It's been said that all boats rise with the tide. And right now, Dusky is catching a serious wave.
The London-based duo has found success as part of the groove-based house music resurgence. Of course, the Disclosure bros may be the darlings, but they're not the only ones putting four-to-the-floor with a soulful, modern kick.
In just a year's time, Dusky's Alfie Granger-Howell and Nick Harriman have seen a swell of support among international dance music fans. According to Harriman, their Ultra 2014 experience was the perfect tidal gauge.
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"Last year, we played the first set on the live stage," he says. "We literally played to, like, five people. This time, we came back and played to 1,000 or maybe 1,500 people. That was a nice change, from the first year to the second year. Hopefully, next year will be even better."
Speaking with these dudes, it certainly seems that things are only rising. They just announced the launch of their own label, 17 Steps. As a dance music producer, starting your own label is kind of the pinnacle achievement. To Dusky, it's a dream come true.
"We've always wanted to have our own label," Granger-Howell proudly admits. "In the past, the opportunity hasn't necessarily been there, because it takes quite a lot of time and effort to set it up. You want to have the music to actually release on it, and the profile.
"Now, the time seems right. We're really excited about the first release in July. We're going to try and do quality over quantity. We won't be doing releases every week."
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That first EP will be Dusky's latest effort, Love Taking Over. The three songs aren't necessarily a departure from the deep style that fans have come to expect from the duo, but they do add a little something new from the twosome's well-rounded tastes.
"It's a good representation of where we are at the moment in terms of what we're playing out at the clubs," Harriman says. "It's got a bit more of a jungle, drum 'n' bass feel to it than we've done in the past.
"The whole EP in general is a slightly different angle. Not in terms of having breakbeats or anything, but just stylistically, on the pads and the bass, all that kind of stuff."
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Not that the house heads should be worried.
"It's definitely aimed at the dance floor rather than a pure listening experience," Granger-Howell explains. "I think that's the aim of the label: to have solid dance-floor music that will work well in the clubs."
Speaking of clubs, Miami's party people can catch the Dusky dudes and their new groove, alongside the legendary Pete Tong, at Story this weekend. But even fans who caught their set at Ultra or their WMC party at Trade are in for some surprises, as the guys promise to drop some of those new tunes. What does Dusky doing a bit of d'n'b actually sound like? Come dance and find out.
"We've been playing all three tracks [from the new EP] in every set we've been doing recently, and there's some new things as well as that unreleased stuff that we've been trying out," Granger-Howell says.
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"We always like to play quite a lot of new material. It's a good way for us to hear how it sounds on different systems and see the reaction the crowd. Definitely expect to hear lots of new stuff."
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Dusky. With Pete Tong. Saturday, June 14. Story Nightclub, 136 Collins Ave., Miami Beach. The show starts at 11 p.m. and tickets cost $30 to $40 plus fees via wantickets.com. Ages 21 and up. Call 305-538-2424 or visit storymiami.com.
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