Dirtyphonics are a trio from Paris who absolutely love to get dirty. Unlike David Guetta who hails from the same quaint metropolis, the Dirtyphonics boys are known to get downright metal in both their productions and live shows.
Their debut album Irreverence was released in 2013, boasting 10 high octane tracks that would make your grandma hail Satan. Now, nearly two years later, their next work is upon us. Write Your Future is a stacked 4-track EP, out on Dim Mak, that starts where Irreverence left off: with a pulse-pounding metal-influenced DnB/Bass track that excites as well as astonishes.
Dirtyphonics are now embarking upon their “Write Your Future” Tour across the US, and I had the pleasure of seeing them perform at the second stop in Los Angeles at Avalon in Hollywood. Their ability to blend a variety of bass styles from dubstep to drum n bass to trap so seamlessly is what draws me back every time. A dubstep or trap show on their own is neat, but hearing all three in a cohesive set that pumps energy out of every orifice is something other worldly. 
Be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom for a unique remix contest from Dim Mak, Dirtyphonics, & 12th Planet.
The ending to Irreverence was “Walk in the Fire” and the beginning to Write Your Future is “Power Now,” both powerful tracks with metal influences. Was there any thought to continuing where you left off, or did it just happen that way?
When we wrote “Walk In The Fire” we had no idea how our fans would react to it… We just wrote music with our hearts and combined both our metal and drum and bass roots. When the track came out everyone freaked out and loved it. We were so happy and surprised by the amount of love we got that it pushed us into writing another metal-influenced bass song and “Power Now” was born. It felt like the best opening to our new EP and it totally made sense that it linked with IRREVERENCE.
Krewella’s motto is “Get Wet,” but one of the last times I saw you was the wettest I’ve ever gotten at a show. What’s the secret to throwing the most energetic set?
Once again the secret here is to do things with your heart. Being on stage is an incredible feeling and we feel so lucky to be able to share our music with thousands of our fans that there’s no holding back. We are energetic people; we never stop, and being on stage brings this extra adrenaline that we feed off of. On top of this, seeing your fans going HARD to your music is the best thing ever. There’s a real link between them and us and once we hit this point where we’re all one, anything can happen!
Write Your Future is an interesting title for an EP, and definitely alludes to more future plans. What’s next for you guys?
Whoever we are, whatever happens in our lives, we are in control of our future. This is the main idea behind this title and we follow this motto. The future is going to be busier than ever for us. We’re in the middle of our US tour before hitting Europe and the rest of the world, we’re launching our new Merch line in the next couple of weeks, and we have so much more music to release this year… so hold tight!!
How was the transition after Thomas left? Was it difficult to get back into the groove, or was there this new desire to create?
Both. Obviously after spending so many years together, there was a transition to be made and this pushed our desire to recreate ourselves and create again. This is Dirtyphonics 2.0!
You guys now live in LA. There seems to be this mass immigration of other producers to LA, too. Is it just the right time, or is there some secret producers’ collective that we don’t know about yet?
We can’t talk about it…haha. More seriously, we’ve been eyeing this move for a while now and the right time happened for us. It’s not about right now for everyone it’s about right now for us. We’ve always done things the way we wanted them to happen and we will continue to keep working with this way of thinking.
On your last album, you collaborated with Steve Aoki, Modestep, Foreign Beggars and Liela Moss. On this new release, you’ve got Matt Rose, UZ, Trinidad James, 12th Planet and Julie Hardy. What’s the process you go through when choosing a collaborator, or do these tracks happen organically and just end up on the release?
To be honest, everything we do happens quite naturally. We work with our friends (people we love the music of) and between all of our busy schedules, it’s sometimes hard to make it happen. So whenever we’re free and someone we want to work with is too then we do it. It’s pretty simple as it should be. This is music, if it’s forced you can hear it in the song.
One of my favorite tracks from you guys is an oldie, “Vandals.” I was lucky enough to hear you drop it the last time I saw you. How important is it to throw in some old tracks in a set? Or is it best to only stick to the new shit?
There’s no rules. We like playing older and newer stuff all the time. Being on the road so much, there’s obviously a point of time where you want to stop playing a song to make room for newer stuff. And after a while you miss playing this song and bring it back in.
There are three of you currently in Dirtyphonics, but only two who really go out to play shows. Any reason?
Julien is in Paris, he works on the music with us from there (we send each other projects online) and he’s not a DJ. PitchIn and myself (Charly) have been DJs for over 15 years so it makes sense that we go and play all the shows. Our show is both of us on stage with 4 CDJs, 2 mixers and a lot of energy!! It’s more than just a show – it’s a huge party where we truly connect with our fans!
In addition to releasing their newest EP, Dirtyphonics and 12th Planet have teamed up with WAVO for a very unique remix contest. Check it out –
Dirtyphonics’ hard-hitting bass anthem co produced with 12th Planet, “Free Fall” with vocals from Julie Hardy (lifted from their forthcoming WRITE YOUR FUTURE EP) and Dim Mak Records wants to give you the shot at remixing one of the biggest new tracks of 2015.
Now here’s your chance to turn this song into your own! Instead of traditional remix contests that use stems as a base, our unique contest invites you to write your own version of “Free Fall” using either the track’s acapella or the instrumental.
Launch: 2/25
End Date: March 31st
Winner Announce: April 10th
Your challenge will be:
1) Write and perform your own original vocal over the “Free Fall” instrumental.
OR
2) Write and produce your own original music track to use with the “Free Fall” accapella.Prizing
– Winner released on Dim Mak records
