zap! bang! Magazine

• 

• Together WMF interviews: Utah Saints

• Utah Saints

• 2011-11-18

• With just one week until the first Together Winter Music Festival at London’s Alexandra Palace, we talk to another top act about the now sold out event. This week it’s the turn of Utah Saints.

  How are you doing today? What have you been up to?
  All good, busy! We are self-managed at the moment, so first third of day is taking care of business, then the remainder in the studio. We’re just finishing up a single edit, then cracking on with our album, which we are really pleased with. On top of that we have been out every weekend pretty much playing clubs, since er 1991 (!) and still doing it, as well as running our own SugarBeat nights and label.

  Tell us about your ‘SugarBeat’ label?
  Well we’ve run SugarBeat club nights for about 10 years now. For about 8 years it was weekly, but we’ve scaled it right back now to concentrate on our own music and the label. We’ve concentrated on emerging artists and had some great releases so far, gaining momentum with each release. Style wise it’s broadly electro, but we’ve always had really eclectic tastes, so is really interesting to see
  it develop.

  What has been a highlight of 2011?
  This interview of course, and some of the festivals we’ve played. A particular mention for Beatherder Festival, where we are lucky enough to curate the SugarBeat Stage every year. It’s set up in the middle of a forest, so is an amazing
  place to have a party!

  And what can we expect from Utah Saints in 2012?
  Singles, album, and a heavy club and festival presence.

  Would you call yourselves saints or sinners?
  Compared to who? :)

  Tell us what you love about playing in London?
  London has always been a special place to play for us, especially over the last few years. We have had a lot of love, especially when SugarBeat was in Brixton for a while.

  And any other favourite venues or festivals you have played around the world?
  To be honest, it’s more about the people who are there, and if they have come to have a good time. If that happens, then the setting becomes secondary.

  

  If you were curating a festival, what would be your dream main stage line up?
  Pendulum, New Order (original line-up), Prodigy, Lost Prophets, Erol Alkan, DJ Kentaro, Rollins Band, Jeff Mills, Earth Wind and Fire, Sly and Family Stone, Nirvana, Beatles, Glenn Miller Band and Prince.

  If you could perform a b2b set with any DJ, who would it be?
  Probably Erol Alkan. He would understand the connection between the tracks.

  Which three tracks are currently going down great in your DJ sets?
  Mumbai Science – “Lotus”
  Utah Saints V Drumsound and Bassline Smith – “What Can You Do For Me?”
  Rory Lyons – “Shake Ya Mama” (Sugarbeat)

  What advice have you got for surviving a winter music festival?
  Indoors – bring a good coat for the way home.
  Outdoors – bring a good hat.

  Ever played a silent disco before?
  Never, totally new to us, really looking forward to it!

  Will you guys be sticking around after your set and checking any of the other acts out?
  Definitely, it’s an awesome lineup, with a lot of our friends playing, so will definitely be checking as many sets as we can.

  What can the fans expect from your DJ set at the Together Winter Music Festival?
  Well, we usually vibe our set out as we go, so never plan a set exactly. But if we can we will have a bit of everything in there, and quite a few edits/mashes that we have made ourselves. We also use a couple of effects units live, to remix things on the fly…organised party chaos!

  For the latest news about the Together Winter Music Festival, go to www.togetherwmf.com.

by Mike Barnard