Keys n Krates are quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with. They recently wrapped up their first BBC Radio 1 mini mix, dropped their super hot Lucid Dreams EP and remixed the likes of everything from Kanye West to Zedd. Call them a triple threat because Adam Tune, David Matisse, and Jr. Flo are looking like they are about to destroy your speaker systems in 2013. Adam Tune masters the drums, David Matisse works his magic on the synth machine and Jr. Flo has the golden touch on the turntables. Together, they've seamlessly found a medium between hip-hop, electronica, and jam. To put it simply, Keys N Krates seamlessly master raw samples and twist them with live instrumentation, creating a truly unique sound that is a rare find in the current state of electronic music. I fortunately had a chance to interview the threesome, who share everything from how they linked up to their biggest vices. Be sure to check out their entire repertoire and the interview below.
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Earmilk: Hello gentleman thank you for taking some time for the Earmilk readers, let’s start with how Keys N Krates came about? How and when did you guys link up?
Keys n Krates: We met through a mutual friend named Abby who introduced us all knowing we wanted to all try something new with live instruments, Djing, and live sampling.
EM: Do you prefer to work together rather than pursuing a solo careers?
Tune: I think the three of us make a good team and really love what we are doing collectively right now. Great chemistry.
EM: Tell me a little bit about your live show and your “live re-mixing”
Flo: Our live show is what really gave birth to this whole thing. At first we just really wanted to do something new and cool that was live, so we started with doing these live remix/covers of rap tunes and jamming on those. We always wanted to be a modern party band so we very early on wanted to draw on pop culture references to get people into it right away. However, we eventually started making our own beats and music that was more bass driven so we had to figure a way out how to play that live and keep with our mantra of doing everything 100 percent live with no backing tracks. So we replaced our live kick with a trigger kick that plays a lot of 808s and punchy kicks and that was kind of the game changer for us, in having a bigger more bass driven sound, and also having our own original beats incorporated into our show. So now when you come to see us it's a lot of our own music but mashed up with familiar samples and references. It's a party.
EM: What are some new sounds that you’ve been experimenting with?
Flo: Just trying to find a lot of cool weird samples and sounds that other people don't use. We take samples from anywhere whether it be youtube, or old records, or sample packs and just try and freak the shit out of it so it's not recognizable anymore. The hook on "Treat Me Right" is a great example of that.
