CUFF is the new label from French DJs Amine Edge & DANCE, and Sankey's new Thursday night date. Replacing Dirty Bird, it's one of four new parties at Bossa's underground haven this year, and sees the duo bring their new brand of dance music, G-house (guess what the G stands for!), to Ibiza. Having already taken the UK by storm in just three short years, this week will see them continue with their runaway success with the fourth date of their 18-week residency, and from what we've seen so far - and with names like Sirus Hood, K-Lagane and Stefano Ritteri lined up over the summer - it looks like it's full steam ahead for the duo.
In a rare first for Ibiza, CUFF brings a sound previously unheard of on the white isle to the legendary basement. G-house, an amalgamation of hip-hop and house, came to be when childhood friends Amine Edge, a renowned house DJ, and hip-hop producer DANCE brought their musical expertise together to create an attitude-fuelled, bass-ridden sound that has snowballed faster than either of them could have imagined. They have gone on to sell out warehouses in both London and Manchester, remix the likes of the Adana Twins, and now have claim to their own night in Ibiza. These boys certainly don't hang about.
Their CUFF residency runs until 2nd October, and this Thursday the boys will be joined by Clyde P and Mike Palladino. They're also busy promoting their new EP Porn Bass, released in March, with further European shows lined up over the coming months everywhere from Amsterdam to Greece.
It seems Amine Edge & DANCE live a life as full on as their bass-lines, so we were lucky to catch up with the whirlwind duo for a quick chat where we spoke about Sankeys, copy-cat house gangsters, and what we can expect next. But to begin with we wanted to clear one thing up...
Firstly, how do you pronounce your name!? Sound it out for us:
Amine Edge & DANCE: "I'm In Edge And Dance."
Right, we've definitely been pronouncing that one wrong, good start! Congratulations on the nights so far... have they gone how you expected them to?
AE & D: "Thanks for that, yes we are really happy to be a part of Sankeys and to have our own night in this amazing underground club, the party went very well and we hope it's gonna be amazing till the end of the summer!"
Which artists are you most excited to play alongside during your CUFF residency this year?
AE & D: "No bullshit but EVERYONE, they are all our friends and talented DJs, we are really happy to have them with us."
What do you look for in an artist when deciding whom to work with?
AE: "First, the music and an amazing track for the label, and second if he or she is also an amazing DJ, they will play in my parties."
D: "They must be professional and respectful like we are with them. It's hard to work with people who don't really care about their careers."
Are there any Hip Hop artists you would love to give the g-house treatment to?
AE: "Everything has already been done before but we would love to do some collabs with some sick rappers."
D: "There are some rappers that it's not possible to remix because their voice or their flow are not really adaptable. We're gonna try to collaborate with new school hip hop artists with open minds."
How do you pronounce your name!? "I'm In Edge And Dance."
You're no strangers to Sankeys Manchester - do you find the two clubs a similar experience to play at?
AE & D: "Yes, we always compare Sankeys to Urban Outfitters lol, because it's the same club in a different place, they always respect the architecture and the rooms, Basement, Spektrum, and we love it, in New York the basement is the same too but Spektrum is very different."
Love the analogy! You've brought your backgrounds in both Hip Hop and House to create this sound you dub G-House - what other genres of music do you take inspiration from?
AE: "EVERYTHING, funk, disco, soul, new wave, r'n'b, and life, life and everything around me is inspiration."
D: "I can be inspired just listening to a pop track for example, or maybe just by the drum of a shitty song. By the way, I think I have my own style because I listen to hip hop all day long and almost never house. Then when I produce there is obviously something different than the average house producer in my music."
Have you noticed any artists emerging recently not associated with CUFF who you feel have been influenced by G-house?
AE: "A LOT haha. I recently have seen many big artists from EDM start to copy us. I have nothing against this but it's funny, I'm honoured."
D: "I think a lot of artists have been inspired by us. Some of them try to hide it and some others just admit it and they are really nice with us. I'm glad by the way because sometimes it's some bigger artists than us. But I wont say any names ;)"
You've spoken in previous interviews about how you have over 20 EPs from emerging dance artists in the pipeline for CUFF, so what can we expect to be hearing next month?
AE & D: "It's an old interview... we have maybe 40 now lol, we can't tell nothing because we are paranoid but if you keep an eye every week on soundcloud.com/thisiscuff you will see."
facebook.com/amineedgeanddance
