Dummy Mix 144 // Voyeur

At the beginning of 2012 a remix of How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep emerged, dripping with rich and absorbing melodic fragility. Delivered by Voyeur, AKA Benson Herbert and Leo Picking, it is an immediate, towering track filled with an enviable sense of delicate emotion, intentionally departing from its original pop version – and perhaps a preview of their newly formed, fresh and cohesive sound. The Leeds duo have recently been picked up and signed by MadTech (also home to Citizen, Krystal Klear and Ill Blu) – an imprint of Kerri Chandler’s MadHouse label – who will release the pair’s debut ‘Blame It On The Youth’ EP, backed by a re-interpretation of the title track from Kerri Chandler himself, due out in late November. Voyeur’s productions so far have been sickly sweet and abundant in sonic arrangements, deviating between the boundaries of sublime, kinetic deep house and sultry, pulsating bass. Their first release is no different, only it dives deeper into the territory of dance music with another dimension of emotive tone choices.

Dummy caught up for a chat with Voyeur ahead of their debut EP release (scroll down to read), and acquired an exclusive mix that showcases new material alongside some of their past year favourites. What’s been submitted is an hour of music that touches on a handful of sumptuous, uptempo slices of house, breezing through an amalgam of deep, sun-soaked beats.

Hey Voyeur, how’s it going?

Not bad! We’ve been fairly busy with a few gigs and a couple of remixes on the way.

Please can you introduce yourselves to Dummy readers?

We both started separately, and met in Leeds where we found we were both very much into the same kinds of music, from then we’ve been learning off of each other.

What’s it like coming up in Leeds?

It’s really nice to be able to play to so many people around our age in such a heavily university oriented city. It’s given us the chance to play support slots for nights featuring some of our favourite DJs. I don’t think either of us predicted that we would be offered that opportunity.

What’s this mix about?

We wanted to include some new tracks that we’ve been feeling but also tracks we’ve loved playing out over the past year. We wanted the mix to be something you can listen to but also shuffle your feet to as well if you’re in the mood.

Please highlight a few tracks included and why?

The first track on the mix is called Blame It On The Youth, the title track to our debut EP that’s coming out on MadTech records on the 26th November. We also included Leon Vynehall’s Mauve, which we’ve loved playing out over the past year. We’re big fans of Leon Vynehall and he’s just finished an incredible remix of our track Blame It On The Youth which will hopefully be dropping soon.

How would you describe the sound of Voyeur to someone who’s never heard of you before?

We end up making fairly varied music each time we approach a new project really, so it’s hard to pinpoint. House is definitely the right word though.

When did your collaboration start and why?

Like I said, when we both moved up to Leeds, we both met through mutual friends and ended up going out to most of the same nights. It sprouted from there really, we both took the opportunity to work with one another, with so much time to play with whilst at the start of university we both seized the chance to make as many tunes as possible.

What’s exciting you at the moment?

There’s a lot of exciting music around at the moment, in fact there never isn’t! You just have to look harder sometimes. Though at the moment we are both really into Detroit Swindle, Bicep, &ME, Darling Farah… The list is endless.

Best thing you’ve heard/ seen this year?

Four Tet played an absolutely incredible live set at Dimensions festival this summer. Also Genius of Time’s live set at Louche earlier on in the year was something else.

What have you planned for the rest of 2012, and the near future?

Not much left of this year, but I’m sure it will get filled with gigs! We’re both working on another EP and a couple of remixes are on the go too.

Tracklisting:

1. Voyeur – Blame It On The Youth [MadTech]
2. Detroit Swindle – Jick Rames [Dirt Crew Recordings]
3. Kindimmer – Rthoms [Local Talk]
4. Dale Howard – Inner City [Lost My Dog]
5. Dimitry Liss – Into The Night (Rogerio Martins remix) [Piston Recordings]
6. Jordan Peak – Brutal Life [Tsuba]
7. Leon Vynehall – Mauve [Well Rounded Records]
8. Huxley, Sam Russo – Dollsit [Leftroom Limited]
9. &ME – Dios [Snatch! Records]
10. Wadsworth – Lime & Pink [One Records]
11. J Paul Getto – Imma Let You Know [Magnetic Recordings]