Disclosure settle for their whirlwind ride
It's a case of third-time lucky when I interview Guy Lawrence, who is one half of English house duo Disclosure, with younger brother Howard.
The first time Lawrence was unreachable, the second time he was at a gig. Not his own though.
"I was watching a band called Wild Beasts," he explains the morning after the show. "It was really good actually . . . I watch so many DJs all the time at festivals and at my own shows so when
I'm home I like to watch as
many bands and different acts as I can."
The Lawrence lads weren't home for long. After the interview, they flew to Brazil for some shows.
The past year has been a whirlwind ride for Disclosure. Their debut album Settle was nominated for best dance/electronica album at this year's Grammy Awards and recently achieved platinum status in the UK. After its release in June last year, relentless touring has followed including performing at 57 festivals last year alone.
While the brothers knew they were on to something while making Settle, they weren't expecting this level of mass appeal.
"I think we were definitely lucky with the timing," Lawrence says. "People wanted to hear house music on the radio, in clubs and nice melodies and vocals instead of aggressive bass lines.
"I think with tracks like White Noise and Latch, which are more conventional songs, we knew they had potential because putting the dance aspect aside, they are just normal songs.
"If you get Latch on the piano, it's still a normal song."
Settle is heavily influenced by the Chicago house and Detroit techno movements of the 90s. With Guy born in 1991 and Howard in 1994, they were still in nappies when house music was at its peak and it was another sub-genre of dance music that got them to their destination.
"We got into dance music generally through dubstep from the age of 16 and 17 when I got my fake ID and was going to clubs and stuff," Lawrence laughs.
"I liked it but I didn't go home and show Howard because I never thought he'd really like it or get it. But when artists like SBTRKT, James Blake and Mount Kimbie came out, they were doing stuff which was a bit more melodic, had chords and song structure to it.
"That's when I went home and showed Howard and he was like 'Wow, this is amazing, we should totally make something along those lines'. We bought loads and loads of records which inevitably led to Chicago house and Detroit techno.
"Rather than come up with the scene and travelling with it, we basically went back in time. I was born in 1991 so we kind of missed all of it, which is a bit of a shame but if we hadn't missed it, the music we make wouldn't sound like it does."
