{"id":5668,"date":"2014-07-24T13:50:39","date_gmt":"2014-07-24T11:50:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deephouselondon.com\/?p=5668"},"modified":"2015-05-14T14:10:34","modified_gmt":"2015-05-14T12:10:34","slug":"exclusive-interview-waifs-strays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deephouseamsterdam.com\/london\/exclusive-interview-waifs-strays\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive Interview: Waifs & Strays"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most consistent duos in the UK over the last few years has been Waifs & Strays. The Bristol act always deliver great house music, whether it’s bumping Chicago style jams on Madtech or deep and dark cuts on labels such as Resonance. Sadly, Waifs & Strays recently became a solo act after one half, Rich Beanland, started to have problems with his ears. The good news is that Amos Nelson, the remaining member, is keeping the Waifs & Strays name very much alive and he’s doing a sterling job we must say. In fact, he’s busier than ever and has even recorded a great mix for our sister site Deep House Amsterdam, which you can check out at the bottom of this interview. Why not flick it on and get stuck into this chat we had with him recently… <\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re over halfway through the year now, how has 2014 been for you so far?<\/strong>
\nIt’s obviously been a year of change so far with Rich stepping aside from Waifs & Strays and having to take time to adapt to that. But apart from that, it’s been business as usual. I\u2019ve been in the studio a lot making new music and doing remixes and I’ve been doing lots of touring, too. It’s been a great year so far.<\/p>\n

Any particularly life\/career-affirming moments you\u2019d like to share with us?<\/strong>
\nA lot of my close friends have started families this year, so it’s great to see the next generation of people you hold dear emerge into the world \u2013 such a special time. Career-wise I\u2019ve been lucky to play some great gigs this year; traveling the States and getting to play at Glastonbury again are two notable highlights. Glastonbury is always one of those life and career affirming events that blows your mind by peoples creativity, talent and passion<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve become quite closely allied with Madtech lately, how did that connection come about?<\/strong>
\nIt was through a friend of Rich\u2019s that was doing some A&R work. We sent him some tracks and they liked what they heard and off we went. It’s a great label with some really cool artists on there so I was super happy to be able to work with them and hope to continue to do so in the future.<\/p>\n

What does it mean to you to be connected with a label owned by Kerri Chandler?<\/strong>
\nA great deal\u2026 Kerri is one of my heros. Both as an amazing DJ and producer, and how he carries himself as a person; it\u2019s a huge honour to be associated with him in any small way.<\/p>\n

[youtube id=”D9IRRuzazm8″ width=”620″ height=”360″]<\/p>\n

Have you met him yet? What\u2019s your impression of him?<\/strong>
\nWe\u2019ve met briefly a couple of times, and he is one of the nicest and most humble guys out there. He has been doing this for so long and is still super down to earth. As a DJ he is really one of my very favourites.<\/p>\n

There are so many Kerri Chandler classics out there, which ones have really left a big impression on you?<\/strong>
\nIt’s probably not an obvious one back \u2018Back To Raw\u2019 always hits the spot for me\u2026but there are so many Kerri records that it’s impossible to choose!<\/p>\n

You are now sadly working alone on Waifs & Strays, can you tell us a little bit about that?<\/strong>
\nRich had some issues with his ears and was advised by the doctors to take some time off, which he decided to extend for a while and step away from Waifs & Strays for the time being. But it’s not a closed book and hopefully we will work together again in the future<\/p>\n

What\u2019s it like gigging solo after working in a partnership for so long?<\/strong>
\nIt’s different, but I have been DJing for 17 years now, long before Waifs & Strays, so it wasn\u2019t too hard to get back into it. It\u2019s a different feeling though playing on your own to how it is when you are with someone else \u2013 not necessarily better or worse but just different. I definitely miss him on the traveling though!<\/p>\n

And what about working in the studio?<\/strong>
\nYeah, that\u2019s a big change, and I definitely miss his presence in the studio. But we had always made music separately and together so it wasn\u2019t a totally new start.<\/p>\n

Speaking of which, what do you have forthcoming in terms of releases?<\/strong>
\nQuite a lot actually! There’s a single on the new Futureboogie VA EP coming out next month, an EP on Max Chapman’s Resonance Records, remixes of Romanthony on Glasgow Underground and other ones for Stil Vor Talent and Ben Pearce\u2019s Purp N Soul label plus an EP on Classic Records at some point… and a few other bits and pieces that aren\u2019t finalised yet!<\/p>\n

How would you say the Waifs & Strays sound has evolved since \u2018Be Patient\u2019 and \u2018Yeah Yeah\u2019 made a splash?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t know that it’s evolved as such but every tune is different. I like to move it around musically in my sets and that is kind of what I\u2019m like in the studio. Some tracks will be deeper and others a bit harder.<\/p>\n