Dummy Mix 11 // Cage & Aviary
It’s raining in Peckham and the best place to be this Friday lunchtime is the pub. I’m sat with Jamie Paton and Nigel of Bermondsey from tropical disco outfit CAGE & AVIARY to talk music, in particular their exclusive new mix for Dummy (download it on the right). Best known for 12” releases on Tiny Sticks and DFA (check out ‘Television Train’ on their myspace), these two boys have been starting a quiet revolution with their super limited edition remix project and a smattering of LA pool party appearances. They’ve even visited the legendary CAN studio. “It’s been moved to the Museum of Modern Art in Cologne,” says Nigel. “Anyone can go and hang out in there.” Here’s how the conversation went.
So, where does the name Cage & Aviary come from?
Jamie: Well, my dad used to breed birds. He used to get a magazine every month called Cage & Aviary Monthly and it just stuck in my head.
Nigel: And there are two of us…
What’s in the mix then?
Jamie: It ended up being more of a beatdown mix, so not quite what you’d hear when we’re playing out. More of a slomo shuffle. There are two exclusive Cage & Aviary tracks/remixes on there. ‘Black Carriage’ was done last week in a couple of days. There are also a few older tracks on there and a couple of cover ups too. I need to keep a few secrets after all. Hopefully it will give you an insight into what excites us, and what influences us when we make music – joining the dots through different styles and decades.
What music inspires you guys?
Nigel: We both really like that whole post punk thing, like GANG OF FOUR and all that stuff.
Jamie: When there was that melting pot at the start of the eighties when there was punk, disco, black, white, soul, rock, and electronic music just coming in. It all seemed to be an amazing period of creativity.
So what else have you got going on at the moment?
Nigel: Well because we started up our own label – The Walls Have Ears – we’ve been doing a series of remixes on vinyl over the last six months or so, which is nearly coming to an end.
Jamie: The first band that we did was a band called Bow Mods. I heard them on 6 Music and just got in touch. There’s gonna be six different releases. There are four more to go.
Nigel: We’ve got a release of our own stuff coming out on Tiny Sticks. It’s a track called ‘Beat N Path’.
Jamie: Apparently it’s gonna be the last release on Tiny Sticks for a while. Which is quite cool, cos it’s a really well respected label. It’s kind of like the British DFA.
Tracklisting
Unnamed track
Bow Mods Country Girls (Cage & Aviary Dub)
Material Reduction
Unnamed track
Mr Monday Daybreak
Unnamed track
Talking Heads Houses In Motion
LCD Soundsystem All My Friends (Harvey Remix)
Nona Hendryx Transformation
Escape from NY Fire in My Heart (Instrumental Dub)
M Pop Muzik (Cage & Aviary Dub)
Juju / Jordash Blue Plates
Cage & Aviary Black Carriage (Demo)
Force of Nature Traderoute
Aurra Such A Feeling (Part 2 – Shep Pettibone Mix)
Rolling Stones If I Was a Dancer (Dance pt2)
