Playlist

CRYSTAL CASTLES plague

PALMA VIOLETS best of friends

FIDLAR wake bake skate

PEACE california daze

THE VACCINES i always knew

One In The Eye For My American Pie

My lovely missus is from across the pond and we like nothing better than affectionately trying to teach each other about each countries best music, i go on to her about all my beloved ska bands from the 80s and tell her why Blur and Oasis, The Clash and The Pistols are so important etc and as she smiles sweetly at me i just know she has completely glazed over and is really thinking about the next pair of Alexander Wang boots she is going to get. On the other hand i'll pretend i'm listening as she intelligently goes about explaining the ins and outs of Bay Area Hip Hop or American Folk music or A Tribe Called Quest when really i'm thinking 'i wonder if The Fox will be showing the Chelsea game'
In other words our musical tastes can be somewhat different at times but the other day i thought i'd cracked it, as i waited in the van to pick her up from work i thought about a band that i have been obsessed with since day one, a band inspired by all her favourite artists and a band that are so American that they should have carried the Stars and Stripes and lead out the American athletes at the Olympics. The band is of course the brilliant Gaslight Anthem. I stuck on their latest album and we pretty much listened to it all on our journey home, as we pulled up to the flat i eagerly asked her what she thought hoping that finally we could agree on a band, her response: 'nah, i don't love 'em, they sound like mainstream American radio music'!!!
GRRRRRRRRRRR, back to the drawing board, we'll get there in the end doll! x
In the mean time i bloody love them so here are some belters for me and everyone else that actually has ears.  
Oh and just so you know i like to describe them as the love child of Springsteen and The Clash which i'm sure would please them more than 'mainstream American radio music' ha!

"45"

Handwritten

The 59 sound

Old White Lincoln

Countdown To Benicassim: 7 Days

So there are just 7 days to go until this years Benicassim festival! (http://www.fiberfib.com/) The line up is unbelievable and everyone at Dan In The Front Row headquarters is getting really excited.
We thought that with the countdown on, each day right up until Beni kicks off we would feature a couple of our fave tracks from artists who will grace the stages this year, you know, just to get everyone in the mood.
Have a little gander each day and hopefully you might discover some great music and get a few tips for bands you might want to check out. See you there! Mine's a San Miguel!  

New Order playing 15/7

The Maccabees playing 13/7

Countdown to Benicassim: 9 Days

So there are just 9 days to go until this years Benicassim festival! (http://www.fiberfib.com/) The line up is unbelievable and everyone at Dan In The Front Row headquarters is getting really excited.
We thought that with the countdown on, each day right up until Beni kicks off we would feature a couple of our fave tracks from artists who will grace the stages this year, you know, just to get everyone in the mood.
Have a little gander each day and hopefully you might discover some great music and get a few tips for bands you might want to check out. See you there! Mine's a San Miguel! 

TheStone Roses playing 14/7

Buzzcocks playing 14/7

Countdown To Benicassim: 14 Days

So there are just 14 days to go until this years Benicassim festival! (http://www.fiberfib.com/) The line up is unbelievable and everyone at Dan In The Front Row headquarters is getting really excited.
We thought that with the countdown on, each day right up until Beni kicks off we would feature a couple of our fave tracks from artists who will grace the stages this year, you know, just to get everyone in the mood.
Have a little gander each day and hopefully you might discover some great music and get a few tips for bands you might want to check out. See you there! Mine's a San Miguel! 

Bob Dylan playing 13/7

Howler playing 15/7

Countdown to Benicassim: 19 Days, Featuring The Vaccines and Shit Robot

So there are just 19 days to go until this years Benicassim festival! (http://www.fiberfib.com/) The line up is unbelievable and everyone at Dan In The Front Row headquarters is getting really excited.
We thought that with the countdown on, each day right up until Beni kicks off we would feature a couple of our fave tracks from artists who will grace the stages this year, you know, just to get everyone in the mood.
Have a little gander each day and hopefully you might discover some great music and get a few tips for bands you might want to check out. See you there! Mine's a San Miguel!

