Exclusive interview Son Of 8: 'Never stop learning'

UK dance act Son Of 8 is making big waves with its new single 'With Every Heartbeat' right now. High time to have a talk with the guys about their collab with Phats & Small, the rich history of electronic music and crashing a Lamborghini (or not).

Released late October, the track quickly received DJ support from the likes of Don Diablo, Lost Frequencies and LVNDSCAPE, and is now counting over a million Spotify streams, as well as the video garnering over half a million views - not bad for a club track! 

As 'With Every Heartbeat' is getting so much attention, we thought it would be nice to have a chat with Son Of 8, who worked closely with legendary dance act Phats & Small for this track.

Hey there, what have you been up to lately? 
"Hello! We’ve been really busy back in the studio after a hectic summer. It has been really nice to have a lot of studio time. We were trying to finish off all of the tracks that have been started over the summer in Ibiza, but we just didn’t have the time to finish them due to a hectic gig schedule. Expect lots of new music from us in 2017! We have also been collaborating with some really talented artists in the last month. It’s always so good to work with other talented producers, singers and musicians."

You're new single 'With Every Heartbeat' is getting huge responses. What can you tell us about this track? 
"We made ‘With Every Heartbeat’ last spring in the studio. We were working on tracks that were light with a summery vibe and then it started to fall into place from there. When we met Phats & Small backstage at Glastonbury a few months ago, we got talking and came up with some ideas. They are really great guys and we had a lot of tracks that needed vocals, so we decided to do a collaboration. They sent us the vocal for ‘With Every Heartbeat’ and we instantly fell in love with it. There’s a real vulnerability in the vocal due to the vocalist only being 14 years old – it seemed to fit the track perfectly."

What does this record say about your musical evolution as an artist?
"We normally revolve our sound around house music, you can hear some of our influences on our weekly radio show called ‘Our House’ that is getting bigger and bigger. On the show we showcase new music and the show reflects the sets that we play. However, we also have a section where we play what we call ‘off the beaten track songs’ which are more mainstream, chilled and beachy. ‘With Every Heartbeat’ is influenced by spending a lot of time in Ibiza, whilst hanging out at beach clubs.  We love playing sets like that in the sun so that sort of style influenced the track nicely in the end."

If music wasn't your priority, what would you be working on instead?
"We’ve always produced so whatever we did, music would always be involved. Col would have liked to be a professional footballer and I would like to drive F1 cars, but I think both of those careers have passed us by!"

What has been the coolest thing in your musical career up till now?
"The coolest thing is when you drop your own tracks in a club and the crowds go wild. It’s also pretty cool playing the big festivals with huge crowds. Hopefully we will play them again this summer."

What artists/movies/books/art inspires you the most when creating music? 
"We’re big fans of the history of electronic music. I’m really inspired by Giorgio Moroder who helped set the foundations for electronic music in the 70s and 80s and the bands that followed. Daft Punk are also a big influence, as well as DJs from Frankie Knuckles to Carl Cox who have pioneered new music. The world around you can also be inspirational as you hear sounds 24 hours a day. The key thing is listening and using any sounds that you hear in your music. We tend to travel with a Rode microphone that records good quality sound so you can record samples of sound as you travel. The sound of nature or industrial sounds are always good."

What is the most interesting/funny rumor about you? 
"That we crashed a yacht and a Lamborghini while in Ibiza this year. Not saying if it is true or not!"

What do you think is the most interesting development in dance music these days?
"I think the most interesting development is streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music where you pay a subscription and can listen to anything. The suggestions the sites make from your history allow you access to more new music than ever and help new artists break through. As more people move to these types of platforms to listen to music you can see a change in the industry status quo."

What are your goals for the future?
"At the moment to finish all the projects that we have going and get our new music out there. We are also looking forward to some big gigs in 2017."

And finally, what would you advise the upcoming stars on our Talent Pool? 
"We love Spinnin’s talent pool, it’s such a good platform. The remix competitions are excellent and a great way to break into the industry. We would say try and find new sounds that you don’t always hear on tracks as that can make the difference. There is nothing that makes people sit up and take notice of a track more than if it contains a new style or sound. Never stop learning and try and get into a studio with as many people as you can. It is also important these days to have a social media presence and use music sharing sites like SoundCloud and Mixcloud to get your music out there."

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