Australia-based house duo Lunar Disco continue their strong progression as artists with their recent debut on renowned club music imprint Crosstown Rebels.
Their ‘Devil’s Hands’ EP brings an original title track that’s packaged alongside remix work from both Luciano and Anthony Middlton, as well as a club mix from TAYA and Lunar Disco themselves.
Previously their music has also come via record labels like Kindisch and KATERMUKKE, and they also head up an imprint of their own in ‘Suck My Disco’ – which is now on its third release.
We spoke to the pair to chat about the new EP, what else they might have coming in the near future, how they handle things as a duo, and more. Read the full discussion with Lunar Disco below!
You very recently made your debut on Damian Lazarus’ Crosstown Rebels imprint with the release of your ‘Devil’s Hands’ EP, talk us through how you made the original track?
Kate: I’m a huge fan of the classic Tarantino films, and after watching ‘Pulp Fiction’ one night, I couldn’t help but envision what a theme track for the film would sound like. That became a significant source of inspiration for this creation. I initially wrote ‘Devil’s Hands’ in London with my producer Paul Rogers a few years ago, capturing a snapshot of my life during that period. It delves into themes of struggle, vulnerability, escape, and a sense of being trapped. The melody effortlessly flowed from within me as if it were meant to exist and wrote itself. The song went through a long and transformative journey with Paul and I over the course of a year or two. It was one of those songs. We finally got it to where it needed to be, and then Nico added some extra magic on the final version and, of course, did a more underground version with me for the dance floor.”
You also included a club mix from yourselves and TAYA, how does that differ from the original version?
We created many versions of the track with that vocal. The idea was to work on something that would eventually be more dancefloor orientated. We still have a few exclusive versions that we play at our gigs. This particular version started when Nico came up with the desire to reproduce that sound that he discovered with Crosstown back in the day; these deep basslines and edgy synths with a particular sound design, sort of mysterious and quite spooky in some ways. He came up with a new bassline and arrangement and finished this idea with our very talented friend TAYA. who lives next door to us in Australia. He’s an amazing producer of that genre and was the perfect match to collaborate with! Our ‘Dirty Club Mix’ was born.
And two other remixes are present, from Luciano and Anthony Middleton, that must be a great feeling – to have your music remixed by those kinds of names?
It’s always a great feeling to have any of your music remixed by some of the most successful and established artists in the industry. Anthony and Luciano are old friends. We were looking for remixers to create that sound that could take us away from the original radio track and get us closer to the dancefloor vibe. When they heard the original mix, they both loved it. Having used some guitar, this vocal, and a bunch of drums not commonly used in our genre, they came back with these two awesome remixes.
You’ve also released music on labels like Kindisch and KATERMUKKE, where else might we see Lunar Disco release in the coming months?
Good question. The thing is that we have never been stuck in a particular genre when we create music. We love keeping it like this and having the ability to play anything we like, even in our sets hence the name ‘Lunar Disco’. It’s disco from all sorts of galaxies. When it feels like you have to be part of a family or a big label to be recognised as part of one genre or another, we prefer not to be attached to any in particular and to try and keep our playlists versatile. We have some great tracks in the pipeline which we would like to send to labels from Solid Grooves to Nervous. There are a few collaborations on the way as well with other artists, and we are also looking at a 2023 version of our original success on Blondish’s label Abracadabra, our track ‘Roswell’. No label for this one yet.
And your own Suck My Disco imprint, it’s now on its third release and is developing well, what else do you have planned for the label going forward?
When covid happened along with lockdown, the first thing we decided to do was to try and reinvent our productions and think a bit more about radio, as people couldn’t go to clubs anymore. We have a couple more on our imprint, Suck My Disco, coming out before the end of the year to finish that series of more radio-oriented tracks. We also have our version of ‘Blue Monday’ as a free download available on our SoundCloud, coming out in a month after the success of the ‘I Feel Love’ rework that we released recently. Then we plan to release an LP with exclusive dancefloor remixes. Some are absolute bangers, and we can’t wait to share.
You’re of course a duo, with one being a DJ and one being a vocalist, how do you handle both studio sessions and live performances, in terms of your individual skill sets?
Kate: Nico is a dreamer and a great producer. He’s an awesome DJ when it comes to technique. I am lucky he can’t sing otherwise he wouldn’t need me. Nico is also very motivated, which is great as we have a few other businesses that we take care of along with raising our four-year-old daughter, so time is very precious when it comes to getting creative. We try to manage our time to get creative as best as we can amongst all the other madness that’s going on in our lives.
Nico: Kate is a great songwriter and a better DJ in the sense that she is way more technical and organised. She has this ability to tell you what tracks were played four years ago at a gig in Ibiza, which we all know is hard to remember, especially in Ibiza. She organises our playlists and makes our life easier when it comes to gigs. I usually show up with a bunch of new tracks imported on a usb stick, along with a few vinyl records that take me back to the good old days. She makes the link in all of this with her taste and tells me what I should and shouldn’t do. Basically, she’s the boss.
Is there anything else you want to bring attention to before we go?
Yes!! We are so thrilled with the response to the ‘Devil’s Hands’ release so far, and receiving support from the legend himself – Pete Tong – means so much! We never thought it would make his ‘essential new tune’ selection last week, but having been in this industry for as long as we have, it’s a huge achievement. We’d love to say thank you to everyone for their love and support so far, and we can’t wait to hear it across the dancefloors over the summer.
Lunar Disco – Devil’s Hands EP is out now on Crosstown Rebels.