The Vaccines playing 15/7

Shit Robot playing 14/7

Countdown To Benicassim: 21 Days

So there are just 21 days to go until this years Benicassim festival! (http://www.fiberfib.com/) The line up is unbelievable and everyone at Dan In The Front Row headquarters is getting really excited.
We thought that with the countdown on, each day right up until Beni kicks off we would feature a couple of our fave tracks from artists who will grace the stages this year, you know, just to get everyone in the mood.
Have a little gander each day and hopefully you might discover some great music and get a few tips for bands you might want to check out. See you there! Mine's a San Miguel!

Crystal Castles playing 14/7

The Crookes playing 15/7

Countdown To Benicassim: 22 Days

So there are just 22 days to go until this years Benicassim festival! (http://www.fiberfib.com/) The line up is unbelievable and everyone at Dan In The Front Row headquarters is getting really excited.
We thought that with the countdown on, each day right up until Beni kicks off we would feature a couple of our fave tracks from artists who will grace the stages this year, you know, just to get everyone in the mood.
Have a little gander each day and hopefully you might discover some great music and get a few tips for bands you might want to check out. See you there! Mine's a San Miguel!

Little Dragon playing 13/7

Dizzee Rascal playing 14/7

Countdown to Benicassim: 23 days

So there are just 23 days to go until this years Benicassim festival! (www.fiberfib.com) The line up is unbelievable and everyone at Dan In The Front Row headquarters is getting really excited.
We thought that with the countdown on, each day right up until Beni kicks off we would feature a couple of our fave tracks from artists who will grace the stages this year, you know, just to get everyone in the mood.
Have a little gander each day and hopefully you might discover some great music and get a few tips for bands you might want to check out. See you there! Mine's a San Miguel!

Zola Jesus playing 13/7

Todd Terje playing 15/7

Countdown to Benicassim 24 days

So there are just 24 days to go until this years Benicassim festival! (www.fiberfib.com) The line up is unbelievable and everyone at Dan In The Front Row headquarters is getting really excited.
We thought that with the countdown on, each day right up until Beni kicks off we would feature a couple of our fave tracks from artists who will grace the stages this year, you know, just to get everyone in the mood.
Have a little gander each day and hopefully you might discover some great music and get a few tips for bands you might want to check out. See you there! Mine's a San Miguel!

The Horrors playing Thursday 12/7

Maya Jane Coles playing Sunday 15/7

#25//FIELD DAY//2nd June//Victoria Park//London//My tips

So it's nearly upon us, a mere 3 days away and i'm excited. Really excited. London's Field Day is always a massive highlight on my festival calender every year.
1) It's a one dayer, brilliant, this means you can hit it hard all day and be safe in the knowledge that if the worst comes to the worst you can be home in your lovely bed within half an hour and not back to some shitty tent, (not that we will, we'll all end up in some warehouse over east, standard.)
2) It's for proper music people, you wont find any jessie js or professor Greens on this line up and you certainly wont get any fucking mums and dads with little Tarquin and Jemima who simply must "get to the main stage to see Stevie Wonder" like you get at Glasto, no, it's proper music for proper people who wanna get properly fucked up.
3) And most importantly, the line up is so strong every year that i honestly haven't bothered to check it until now, 3 days before the actual festival, i was that confident it would be good i just bought my ticket without even looking.
So i have just this minute actually had a look and i've been proved right again, the line up is absolutely cracking. Below is my pick of the bands you should try and catch on each of the various stages, now i know some of these overlap in which case you will have to use your own judgement or, my tip for how to choose who to watch when bands overlap is...involve some sort of elaborate drinking game to decide who gets the nod, it's the best way...

