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X-Press 2 – UK house veterans Rocky & Diesel – return with their third album for Skint, launching The House of X-press 2 at XOYO. With the venue having the likes of Frankie Knuckles, Lil Louis and Larry Heard passing through in the last year, moving to home grown talent feels especially nice! We sat down and had a chat with Rocky and Diesel ahead of their launch on March 3rd.

Hey guys, hope you're well, attached are some questions for you for our regular 5 questions for… segment on our website,

1. House music is in rude health at the moment. Which new acts are you digging?

We're definitely feeling a lot but notables that spring to mind would be Daniel Bortz. Legendary Children. Reggie Dokes. Maert and SUOL records label.

2. Did the new influx of artists coming into prominence influence this new album at all?

Yes it did. We listen to lots of new music every week for our radio show and I think that whatever you're listening to will always end up inspiring/influencing you, whether consciously or not.

3. Why did Ashley Beedle leave X-Press 2?

To do more solo based projects.

4. Have you stayed in touch with David Byrne?

No.

5. Collaborations are extremely prevalent on your new album, how did you go about the process of choosing who to work with?

It varies from track to track to be honest. Doll came to the studio with her vocal already written and we built the rest of the music around it. With Roland and Alison, we sent them backing track ideas, they then recorded their vocals. Sometimes, we'll work with the vocalist in the studio together. We did this with Rob and James Yuill. Usually though, we'll have a fairly good idea as to who will sing on any particular track.

Be sure to catch our early bird offer for one Britains finest house acts, their album is getting fantastic reviews and we're delighted to welcome them to XOYO for their album launch!

Our early bird offer ends this Friday at MIDDAY! DON'T MISS OUT!

Check out a mini mix of the House of X-Press 2 below!

XOYORadio 003 is now available for your listening pleasure, Andrew Weatherall delves deep into his record collection for 'Music's Not For Everyone', remember to join XOYO's Mixcloud page to be the first to know on updates for our new venture XOYO Radio.

XOYORadio003

We continue to welcome the up and coming this Friday at XOYO Versus, with stalwarts Mistajam, 16Bit and TC ready to go, we spoke to the female addition to this bass heavy lineup, since Skream introduced her tune 'What If' she's risen to the ranks in the bass scene and has given a massive refreshment to the scene, we caught up with her before descends to the east.....


Many thanks for talking to us Kito, what can we expect from your performance this Friday?
I'm bringing back some summer party vibes from Australia as I just got back yesterday. I'll also be playing a lot of my forthcoming releases on Ed Banger and Mad Decent plus a few unheard remixes I recently finished. I haven't played in the UK since last year so I can't wait!


You were born in Australia but you’re based in London. Are there any noticeable differences in clubbing culture?
Most definitely. Something I really love about London is the variety of different sounds that you hear and also the subtlety that prompts a reaction from a crowd. People pick up on things here and really know music. Not to say Australia doesn't! But you definitely feel the history in London as it's the birth place of so many genres.


Which country holds your best clubbing memory?
Ahh that's so hard! Probably the UK if we're strictly talking clubbing memories... And then I've gotta say the Mad Decent Block Parties in America. They are so wild.


What would you say has been the highlight of your career so far?
Last year was amazing. So much happened that I'm still pinching myself. Getting a Beyonce remix accepted was pretty cool!


What does 2012 hold for Kito?
I've done an EP with Feadz which will be released on Ed Banger early this year plus Reija Lee and I will be releasing new material under a brand new name which we're really excited about! Feb 27th my remix for Noisia - Split The Atom comes out on Mau5trap and middle of this year I'll have a single on Shogun Audio.... plus lots of other remixes and releases and so on! It's going to be a great year!