Quickie with a DJ: Goldfish

Check out the title track from their new album, 'Three Second Memory' below.

So 'Three Second Memory' has been released. How do you rank it amongst your other releases?

Dom: We're super stoked with it. While you're making an album you have a lot of sleepless nights agonizing over EQ's, synths, vocals...basically everything. But now that we can sit back and listen to it mastered and all completed we're really happy. We really wanted to make something that was timeless and wouldn't be disposable like so much of the stuff being churned out cookie-cutter style at the moment. That was the whole thing about three second memory. Not just the play on Goldfish having a supposed three second memory - but that so much music feels disposable and like it has a three second lifespan. It gets released, played to death and you never want to hear it again. We tried to stay away from that...It's music you can live to, not just dance to.

Is there anything you guys listened to that inspired the creative process for this album?

Miike Snow, Moby's return to form, and a lot of stuff that you wouldn't think. We listen to a lot of old school jazz, rock, funk. The quickest way to make a boring album is to listen to what is being released and 'hot' right now because unconsciously that is what you'll end up making..You need to draw your influences from further a field.

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Well I always wanted to be a musician. That or a helicopter pilot. Still working on that part..a mate of mine is trying to get me to take the course but time isn't really on our side at the moment. Actually, I think I'd be a terrible pilot, I'm far to impulsive and experimental to be allowed to fly helicopters.

When did you first develop a passion for music?

Dave and I have both being playing musical instruments since we were around 5 or 6. Sometime before that I thoughtfully painted all the notes on our family piano in different colours with marker pens. My folks were not stoked. Turns out there was a reason I did it, as when I got older I discovered weirdly I could hear colours in music. Apparently it's called synaesthesia so I'd just been helpfully connecting the dots..drawing on that poor piano. Then I figured out I also had something called perfect pitch which really blew the world wide open for me. I figured out I could listen to a song on the radio and play it back on the piano pretty much straight after, which was really amazing for meeting girls when I was 13. I was ridiculously shy...but I could play their favourite songs even if I was useless talking to them haha! That unlocked my world and music has basically my obsession and best friend since then.

What was your first job?

My first job was actually playing music. I got a gig playing my own tunes and covers on keyboard in a shopping mall for tips when I was 14..the soccer mom's were my target market. Then playing hotel lobbies and weddings with Dave when we left school. That's actually how we paid for our studio and started Goldfish.

What sparked your interest/inspired you to become a DJ?

Dave and I always loved all types of music. But Jazz and Electronic just go so well together. One is free, analogue and earthy and the other is structured, electronic and squeaky clean. When you mash those two together you get something with the best qualities of both. Sort of like a peanut butter and jam sandwich… or Wasabi with sushi. It’s the contrast that brings out the best in each other. We discovered we both shared a love for artists like St Germain, Kruder and Dorfmeister, The Verve Remix Albums and out of that came the desire to make it and to perform it ourselves. We wanted to combine the instruments we played with the beats that we loved. So technically we aren't and never have been DJ's. But that term is evolving anyway.

How did you get your start?

We just went to Ibiza. We didn’t have a gig or anything, we sort of knew a guy we’d met playing a small club in Cape Town who had said if we were ever in Ibiza he could put us up in this German resort for school leavers in Ibiza on their Spring Break. It was chaos! We stayed there in return for playing a couple of shows in the little private club they had there, which was great as Ibiza is a crazy expensive place to just hang out in without Euros..our exchange rate kills us. Somehow, we managed to blag a gig at Café Mambo, opening for Pete Tong, who used to do his Pacha Pre party there on a Friday at Sunset. We got 20 minutes to play and we did our thing as best we could with our live gear on two dining tables and a duct-taped extension lead to power us up. It must have gone pretty well because Pete was stoked and it just so happened the MD of Pacha was there too. He asked us if we wanted to play a set at Pacha that night? We checked our diaries and saw that in fact, we were free... So, just like that, we rocked our first proper show in Ibiza at one of the world’s most famous clubs. From playing school kids at a german holiday resort to Pacha Ibiza in one day! We agreed to a record deal on the terrace after the show. Fast forward 5 years and hear we are. That's Ibiza for you, it's a special place for music and dreams.

What would you be doing if you weren't DJing?

Definitely Surfing.

Do you have time for anything else besides producing and performing? What do you like to do in your free time?

Well like we said surfing is a huge part of our lives. When we're not on tour and even when we are, we are always looking for an opportunity to surf. That could be two foot milkshake slop after a freak storm in Ibiza or a wavepool in Dubai... or crunching 6-8ft barrels in Brazil. We're really lucky in that way coming from South Africa. We have some of the best surf in the world and J-Bay which is one of the worlds best waves is just a few hours away from Cape Town. Actually snuck up there a couple weeks back between tour stops and got lucky.

What are 5 adjectives that you think best describe your personality? Creative, instinctive, impulsive, loyal and forgetful(where do you think the name Goldfish came from).

What do you think sets you apart from other DJs/artists? How is your sound/style different? Well we're not really DJ's. Our whole thing is bringing back the live element to dance music. It's definitely a movement and we can feel the audiences are looking for it for sure. We just played a sold out show in Paris with Dutch artist Bakermat where every kid we spoke to said the same thing..they're over music where it's all about 'the drop' and are looking for music that isn't so functional. Something that has melody and chords in it again. I can't tell you how happy that makes us!

Describe your sound/musical style:

Warm, jazzy, house with an emphasis on uplifting vocals.

What influences your style today?

Like we said before, we are really stoked to see the 'live house' movement starting to make some traction. We've been doing our thing for a while now and it always surprised us how few acts there were using live instruments apart from Faithless and Basement Jaxx. Now there are lots of new exciting acts coming out and there is a real scene. It's awesome to see. I reckon it going to be huge. Guys like Bakermat, Klangkarussel, Parov Stellar, Big Gigantic and so many more.

Deconstruct what you do. What are the ingredients that go into producing one of your tracks?

It could start in so many ways. Sometimes it's a sample we have found, sometimes we'll be jamming at a gig and a whole song will pop out in the heat of the moment. Then we'll take that back to the studio and the real work begins. The ideas are the easy part. Finishing it and being happy with it is the real challenge.

What technology/equipment do you use now?

We use a lot. The heartbeat is Ableton Live on Macbook Pro's. Then we add live Sax, Electric Double Bass, Keyboards, flute, vocals, Kaoss pads, allen & heath mixer, ipads running tonnes of different apps, Roland Samplers etc, which we use to create our sound. That's our live set up. Back in the studio we have a bunch of analogue outboard gear like pre amps and summing mixers, wurlitzers, pianos, guitars, clarinets, fender rhodes's.. there's a lot of stuff we use in the studio. That's how we try avoid that plug in mixed-in-the-box sound by using the real stuff. As far as live goes, for us there has got to be more than mixing two songs together now. That used to require a lot of skill and constant attention when you played vinyl, but now with technology that is less important so you have more time to do other creative stuff other than fistpump hopefully. That's what we want to do and what we'd like to see more of. And that's basically what we were trying to say in our 'One Million Views' Music video. Luckily Deadmau5 got it.

What's something about yourself that not many people know?

Raw chicken really freaks me out...

What's next for you?

What do you have coming up/in the works? Check out our new album Three Second Memory out on iTunes! We're super stoked with it...and be sure to check out our music videos on Youtube and come say hi online.