Slutty Fringe Mix Series #18 Acid Washed on Mixcloud

We’ve featured Acid Washed a couple of times this year so when the chance came to get them to get them to do a mix we jumped at the chance.

Signed to Record Makers the Parisian duo draw together aspects of Moroder’esque disco, Chicago acid, Detroit techno French house music to make music that sounds both timeless and utterly of the now.

With their debut album released and earning nods of approval from all directions, we caught up with them to see how things were hanging in Acid Washed land.

Slutty Fringe: Hello Acid Washed… Thank you for making this mix for us. How’s Paris on this fine November evening?

Andrew Claristidge: You are welcome! Paris is beautiful and getting ready for an exciting winter:) But right now I am in my studio in Berlin where we will start to record some new tracks…

RDA: Cold. Bright. French.

SF: So… debut album on Record Makers, lots of people heaping praise upon you, I guess 2010 has been a good year for you?

Andrew Claristidge: 2010 was great for us. We travelled a lot, played very good shows in Europe & the US. We were really busy the whole year and we did not have time to really realise what happened But yeah it was BIG FUN!

RDA : It was only the take-off, get ready to hear some more:) The great thing is that I feel loads of love around, the crowd on the dance floor is very responsive, and as a DJ…and a clubber (!), I feel blessed. I will keep playing & keep playing good music for such good people!

SF: What has been your favourite place to party and play (in Paris and abroad) this year?

Andrew Claristidge: I had several great parties. Out of the gigs we played I would say: El Rey/Los Angeles & Point Ephemere/Paris for Record Makers 10 years anniversary. PS 1/New York was also fantastic…
I also had great times while partying @ Social Club/Paris, SOJU Bar/Berlin, HBC/Berlin.. the ones I can remember

RDA : Chez Moune in Paris is definitely a great place to play : it’s sweaty, it’s dirty, it’s classy. With the proper vibe and the proper records, you can turn the place upside-down, and make a hell of a party in a clubber’s paradise.

I like Le Pompon, a new place which is getting really hip at the moment, and since it’s run by a friend of mine, a little promo over the Channel doesn’t harm, ey!

SF: There’s something about your music that makes me think of massive, awkward, wood panelled synthesisers the size of wardrobes, what’s the set up when you play live?

Andrew Claristidge: you are not far from the truth We bring only analog machines for our LIVE set but we control the sequences with a computer to have a stable basis. We bring analog but small machines like a 707, a 202, a SPD6 but also some new analog synths like the DEOPFER Dark Energy… the rest will stay secret

RDA : Well done Andrew.

SF: I read that you preferred vinyl over digital for DJ’ing, are you still holding out against laptops?

Andrew Claristidge: I am a vinyl addict but the sad reality is that many clubs do not have vinyl players anymore. So we adapt ourself to modernity

When we DJ, we mix vinyls, CDs and computer, but if there are turntables we usually forget quickly the CDs and our laptops! And vinyl is sounding so much more dynamic!

RDA : I definitely always will love to play vinyls more than anything else, including cd’s (that I especially dislike btw)…but we’re currently using 2 additional laptops (I’m going slowly but surely into The Bridge, developed by Live Ableton)…with that, 2 vinyls players, and 2 cd players (Andrew is using it), let me tell you that some of our dj sets are something like THE F… WALL OF SOUND:)!

SF: Which brings us onto this mix, is this representative of what you would play in a club?

Andrew Claristidge: in some ways yes: it’s a mixture. I would say that in a club we will play a bit harder but for sure it depends on the people. We are good at adapting ourself to the crowd.

RDA : We play much harder in clubs. But yeah, our sets are a real mixture, from disco to some bangers, from minimal but lyrical techno to house music…We don’t have any limits.

SF: I got very drunk the other night and stayed up very late listening to ‘French Touch’ era house music on YouTube, after the noisier excesses of the French electro scene in recent years, there’s something about your music that seems to hark back to that era, where do you feel you fit in the great history of French electronic music?

Andrew Claristidge: really hard question but I would prefer to fit into the future of French Electronic Music;)
I can say that we are influenced by all kind of era.

RDA : I totally acknowledge what you are saying here. I feel absolutely French, absolutely connected to the French touch, historically…and genetically, obviously:) I although we’re bringing our little contribution to it, and that the Pilgrim Fathers are proud of us, trying to be the future.

SF: You’ve also got a really strong visual identity and have worked with one of my favourite designers Anthony Burrill, how did that come about?

Andrew Claristidge: It was very simple. Marc from Record Makers introduced us and it was “love at the first sight”!

RDA : You know, somehow, we HAD TO work with a Brit! Anthony was chosen, it was his tragic fate

SF: Name one band our readers may not have heard of, but they should check out immediately (well after listening to this mix)?

Andrew Claristidge: Patten

RDA : My friend Leonie Pernet

SF: Who would you like to work with in the future? Anyone you’d really like to remix, or have remix your tracks?

Andrew Claristidge: I would like to have a remix from Carl Craig. And realize once again how talented he is.
I would love to work with Manuel Gottsching, Jean Michel Jarre, Steve Reich…etc

RDA : Les Daft, Kanye West, M.I.A…& Nico Mulhy, for the repetitive side of the things.

SF: Finally what can we expect from Acid Washed in 2011?

Andrew Claristidge: a new EP, new collaborations, the unexpected and lots of new cities to visit!

RDA : The worst behaviour but the best music.

Slutty Fringe Acid Washed Tracklisting
Cecil Leuter “Dialog Dans l’Espace” (Segway)
Scenic “This can´t be” (Tigersushi)
Get A Room! “Gazebeat” (Small Time Cuts)
Sharam Jey Ft. Tommie Sunshine “The Things” Acid Washed Remix (King Kong Records)
Munk “Violent Love” (House Version) (GOMMA)
Nakion “Jesu Sufo” Club Silencio Remix (Tiger Sushi)
Glimmers “U Rocked My World” (GOMMA)
Smalltown Rodeo “Party Motion” Malente Remix (Plant Music)
Azari & III “Indigo” (Turbo)
Bukaddor & Fishbeck – Rolling Stoned (My Best Friend)
Acid Washed “Acid Washed” Lazy Flow Remix (Record Makers)
Kink “Existence” (Ovum Rec.)
Paris “The Cross Over” Siskid Remix (Ekler´O´Shock)

Stream now from Mixcloud, and check back here later for a download link.