EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Meet the Australian duo making waves on this side of the hemisphere, Set Mo!

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Meet the Australian duo making waves on this side of the hemisphere, Set Mo!

Sydney’s hardest-working electronic pairing Set Mo (Nick Drabble & Stu Turner) return with the ninth installment of their one track a month series. “Stuck” comes off the back of the release of “Down the Line” and “Wish You Were Here” – as 2018 is shaping up to be Set Mo’s most thrilling year yet. Written at Tileyards in London, where their now gold-certified single “White Dress” was written 3 years earlier, “Stuck” fuses together Set Mo’s addictive pool of signature summer house sound designs, delivering a mammoth testament to the glorious catalog of quintessential dance tracks enjoyed thus far throughout the series.

Hello Set Mo! Thank you for making some time to speak to us!

First of all, we know that you guys first came together as DJs, often finding yourselves on the same bill. We would like to know about each of your early musical experiences? How have those experiences fed into the duo you are today?

Growing up we both came from musical households where there was always music on at home. When we became teenagers we began to discover what music we were both drawn to and it was quite different. I (Nick) got right into Hip-Hop and Stu was more into punk rock. When we turned 18 and both started going to nightclubs which is when we truly fell in love with electronic music and DJing. We’ve gone through quite a few phases of being into different sounds and genres but I guess the one thing we’ve always loved and that probably brought us together in the first place is our shared love of house music.

You’ve had a couple of gigs in the US over the summer months – one in California and one in NYC. Can you tell us about your experience here in the US?

It was really cool to come over and play in the states for the first time. We’ve both been there before but to come and do shows in a new place is always an exciting experience. New York was a great show as we played alongside some friends Classixx and Cassian, then headed over to the West Coast and went to Portland, San Francisco and finished with an awesome show at Splash House in Palm Springs. It’s always interesting to see how people in new places respond to your music and still blows our mind when people are singing along to our songs.

How does the US crowd compare to the Aussie crowds you know so well?

The US crowds that we had the pleasure of playing to were great. I think they like having Aussies come over and play. It’s obviously a bit different to back home as people are more familiar with our music here but it seems like the US crowds are certainly open to our stuff.

How do you think being Australian has influenced you as artists?

It’s hard to say exactly. I think the fact that Australia is so multicultural means we’re definitely exposed to a wide variety of things whether that be food, fashion or music and as a result all these diverse experiences have come through in our music. Also, the fact that Sydney is quite a beautiful, bright city most of the year I think has had an influence on our music as it’s usually quite positive and uplifting.

You’re in the midst of an intense release schedule – one track each month! This must be quite a challenge! Can you tell us about some of the challenges you have faced and how you overcame them?

Haha, I don’t think we realized quite how intense it would be! We had all the songs written at the start of the year when we decided to do this but finishing them is a different story. We’re kind of perfectionists when it comes to signing off a track but it’s been good as it’s forced us to be more decisive and back ourselves which has been a great learning experience.

Are any of the tracks inspired by time you spent in the US? If so, can you tell us the story?

Not from this round of tracks as we hadn’t spent any time writing over there previously but keep your ears pricked next year, there’s more than likely a couple of tracks that channel a bit of that US energy.

Your recent release, ‘Stuck’ is the ninth release in your one track per month schedule. Can you tell us about the story behind this track?

Stuck was written in London a year ago in a studio complex called Tileyards. Tileyards has a special place in our heart as it’s the place we wrote White Dress 3 years earlier, as well as being the home to some of our biggest influence’s studios such as Basement Jaxx and The Prodigy. We’d forgotten just how prevalent house music is in the UK, especially in London and we’d been hearing it everywhere we went and so we decided to do our version of a piano house tune to play at the Australian festivals over the Summer. It all came together in a matter of hours and we couldn’t be happier with the finished result!

You have collaborated with a number of artists such as AJ Wright, Asta, and Scott Quinn. Can you tell us who your dream collaborator would be and why?

There are so many, we actually have a list so we’ll give you a few. We’d love to work with Rick Rubin or Brian Eno as they are amazing producers. Then we literally have a list with a tonne of singers but one in particular who we’ve loved for years is Ali Love.

You guys are very well groomed and extremely stylish. Who or where are your favorite style inspirations right now?

Why thank you, we do love fashion and definitely own more sneakers than necessary. A$AP Rocky springs straight to mind as well as Pharrell. Brad Pitt and David Beckham are both very steezy gentlemen as well.

Over the past year or so you have been focused on your crazy release schedule, along with touring. What is in store for Set Mo in the coming year?

It certainly has been a pretty crazy schedule that’s kept us busy! Next year you can expect even more music from us as well as our first foray into the live sphere. We’re very excited to be stepping away from the decks and playing all this music we’ve made live for everyone.

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Having spent 2017 focused heavily on writing and recording, Nick and Stu are excited to share their abundance of new music, created in studios across London, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Australia. With an enduring ability to repeatedly outdo themselves with each monthly track, don’t miss your chance to lose yourself to the glorious grooves laid down by Set Mo’s newest track “Stuck” at your nearest Stamina Session this Spring.

LISTEN TO SET MO ‘STUCK’ HERE

Listen to Set Mo @ Splash House – June 10th, 2018:

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