Redseat QnA: The Fogshow

When you find yourself on an outdoor dancefloor at 4AM on a bitterly cold night the music had better be good to keep you there. The Fogshow, a DJ duo hailing from Cape Town have found their way onto some pretty good festival lineups of late and their Saturday night closing set from 4-5AM at Rocking the Daisies was proof enough that these boys are on their game. We put them in the Redseat to find out more…

You cite your influences, locally as Killer Robot, DeadbeatFM, Broken Toy, Pascal & Pearce, Headroom etc – it’s a heady mix of techno and psytrance.  Having created your own signature style over the past two years would you say those artists still influence your sound?

Dave: Spending a lot of time over the years on the dancefloor at trance parties I believe the big Basslines of Deadbeat FM, Broken Toy and Headroom still influence our style. Killer Robot for us is a bench mark of consistency, quality and class that we will always be influenced by. Pascal & Pearce not so much musically influence us any more but the way they conduct themselves in this industry is something to be admired. I don’t know of any one who puts more time in the studio. Their work ethic, quality and commitment is inspiring. Plus we introduced them to each other – claim.

Nick: The list is always growing, especially with so many brilliant local artists that we get to experience on a regular basis. Of late the lower tempo genres are also playing a big part and also deserve a mention.

Which international artists are currently floating your boats?

Dave: Hobo, Sian and Julian Jewel.

Nick: Victor Ruiz would have to be one of mine; he is producing consistently interesting music, generally with an aggressive and energetic Techno sound which I really enjoy. Also enjoying Avrosse and Mateo at the moment…

Closing the Red Bull Electronic stage at Rocking the Daisies this year after the main night (Saturday) must have had you guys looking carefully at which final selection of tracks to use. Did you find yourselves scrapping a lot of ‘killer tunes’ as you whittled down your final list?

Dave: The list started off huge and we just started ticking them off, we actually ended up playing a lot of our classics as opposed to all new tracks.

Nick: You have no idea! We generally do put a lot of effort into the preparation of our sets but this one was especially important to us so we spent days prepping track lists and playing through or selections… We weren’t happy with it until the very end and after a lot of chopping and changing!

Which track that you guys dropped at RTD surprised you the most by the crowd response?

Dave: Purple Bang (Sian Become Something Else Mix) I was unsure about it but it killed.

Nick: I enjoyed the crowd’s response to 1, 2, 3 – (Victor Ruiz remix) by PE and Dan.

The name ‘The Fogshow.’  Whenever a name is suggested there’s some sort of story behind it, or reason for it. Who came up with it and what’s it saying about you guys as a DJ duo?

Nick: The name started as a bit of joke to be honest! Our first gig was at Sapphire in Camps Bay. Let’s just say that we were very inexperienced and that it didn’t go smoothly (nothing was in key, beat matching was nonexistent and I accidentally ejected the wrong CDJ!) but we loved it nonetheless. Afterwards we were chatting amongst friends about it and we commented that it was a ‘f&@cking dog show’, which at the time we thought was actually a good name for us (jokingly, not really realizing we may actually have to use it!). After people wanting to book us but not put the name on flyers we changed it to ‘a spoonerism (ducking fogshow)’ which helped, and then later on, shortened it to The Fogshow! We  did talk about changing it to something a little more serious but decided that it was too late and stuck with it! 

You played Oppikoppi this year two; in fact you closed the Thursday night… seems closing is a bit of a trend now?

Dave: The Oppi experience was so great because we were traveling with all the artists and got a police escort into the Festival. We were looked after really nicely so we felt pretty Gangster [laughs]. We played to a bigger dancefloor at Daisies on a pretty impressive set up where at Oppikoppi we were moved to a different floor and I felt we rushed our set a bit. The Closing set is great – we have been on the dancefloor and experienced many closing sets so I believe we know what is required to keep the floor moving.

Nick: Oppi was amazing and a lot of fun! I prefer a later slot as it gives you a wider range of IDM to move through…

Playing events such as Oppi and RTD, but also techno vs. trance gigs such as Love & Light; from your perspective behind the decks, do you find the dancefloors at rock festivals to be as informed and responsive as dedicated dance events?

Dave: It was a lot of people’s “first time hearing that kind of music” at RTD and Oppi whereas at Love & Light etc people are coming for the Techno, so it’s a more educated audience.; both equally responsive dancefloors and both equally as enjoyable.

Nick: We would play slightly differing sets for the two styles of party; informed maybe not as much but definitely just as responsive. We play all of our sets to what the crowd and dance floor would enjoy most at the time and place… 

Deep house and minimal tech seem to have become strange bedfellows – particularly in the mother city where these two genres are often played out on a night.  What’s your guys take on how techno and house have evolved recently…?

Dave: Deep house into Techno is a good time. They work well together and the Cape Town Deep House and Techno scene is growing nicely. I’m excited to see what happens this summer.  I would like to see more events in Cape Town exclusively dedicated to Techno.

Nick: I think in general, a lot of the good Techno producers are decreasing their IDM, which helps it, blend well with Deep House, the two work well together as a progression throughout a night.

David you were in Ibiza recently. Did the experience influence your style of music on return or simply affirm what you’ve already been doing with The Fogshow DJ sets?

Dave: I got to see Carl Craig, Magda, Hito, Nina Kraviz and Richie Hawtin vs. Luciano which was the best. A lot of them were playing parts of their set on vinyl – it was so great. This is definitely something we are going try work on for future sets. It was nice to see what some of the best in the world are doing, in person. The whole trip was really inspiring and there are a few small things I picked up, but on a whole it gave me confidence that we are on the right track, even though we still have a long way to go.

Last question: Right now which DJ/producer would be on your ‘to die for’ list to see perform in SA?

Nick: We have been so spoilt with the artist visiting us over the past couple of years, I am so happy to have ticked off a lot of my boxes, probably next in line would be to Maetrik… I think his sound would work well down here.

Dave: Maetrik would be great.

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