Laneway stage
13.50 Blood orange
17.20 Kindness
18.30 Spector
19.40 Sleighbells
20.50 Vaccines

Spector: never fade away: http://youtu.be/lAr15Ol8G14

Eat your own ears stage

14.40 Pond

18.40 Metronomy

Metronomy: the look: http://youtu.be/sFrNsSnk8GM

Shacklewell arms stage
13.05 Friends

13.50 citizens

14.35 crocodiles

18.50 Theme park

21.20 Austra

22.20 Baxter Dury

Crocodiles: mirrors: http://youtu.be/MhGlOjxgxcQ

Red bull stage

16.40 Jessie Ware

Jessie Ware: 110%: http://youtu.be/eblGD5yuid8

Bugged out stage

18.00 Julio Bashmore

19.40 SBTRKT

20.40 Maya Jane Coles

Julio Bashmore: battle for middle you: http://youtu.be/SpY9lxI8axo

So there you go, enjoy it peeps, get wasted, kiss a stranger and bask in the best bands around at FIELD DAY!!!!!!!

Contact me on dannywoodlands@yahoo.co.uk

Peace x

#24//Thank Pablo//Cafe 1001//Brick lane//London//Tuesday 3rd April

Tuesday found me in a place you can normally find me on a Sunday with a can of Red Stripe in hand and a reggae bounce in my step, i do so love a Sunday afternoon in The Big Chill on Brick Lane skanking to some serious reggae vibes but tonight i was a couple of doors up at 1001 to check out hotly tipped new band Thank Pablo.

 Thank Pablo describe their music as "sun-kissed quintessentially English pop that has been dragged through the backstreets of Africa, Spain, France and Jamaica" This is a pretty spot on statement. The lyrics are all romantic and nostalgic and very, very "English" with tales of growing up, falling in love, being scared of times a changing, most tracks would fit perfectly into a film about two childhood sweethearts that run off to the freedom of an English coastal town on an adventure away from the scary responsibilities that are approaching at home. The melodies are where the other influences come in and i really noticed the African jingle jangle of the guitar and bass, they have a very upbeat sound and my feet were tapping by about verse two of opener 'just friends'.
The boys have been getting some serious airplay by very well respected radio DJs of late with Tom Robinson of BBC6 music raving about them and The Oracle himself, John Kennedy, The Godfather of new music on XFM throwing his weight behind them, Mr Kennedy has even invited them to play at his upcoming night at The Tooting Tram on the 20th of April, high praise indeed, oh and they supported some little band called Kasabian on Friday, dunno if you've ever heard of them??!
All of this left me feeling pretty lucky to have seen the lads in this tiny venue on a rain lashed Tuesday night before they blow up.

 SET LIST 
1, Just friends
2, Good things
3, By the sea
4, My favourite subject
5, Old habits
6, Dinosaurs and astronauts
7, Wonderful
8, A little sunshine

Highlights on the night were the beautifully innocent 'Dinosaurs and astronauts' and the infectious 'My favourite subject',a track that made me think of Bug juice, remember that? That great show about the summer camp you used to watch in the school holidays when you were a kid? You should defo check out these and their other tracks on their website: thankpablo.co.uk

 Nitty Gritty
Crowd: mostly people keen to check out new music like myself, cool crowd.
Drinks: just as expensive as everywhere else to be honest.
Venue: good size, nice and small, Cafe 1001 is usually a place you go to at 9am in the morning to carry on partying after you have been out all night, it's normally full of loons so it was interesting to see it host an indie night, it worked well.
Cool band or what? yeah cool lads, full of northern charm and good haircuts and we all know it's about the haircuts don't we.

Thank Pablo play very laid back joyful summer music and next time the sun is out i shall be sat on my roof terrace with a Bacardi and Coke in my hand and Thank Pablo blasting out my speakers.
The lads have loads of shows coming up so be sure to go see them, you can find out all the info you need on the band and their tour dates on their website thankpablo.co.uk

Contact me on dannywoodlands@yahooco.uk
Peace xx

#23//Awsa Bergstrom//Notting Hill Arts Club//London//Friday 30th March

I have been 'Dan In The Front Row' for quite a while now and are there are many great things about it but by far the best is that it gives me the opportunity to meet so many interesting and talented people along the way. 

At a recent www.sofarsounds.com gig in a strangers living room in Hackney i had the pleasure of being sat next to the incredibly gifted and beautiful Awsa Bergstrom.

Awsa is a singer/songwriter from Scandinavia who is now based in West London, she has performed with many legendary acts over the years including Madonna, Nick Cave, Stevie Wonder and Elbow to name but a few and has graced some of the world's greatest stages from The Royal Albert Hall to Wembley.

