Goldfish Interview.

Goldfish Interview.

Goldfish are Dave and Dom, two musicians from the top of Africa who have been making waves with their live shows everywhere from Pacha to Sao Paulo, Amsterdam to Tokyo and beyond. Combining cutting-edge technology with dance beats and live instruments including saxophones, flute, double bass and keyboards, the Goldfish ‘Live’ experience is something to behold and is something championed by everyone from DJ Mag to Radio 1 tastemaker Pete Tong.

The pair have had a number of chart hits in the US and have proven themselves to be one of the most in-demand electronic acts on the global circuit right now thanks to their white hot live show, surfer-dude charm and plethora of hit tracks, they’re now hitting the UK on April 30^th at The Relentless Garage, Islington. We caught up with them to find out what makes them tick.

Introduce yourself for those who don’t know…

Hello I’m Dom and I’m one half of the Live Electronic Dance duo Goldfish. We like to play music, surf, eat sushi and travel the world rocking dancefloors wherever they’ll let us….

And how did you come together?

Goldfish formed when Dave and I were studying music together in University. We were bored of playing in traditional bands and bored of watching DJ’s so we thought ‘why not combine the best of both?’ It’s just exploded from there.

How did you get into electronic music in Cape Town?

Cape Town has an amazing cosmopolitan mix of people and definitely the creative hub of South Africa…we just got hooked on listening to Nu Jazz, House and Electronica just like any other students around the world. It’s not all bongos and loincloths you know!

What were your early influences and inspirations and how have they changed over the years?

We were really into Kruder & Dorfmeister, St Germain, all the Nu Jazz stuff as well as a lot of traditional Jazz as that was what we were studying. Things have definitely expanded and evolved since then though.

Who/what gives you most inspiration and influence now?

I think we are influenced by a lot of different artists now, from the ones mentioned before as well as a lot of producers from Mark Knight right through to Trentemoller…we’ve become more influenced by the dancefloor as well as the instrumental side of things.

You’ve released a number of albums, how do you work in the studio?

We have a studio in Cape Town full of analogue and vintage gear which is awesome…being originally professional session musicians, having those instruments was our focus. These days with so much time spent on the road and on tour, it’s awesome that technology allows you to do an incredible amount of stuff away from ‘traditional studios.’ Obviously you don’t have access to Fender Rhodes’s, Grand Pianos, Moog’s and Valve gear, but what you can do with a Macbook Pro and a midi controller is pretty much up to your own limitations.

How did your Pacha residency come about? What was it like?

The Pacha residency was all thanks to getting a break and smashing it…We were in Ibiza with no gigs, just there to check it out on the way back from some shows in Europe. We managed to wangle 20 min’s opening for Pete Tong at Café Mambo at Sunset and the Pacha bosses happened to be there…asked us to come play a 4am slot at Pacha that night which went great and the rest is History!

Tell us a bit more about your live show.

Our Live Show is all about bringing some live excitement to the dancefloor. The age of just DJ’ing other people’s music is well and truly over. People want to see the music being made and be a part of it. That is what our show is all about.

Do you ever DJ as well as play live or?

No. It’s live or nothing…

What can people expect from you in London?

We love playing London… Our last show here was an absolute smasher so we’re keen to take it up a notch and show London what Goldfish has been up to since then. We’ll be showcasing our singers Sakhile and Emily as well, so expect a brilliant night out!

What else have you got coming up?

We’ll be continuing our residency at Pacha Ibiza this year on Thursdays with David Guetta as well as the pre-party at Blue Marlin…always an amazing warm up to a big night out in Ibiza. We’ll be doing the festival circuit as well around Europe so it’s sure to be a busy summer for us!

Check out www.Goldfishlive.com for all tour dates.