘We can’t think about this until we finish the Soulwax album. If we do it again it will have to be something different. The reaction to ‘2 Many DJs’ was way much more than we expected – it blew up with hardly any press at all.‘

So has what you play altered much?
‘Whether it was Peaches or Metallica or Dolly Parton or Electric Six, it was all kind of fucked-up pop music but now there’s not much we play that’s on the album.’

So how about Homelands and Return to New York?
‘It’ll be more fucked-up pop music! It’s definitely not going to be all-girl pop or something, but we don’t think too much about it. As DJs we definitely try and play what people want, to give them a great party within the parameters of what we like. We like a lot of music…’

Best DJ gadget?
‘The new Pioneer mixers are really good for sampling and so on, but we’re not really that technical. It’s just fun. For us DJing is more like a hobby gone wrong.’

Favourite London building /view?
‘It’s not just because we’re playing there on Sunday but… We travel a lot and we think the Greatt Eastern is a fabulous hotel. The rooms are fantastic and the service is great.’

Giorgio Moroder or Tiga?
‘What, as producers? I’m on the phone to Tiga almost everyday! If I had to choose [pause] I guess I’d like to know what Giorgio Moroder is like to work with.’

Favourite post-clubbing snack?
‘Erol [Alkan] lives in Tufnell Park and he takes us to a great Turkish haloumi place opposite the tube near his house.’