Awsa is now recording and performing her own material and has lots of exciting projects in the pipe line, she kindly invited me to the famous Notting Hill Arts Club to see her perform at the Rock The Belles night (rockthebelles.com) , I had a feeling i would not be disappointed. 

The Arts Club is a famous old venue that has a seen many great artists hit it's stage over the years aswell as hosting epic House music parties, it is a small cavernous space with low lights and a great atmosphere. It's a pretty perfect little joint to experience Awsa's brand of Electro pop.
The room was practically full as Awsa and her band took to the stage and right from the off she had the audience eating out of the palm of her hand, she is a very charismatic front woman and her confident banter was very well received.
By the second verse of opening track 'Maybe' most people were dancing and this pretty much set the standard for the rest of the show. The highlights for me came in the middle of the set with the incredibly charming 'Innocence', i love the playful tone of this song and you can actually here her accent on this track which i love, this was preceded by 'Do it again' which has a gloriously sleazy chorus that had me hot under the collar as i watched her sing the words on stage! This is the sort of song that Alison Goldfrapp and Kylie Minogue would love to get their hands on. Awsa  does exude Scandinavian vibes which works to her advantage, i could hear the best bits of Robyn and The Knife in some of the music but she also has the stage presence and sex appeal of Lykke Li,  i really like the Scandinavian angle and it is part of the draw for me.
The show ended with a rousing rendition of 'If i could let go' with Awsa cutting one on the stage grinning from ear to ear, as i looked around the room that's pretty much what everyone else was doing too!

SET LIST


1, Maybe
2, Lost in translation
3, Do it again http://youtu.be/J5BXXXOXJgk
4, Innocence
5, There's got to be a cure http://youtu.be/5IWN5caeZK4
6, If i could let go http://youtu.be/hcZQ6IqNLWw

Awsa's voice is ridiculously good, click on the links above to see some of her videos and hear it for yourselves. You must check out her cover of Emili Sande's 'Heaven' too cos it is pretty special: http://youtu.be/Zwqu3ISVzXo

NITTY GRITTY


Venue: Decent, smaller venues are always better, you don't need me to tell you this, right next to the tube at Notting Hill Gate too, sweet.
Drinks: Before 9pm it was £2.50 a beer which is pretty reasonable but after 9pm it seemed to go up to £4.50, i know it's possible i may have been  merked at the bar by a new waitress or something but if that was a genuine price hike then that is not on, after Awsa performed it was a club night so i can see this happening to be honest.
Crowd: cool mix of mostly people in their late 20's and lots of hot girls which is always great.
Ok, ok so we know Awsa is good but is she cool?: Yeah she's cool, she has that gorgeous Scandi thing going on and she was rocking a funky haircut with a sheer blouse over black bra combo, (which i'm loving on chicks right now, so take note girls, this is a good look, haha), she's a cool customer.

So yep very impressed with Awsa, make sure you check out her website, twitter and facebook:

www.awsamusic.com

twitter.com/awsamusic

facebook.com/awsamusic

Special thanks to @bencurwenphotography.com for allowing us to use his amazing pics from the night.

Contact me on dannywoodlands@yahoo.co.uk and stay tuned for my upcoming interview with Awsa!

#22//WU LYF//Heaven//London//Wednesday 21st March

Some of you may remember that i saw WU LYF play towards the end of last year at Shepard's Bush Empire. That gig went down as the second best live performance i had witnessed all year, that is some praise considering i must get through about 80 gigs a year, they were only bettered in my opinion by The Strokes set at Benicassim in the summer and you must take into account that i'm a Strokes obsessive and that night they played the greatest, greatest hits set anyone is ever likely to see them play. So you can imagine i was very much looking forward to seeing this band again.

