July 2011

Glasgow has a great heritage of House and Techno. The pulsing sounds of world-renowned club-nights like Pressure, Sunday Circus and Subculture have all brought the finest international DJs to our city while spawning the home grown talent which has made us proud to be Scottish. The likes of Slam, Silicoune Soul, Optimo, Gary Beck and even on some level Daft Punk were all either discovered or championed in the thriving underground of Glasgow clubbing. The deep and driving roots of the city’s House & Techno heritage built the foundation for what we know and love today. But new generations have come and gone, the face of Glasgow clubbing has changed and, although still going strong, these great institutions are growing old. What keeps them going however is not only the city’s unconditional love for the deeper sounds but also the inspiring stream of talented new producers constantly breaking through. Producers like Ovr Kill.

Over the past few months the production duo of Rob Etherson and Ross Stenhouse have been responsible for some of the biggest tracks to feature on Synth, unleashing an unstoppable series of dancefloor heaters which have almost all claimed our Local Hero award. As is the case nowadays the project started completely organically after talent bolstering collective, Heartbeats featured a tune by the duo called ‘Ovr Kill’ on last year’s ‘First Pulse’ compilation. Using a deep, rounded bassline and harnessing an absolutely irresistible groove which buried its way deep into your soul, the track started attracting some very positive label interest. Eventually picked up by Limbo Records who released the track as a freshly titled ‘50/50’ the duo adopted Ovr Kill as their new project and set about making quality club music.

Fast forward to April this year and we discover the astonishing ‘Heat Seeker’ on our weekly Soundcloud scour. Once again we are blown away by the achingly slick production and scintillating late night flavour. We instantly declare the track as a 2011 standout and have supported it ever since. Now scheduled for release at the end of August along with remixes by the likes of Will Clarke and Sander Bongertman , it's well on target to becoming our tune of the summer. Naturally, you may be sceptical of such definitive statements, but listen to the recent ‘Ink On My Arm’ or the funk riddled ‘God Damn’ and you’ll soon recognise that Ovr Kill have not only nailed their sound but have got the consistency to deliver it. Check out what the boys had to say in our recent interview below and then get stuck into their incredible mix. 

Synth: So let’s begin with how the Ovr Kill project started and what inspired you to come together as producers? Did you know where you wanted to go musically from the start or did you have to compromise?

Ovr Kill: We first met each other playing at The Admiral in Glasgow. Rob was playing before me and I asked him about the music he was playing. He told me some of it was his own productions, and from then on I wanted to get into producing. We met up regularly for some time then decided on becoming a double act as we both loved the same music. We didn't know at first where we wanted to go musically but '50/50' came out of it so we started with Techno. 50/50 was originally called OVR KILL. We liked the name so we just decided to call ourselves that. It comes from the "OVR " button in Ableton Live so that's why there is no "E" in OVR, haa..

Synth: You released your first single, ’50/50’ last year on the Limbo label, how do you feel Ovr Kill has progressed since then and where can you see the project going?

Ovr Kill: 50/50 got some big support from a lot of well known names in the industry and since then most of our completed tracks have been picked up by labels. Our latest track "Ink On My Arm" is a good indication of where our sound is heading and we are both really happy with the end product of our material so far. Our tracks are getting some positive feedback from the likes of yourself and we've had some really nice comments on our Soundcloud page so the future is looking bright.



Synth: Rob, you also produce as one half of Mia Dora as well as putting out your own solo work. What can we expect from your other projects in the near future and do you have a favourite sound at the moment?

Ovr Kill (Rob): I have always been into House and Techno but the scene today has so many different and exciting genres to explore its hard to say what my favourite is....If I had to pick, I'd go for something by Blawan, maybe. He has really interesting sounds and always sounds solid in a club! I have been working with Mash recently on some collaborations and I have a debut release with Mia Dora coming up soon. 4 releases with Ovr Kill, 2 solo tracks and 2 remixes so you could say I've been busy.

Synth: You have a new EP out at the end of August featuring tracks, ‘Ink On My Arm’, ‘Quattro’ and ‘God Damn’ – can we expect any DJ dates as Ovr Kill to follow?

Ovr Kill: The studio has taken most of our time so far, but once we have enough material we would love to go out and play LIVE. Of course if asked to do club nights in the near future then we would love to. We have HEATSEEKER coming out on the 24th AUGUST on SOUNDS OF JUAN with some good remixes, so we're looking forward to that. GOD DAMN & NARROW LANES is coming out in October also with remixes. QUATTRO and INK ON MY ARM are probably going to be out before the end of the year, so we will see what kind of reaction we get from them. Hopefully some offers will come in.

Synth: Finally, we were really excited to get you guys in the mix for us. What can people expect over the following hour and how did you go about choosing your tracks…any particular favourites?

Ovr Kill: You can expect some of the music we love at the moment on our mix and some of the tracks that have influenced our own style. Musically we have similar tastes so picking the tracks was not a problem. The mix has a great flow from start to finish and has a relentless groove to it. We have included some of our own material in there also, so hopefully you will enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it. Thanks for the support guys!

any enquiries are welcome..

ovr_kill@hotmail.co.uk
 
Synth: It was of course only right we secure a mix from the duo, and following on from the high standard delivered by Raksha , Tarantism and Shaun Fae Solar they have produced something entirely exceptional. Prepare for an hour of uncompromising House and Techno, as they wind between basslines, nail down rhythms and take you on a journey through the sound of summer. We suggest you get the volume cranked, clear some space and prepare to move…