In the last three years, London based duo Tough Love have seen their bass-heavy DJ sets and garage-inflected house productions rise rapidly through the ranks of the ever competitive UK club scene. They've dropped big bombs on the likes of Dope Wax, Nurvous and Toolroom, as well as starting their own imprint Get Twisted. Not just content with taking over clubs nationwide, the pair have stepped into the hallowed halls of Kiss FM to present a weekly show that showcases the bassiest sounds around every Thursday night.
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Having recently signed to Island, they're getting ready to release certified club-smash "So Freakin' Tight" to the wider world - a Jodeci sampling deep house slinker that's already won support from the likes of Annie Mac and Danny Howard. As it's about to take over radios from Birmingham to Berlin and back again, we were super excited when they pair threw an exclusive mix our way.We thought we'd have a little chat with the lads, too.THUMP: Signing to Island must have felt pretty incredible…who are label's artists that you vibe on most?
Tough Love: Yeah its great to be part of the team at Island, it was really important to us the we didn't lose sight of where we came from, so to partner between Island & our imprint Get Twisted was really special.The label has so much history so for us but if we had to pick two artists that are vital to us they'd be Bob Marley, who kind of kickstarted the label in the first place and Disclosure who are flying the flag for UK dance music world wide.When you make a track like "So Freakin' Tight" do you immediately know that it's going to blow up?
We knew pretty quick it would have a big impact on the club scene. We built the track for our own sets so it's lived with us in all our shows for two years now. We never thought it would cross over when we originally made it though, but house now has a voice as a part of modern culture and the support so far has been insane.
Tough Love: Yeah its great to be part of the team at Island, it was really important to us the we didn't lose sight of where we came from, so to partner between Island & our imprint Get Twisted was really special.The label has so much history so for us but if we had to pick two artists that are vital to us they'd be Bob Marley, who kind of kickstarted the label in the first place and Disclosure who are flying the flag for UK dance music world wide.When you make a track like "So Freakin' Tight" do you immediately know that it's going to blow up?
We knew pretty quick it would have a big impact on the club scene. We built the track for our own sets so it's lived with us in all our shows for two years now. We never thought it would cross over when we originally made it though, but house now has a voice as a part of modern culture and the support so far has been insane.
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What is it about that Jodeci vocal that sends the whole world wild?
When you look at the demographic of 25-35 years olds now, they all grew up on these 90's RnB classics, so to give them a new lease of life causes nostalgia and that always sets the dancefloors alight. "Freek'N You" was a huge hit for Jodeci, we've used probably the most memorable part of the record which actually comes from the bridge area - you can't not know it!On that Fifty Shades tip…how tough are you two as lovers?
We're not sure we're the best to ask that question to, you'll have to ask the other halves. We are definitely rating ourselves though!Who is the better dancer, Alex or Stef?
Alex dances more but for sure Stef has some hidden moves. He's one of those bedrooms dancers, when no one is around he busts out some crazy shapes. He's also pretty decent on a pole - we're not sure where he learnt those moves though!You're playing to the biggest crowd of your lives. The power goes. A technician tells you that things will be up and running in exactly one minute. What song do you get ready to play the second the juice comes back?
Wow that's a hard one, in all honesty we'd probably have to drop in to one of the dubs or edits we have of a classic. We also have a number of intro records which we use for most sets. We'll have to wait till it happens!"So Freakin Tight" is out on March 16 via Get Twisted / Island Records. Pre-order here.Follow Tough Love on Facebook // SoundCloud // Twitter
When you look at the demographic of 25-35 years olds now, they all grew up on these 90's RnB classics, so to give them a new lease of life causes nostalgia and that always sets the dancefloors alight. "Freek'N You" was a huge hit for Jodeci, we've used probably the most memorable part of the record which actually comes from the bridge area - you can't not know it!On that Fifty Shades tip…how tough are you two as lovers?
We're not sure we're the best to ask that question to, you'll have to ask the other halves. We are definitely rating ourselves though!Who is the better dancer, Alex or Stef?
Alex dances more but for sure Stef has some hidden moves. He's one of those bedrooms dancers, when no one is around he busts out some crazy shapes. He's also pretty decent on a pole - we're not sure where he learnt those moves though!You're playing to the biggest crowd of your lives. The power goes. A technician tells you that things will be up and running in exactly one minute. What song do you get ready to play the second the juice comes back?
Wow that's a hard one, in all honesty we'd probably have to drop in to one of the dubs or edits we have of a classic. We also have a number of intro records which we use for most sets. We'll have to wait till it happens!"So Freakin Tight" is out on March 16 via Get Twisted / Island Records. Pre-order here.Follow Tough Love on Facebook // SoundCloud // Twitter