SET LIST

1, Cave song

2, Summas Bliss

3, Such a sad puppy dog

4, Spitting blood

5, Dirt

6, Krusty (papa m cover)

7, Concrete gold

8, 14 crowns for me and your friends

9, Heavy pop

Encore

10, Unknown

11, We bros

I should probably start by saying that Heaven has got to be the perfect place to see WU LYF, it's very intimate, it's all exposed brick walls and it's within railway arches deep under Charing Cross Station, it's beautifully, eerily lit and suits the drama that the band produce down to a T.
I have always thought of WU LYF as more than just a band, to me they are like a cult, the huge throbbing neon crucifix that accompanies them on stage, the smoke that fills the room, the organ led sermon like tunes that build and build into blissed out euphoria, not to mention the vocals that are delivered with such ferocity like a preacher spitting down prophecies to his disciples. Even down to the merchandise on sale, all pins, tees and sew on patches emblazoned with the iconic crucifix image, heck i got so caught up in it that i even bought one to stick on my denim jacket, i'm more than happy to be a disciple.

Tonight's set was great, the close setting suiting the band much more than some enormodome, every song was met with deep approval by the enraptured crowd and there was plenty of raving and crowdsurfing to some of the more uplifting moments, personal highlights for me on the night were:
'Spitting blood' http://youtu.be/pDTEhWO2wyo,
'Heavy pop' http://youtu.be/SvsHJjldYW8
And finally i just cannot get enough of the pure elation of 'We bros' http://youtu.be/AaZ4voI4zA4
Click on the links and have a listen to these tracks yourself.

NITTY GRITTY

Crowd: lot of cool kids, mixture of ages, i was actually impressed by the number of older people in the audience, i guess this reflects the quite sophisticated sound of such a young band.
Venue: Heaven is one of the best small venues in London and i cant recommend it enough for live music.
Drinks: Same as most places really but it still pisses me off that venues charge you nearly four quid for a fucking CAN of beer.
So WU LYF, cool customers? Real deal? Or just a hyped gimmick?: The hype that surrounded this band at the beginning has been totally justified, they are instantly recognisable, they have a great individual sound and are really intelligent accomplished artists, in fact the only down side to the whole night was hearing Ellery Roberts state that unless they decide they have something important to say then these would be their last gigs, i wouldnt put this past a band that has always like to to do what is least expected of them but i for one hope they keep going because there is no one else like them out there today.

ACE FACE
Kassandra Powell, director from Greece

Hey Kassandra! So what did you think of tonight??

I loved it Dan, awesome live performance, great vocals, i can't understand a word the guy is saying but that doesn't matter, it all adds to it for me and there was a really good vibe about the crowd.

What is your fave track?

Cave song, no doubt, i loved it from the moment you first played it to me.

Have you been into them for long?

I haven't actually, you turned me onto them recently and this was my first gig since i have been in London, i'm hooked!!

Who else do you like at the moment?

For me there is no one else but The Horrors.

And finally, what was the last tune you played on your Ipod??

Heartbeats, the original version by The Knife.

Great choice, cheers Kass!!

Stay tuned to Dan In The Front Row for upcoming shows from The Rifles, Bombay bicycle club and many many more, contact me on dannywoodlands@yahoo.co.uk xxx

#21//Our Friends In The North

Although i am a loud and proud South Londoner i have a lot of ties with the North of England. My last two girlfriends were both proper northern lasses, i have millions of friends who come from 'oop north' and most importantly half my family moved up to Yorkshire when i was just a nipper. Tomorrow morning i'm going to grab my little bro Lee (remember him, Europe's 2nd best heating engineer) and we are jumping on the train up to visit 'Nan In The Front Row' for the weekend. This inspired me to think about all the great music that has come out of Northern England over the years, below are some of my fave tracks by Northern artists, click on the links and enjoy the tunes x

Joy Division: shadow play: http://youtu.be/FzTw4PYfROU

Oasis: Cast no shadow: http://youtu.be/QFqtfsmAAOM

WU LYF: we bros: http://youtu.be/AaZ4voI4zA4

The Smiths: there is a light that never goes out:  http://youtu.be/INgXzChwipY

The Cribs: mirror kissers: http://youtu.be/GzqZborBWtA

The Sunshine Underground: borders: http://youtu.be/KF__UqnQf7I

The Courteeners: you over did it doll: http://youtu.be/t5yQNpgeR8E

Arctic Monkeys: suck it and see: http://youtu.be/TlYJKfunfC0

The Stone Roses: she bangs the drums: http://youtu.be/wD6Pq0bSMPo

#20//Getting to know you...//Ca$hback DJs Ash & Steph Barker//Lock Tavern//London//Friday 2nd March

