“The name Wh0 is what it says on the tin, our identity is hidden because we want it to be all about the music and not about what we look like. When people come to see us play, we want them to be able to forget about everything else that’s going on and enjoy the experience. We thought a hidden identity would help this.”
That’s how the masked UK duo explained their name, Wh0. The vision has been clear since the beginning. Coming out of nowhere last year, the duo has quickly established themselves as one of the most exciting prospects in the house scene. Making a debut on Toolroom – Trax last June, they have already released a series of gut-wrenching records on labels such as Toolroom, Big Beat, and 3Beat, and provided remixes for the likes of The Prodigy, Sigma, and Slushii.
It is hard to believe that they have only been in the scene for less than a year when looking at the list of collaborators. In their latest single “Happy People,” they collaborated with the iconic Chicago house vocalist, Byron Stingily. “After writing the initial instrumental idea for Happy People, we thought the record needed a classic falsetto vocal. Byron Stingily was the first and only person that came into our heads, so we reached out to him,” Wh0 shares. It did not take Stingily long to say yes. “After hearing the demo he was on board in a heartbeat! After a couple of FaceTime sessions in the studio, the vocal was done. It’s amazing with the technology available today that we can be in the studio with Byron in Chicago, whilst being in the UK,” the duo adds.
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The simplicity of the collaboration process reflects their well-rounded production skills. Good music speaks a thousand words as their remix of Mercer’s “Firework” was born in a similar way. “We loved the original, it’s been a stand out track in our sets for a while now. So we decided to reach out to Mercer & 2 weeks later the remix was born and signed to Nervous Records,” says Wh0.
Such a strong resumé is backed up by their singular style of dance-floor friendly beats. Every Wh0 release is brimming with purely good vibes, submerging listeners with its daring nature. It is always hard to put any artists’ work into certain genres, but some may call Wh0’s sounds “discofied tech house” – marrying the chest-pounding percussions of tech with the filtered synths of disco, they always manage to bring dancefloors to life. “It's great to see the ‘Disco Tech House’ trend coming into play. It’s something we have seen coming for a while now & we are glad to be a big part of it,” Wh0 explains, but they also stress that they are much more than just one specific sound. “We are not just about Disco, we are about sampling anything and everything that feels right to us.” In fact, they define their sounds as “energetic Tech House with heavy sample influences.”
Looking forward, the duo already has a lot in their pipeline for the rest of 2019. Fans can rest assured that they will have new music to listen to very soon. “We have a single coming out next month on our record label Wh0 Plays Records." The single features the iconic vocalist Chuck Roberts, the voice of the legendary "My House" sermon speech. "We also have a single with Karen Harding in the next few months, which we are both very excited about. The dub mix of this is actually being played out at the moment by various DJ’s,” Wh0 shares. They had also been captured producing music with the legendary Nile Rodgers at Abbey Road studios. The duo can’t reveal too much about this ongoing project but they tell us that, “the session went very well and we are honored to be working with Nile! However, the record is finished.”
Besides production, Wh0 are ready to bring their unique energy to a wider international audience as they “have various gigs coming up in June” and will be “doing a small tour in China, along with gigs in Slovakia, Russia & more…” To give EARMILK’s readers a sneak peek of what we might hear in their shows, the duo joined us to curate an exclusive guest mix featuring an hour of feel-good tech house records. Press play and take a deep dive into the groove!
Buy/stream "Happy People" here.
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