Camden has always been great, for years now it has attracted all kinds of weird and wonderful characters and has been the hub of all the best live music and DJ sets in London. Last Friday i jumped on the Northern line and headed to NW1's best pub, The Lock Tavern to meet party starting Ca$hback DJs (and sisters) Ash and Steph Barker for what proved to be a great night of music, drinking and dancing. The girls were kind enough to sit down with me over a few beers before their set and have a little chat about what makes them tick and how they came to be putting on what has turned into one of London's best nights out.

Ash and Steph rocking out

Hey guys, so from your accents i can tell you're not from London. Where you from?

We're from County Durham, the posh part of the north of England, (well, we tell people it's posh, it's not really!)

So what brought you to our fair city?

Steph: A boy! i came down for a boy! ha!

Ash: and i came down to get her away from the boy! 

Oooooohh scandal! wanna elaborate?

Both: No! 

Hahahaha fair enough! Why did you settle in Camden?

Oh well a couple of years back it was pretty cheap plus all our friends were here so it was natural for us to end up in Camden and we wouldn't swap it, it's awesome.

Tell me about the name, how did you come up with ca$back?

A: well it's a few things, one is an Alan Partridge reference and another is that i used to work behind the bar and all our friends would always ask for cashback...

S: and it's also something our mate Dave Danger shouts at that special moment when he is in bed with a lady!!! hahahaha.

Really?! He sounds interesting!

S: Dave Danger is a legend!

Shuga

How long have you been running this night and how did it start up?

A: well the the pub approached us to start it really, 

S: i think it started September 2009,

A: i was working behind the bar anyway and the pub was normally taken over with all of our friends so the management thought it would be good to put some bands and DJs on and they knew we would get people down and fill the place up.

How did you two end up DJing at the night?

S: we agreed to do the last hour of each night.

A: we said we wouldn't do more than an hour,

S: we haven't got the patience for more than that and we end up arguing about the songs and stuff!

I guess that's inevitable being sisters?

A: well yeah. we like a lot of the same stuff but when we are both behind the decks we sometimes end up trying to pull in different directions.

So how do you pick the songs?

A: Steph normally pics them and if i disagree then we normally have a fight! 

Both: hahahahaha no we love each other really! We are actually really close.

S: i remember the first gig we ever did we had a massive row before we went on over which songs to play, we were literally stood back to back playing!...

A: but then we played a song that we both loved and it helped us make up and then we were fine! We always make up and it's usually over someone like Beyonce! 

Beyonce?!

Both: hey! we LOVE Beyonce!

How do people hear about the nights you put on?

 A: we put the stuff on facebook but it's mostly word of mouth,
S: we don't want just anybody coming in, it's normally friends, regulars etc, we never normally let big rowdy groups in,
A: we have people we don't really know that have been coming to the nights for ages, its a little exclusive but it has to be, that's how we want it and the place isn't huge so we want just the right amount of people in.
How often is Ca$back on? 
S: it's only once every 3months now, it's too stressful and too much hard work to do it anymore than that. We both work other jobs, and mainly do this for fun,
A: it's so much easier having two of you doing it, it really helps and is more enjoyable.
S: it really helps if the bands are up for it too,
A: we have had bands that are a bit arsey and it makes everything more difficult but then we have had bands that we haven't been able to pay, just given them some food and drink and they have brought like 30 people down that have stayed and partied all night, if the bands really want it, it makes the nights go off a lot better.
You always get pretty good names here,
A: yeah we have had Tribes play about three times, Turbogeist, Bebe Black to name but a few,
S: we seem to be a lucky charm, every band that plays here seems to get signed pretty soon after!

Fun Bobby and Ash

What do you guys do when you when your not DJing?

A: i work at an advertising agency. it's great and a really creative environment,

S: i work as a PA at a music management company, we deal with some pretty cool people like Suede and Chrissie Hynde, it's all good, it has it's moments.

When i meet interesting people like yourselves it's always nice to hear your recommendations, little pearls of wisdom to pass on etc so here goes:

Can u recommend to me:

A, a restaurant in London?

S: Bintang on Kentish Town rd, amazing thai food and you can bring your own booze!

A: it's got to be the Big Easy on the Kings Rd, its a crab shack, does great American style food, steaks, ribs, wings, lobster, crab etc, its brillant.

B, holiday destination?

S: i will always say New York, i just love the place.

A: Barcelona for me, it's a beautiful place.

Place to shop?

A: there is a place on Redchurch st called Labour and Wait that does great kitchen wear, really quiky stuff, it's a bit expensive but i love it!

S: for the record i'm 23, i'm young and hip, i'm not bothered about kitchen essentials!

A: i love kitchen essentials, so sue me!

S: if it's vintage your after you can't really beat Brick lane or Covent garden, i know everyone says that but it's true, oh and the Rokit on covent garden is better than the one over east by the way.

Film?

S: Point Break, no question! Love it!

A: Parenthood, an old Steve Martin film, brilliant.

Tv show?

A: i love the American Office and right now i'm loving Homeland.

S: i'm obsessed with Eastenders and Coronation street!!!

New band?

Both: you have to check out our friend Bebe Black www.myspace.com/bebeblackmusic we heard her singing in our kitchen one day and she just blew us away, we told her she has to start making music and she has, she has just been signed and i can't describe in words how good she is.

Steph

What are the top five acts of all time you would have play at your dream festival?

S: Nirvana, Johnny cash and Beyonce! i don't need anyone else!

A: Nirvana, Tom Jones (when he was all young and chesty), Bruce Springsteen, Pixies and Tina Turner.

What song are you going to have as the first dance at your wedding?

S: i know i'm not getting married but if i ever did it would be November Rain by Guns n Roses but only if it was exactly like the video.

A: Mine is gonna be The way you make me feel by Michael Jackson!

Shuga

Ok, slightly random but i have way too much time on my hands and this is something i have thought about a lot; in the film of your life, what would soundtrack the scene at the end of the movie where a, you slip away slowly into death, or b, walk off into the sunset? For example my death tune would be the intro on the XX album on a loop and my sunset tune would be Rebel Rebel by David Bowie, what are your's?

A: believe it or not i do think about this stuff too, my music to die to would be anything by Edith Piaf.

S: oh my death tune would be Bye bye bye by N'sync, defo.

Really? i thought you may chose Interpol or something like that..?

S: nope, N'sync 100 %,

Haha, fair enough.

A: my walking off into the sunset tune is Tiny Dancer, Elton John.

That is a brilliant choice, love it!

S: i'm choosing Pressure drop by Toots and the maytals.

Girls these tracks are fucking perfect! Well done! 

What gigs and festivals have you got planned?

S: Leeds festival is the one we love, we go religiously, adore it,

A: This has got to be the 7th year on the spin that we're going, oh and Field day too.

I think for the line up and the people that go, Field day is London's best festival, i think it pisses all over Lovebox which is pretty popular.

Both: totally.

A: and i like that they have brought it forward to June, the weather will be better. Oh i think i'll go to Bestival too, always a great laugh.

It's a DJ love-in

Was there a special moment that turned you on to music? I hadn't been to a single concert until i was 18 then a load of us went to Milton Keynes Bowl to see Oasis and that was it for me, it just blew me away and totally transformed my life, it was like a message from God! This was where i belonged! i must have been to about 500 gigs since! What was your moment?

A: my story doesn't really matter we've got to talk about Steph's, go on Steph,

S: no its embarrassing, you tell it,

A: when i was about 19, so Steph would have been 15, i was rather lamely, massively into Jet, we went  to this big gig up north where they were supported by 10,000 things, you know Sam Riley who went on to play Ian Curtis in Control, they were his band. Well my sis had never been to any kind of live music before,

S: never, ever,

A: this was the kid that wore a tracksuit and was into Blazing Squad, the whole place was going mental and i just looked round at Steph and she was just going crazy, really loving it, i thought 'ahhhh you cute little bastard!'
S: it's something that can make me and Ash cry when we think about it,
A: you're right it was like a seminal moment that we will never forget.
S: i just changed over night, like, bought my converse, started buying the NME, haha who the fuck did i think i was, but yeah, i realised this is for me, this is my music, i can't be listening to fucking Scooter for the rest of my life! ( even though they are wicked! haha, leave that in).

Photographer Beki Cowey

Any strange shit happen at any of your gigs?

S: hmmmm mostly just Bobby, he's not one for getting wrecked all the time but at our nights he always gets wasted and has the best time, he's so funny, he DJs with us.

A: he says Ca$hback makes him the person he wants to be! hahahahaha!

Fuck, that's brilliant, you should use that as your tag line!

A: yeah 'come to Ca$hback and become the person you always wanted to be!'

S: he makes it for me really, so yeah keep an eye on Bobby.

Tuuuuuune!!!

Are people cheeky enough to request songs?

S: hmmm not really, they can't get to us cos we're tucked up in the corner.

A: i remember one time we DJ'd in Sheperds Bush and i was shit scared that we wouldn't have enough songs so i went and bought this multipack cd of RnB classics, This group of guys kept asking for all these new hip hop tunes and we didn't have a fucking thing! 

S: that's the thing with us, we don't keep our ear to the ground or anything, we play all classic hip hop and RnB, like Wu Tang clan and Jay Z, Warren G stuff like that.

A: i mean all the bands we put on are mostly guitar bands so we like to offset it by playing hip hop in our set.

S: we never have a set list, it's always just what we feel, we DJ off cd's or records, we never have anyone playing our nights off a laptop or ipod, we don't allow it.

A: you won't here any minimal or anything like that, i want to play Michael Jackson and i want people to go fucking nuts i don't want a room full of people standing there nodding their heads.

Do you play drunk?

A: no never,we would mess it up!

S: i did it once years ago, i was DJing at Proud for Smash n Grab and i was off my nut because i was so nervous, there must have been 600 people in the room and i hadn't been doing it long, i was thinking 'shit, i have to play music for all these people, i ended up so drunk i was just slumped in the DJ box, i think Bobby had to come and rescue the set! That was a wake up call, never again.

Is there a song that always makes the room go crazy?

S: well when i was a kid i used to love wrestling and i remember The Rock brought out this tune with Wyclef, i dropped that one night for a laugh and the place went mental! i think it took everyone back to being kids, it was pretty funny, i thought i would get in trouble but they loved it.

i'm really looking forward to playing MIA's new song, Bad girls, tonight, i think it will go down well.

Ash

So, the whole thing about female DJs, i must say it's very very hot! Do you get chatted up by the punters? I'm your mate and i know you both have boyfriends but if i was just some punter i would defo chat you up after seeing you in the DJ box! hahaha,

S: would you!? but you said i was weird!

I said i like you cos your weird, it was a compliment, weird people rock, normal people are really boring!

S: ah that's ok then, ah thanks Dan,

A: we have had a few people removed but that's because they were being dicks, not really chatting us up, we always have all our friends with us so we are pretty protected.

Steph

Girls I've had the best night, you are both amazing and thank you so much for taking the time for this interview, so finally, why should people come to Ca$hback?

Both: if you want to have loads of fun, see great live bands, dance your asses off to wicked old school tunes and mix with a really friendly crowd then you should hit up Ca$hback! It makes you the person you always wanted to be! hahahahahahaha xxx

I'm a Ca$hback regular now for sure and i strongly suggest you check the girls out, you will find them in The Lock Tavern, 35 Chalk Farm Rd, Camden, it's one of the best pubs in London and you would be mad not to check it out! 

All attached images are strictly © Beki Cowey / Bekitakespictures (2012) and are licensed to Ca$hback for use in conjunction with internet promotion of their club night. Further use is not permitted without prior consent, and unauthorised use in any media is prohibited