The Menendez Brothers Interview

Feelings DJ (Ryan Winters, DJ Karl Karlson and The Menendez Brothers) join Smokin Jo and Rotciv in The Loft at Egg LDN: The Birthday on Saturday May 7th with DJs ANNA, Christian Smith, Hector Coutu, Harvey McKay, Gary Beck, Luis Flores and residents Kyle E, The Willers Brothers, Ireen Amnes and many more playing across Egg’s three floors. Buy tickets here.

Columbian duo with The Menendez Brothers are part of the team behind the hugely successful Feelings party, which recently brought influential US house duo Mood II Swing over to the UK. On top of this, they're also the driving force behind UK festivals Found and 51st State, run a hip-hop party called So Fresh So Clean and have their own label Planetary Notions. With their status as identical twins allowing them to have more fingers in more pies than the less genetically blessed, we caught up with them for a preview of what to expect this weekend...

Can you tell us a how your parties Feelings and So Fresh So Clean came about?

“So Fresh So Clean originated due to the lack of good hip-hop nights in West London. We decided that we wanted somewhere that was going to play the golden era music of hip-hop that we grew up on. So we decided to create one while staying true to the music we love. Since then we have expanded to festival stages and our most recent show was at KOKO!, not bad for three years work.

"Feelings was born out of the need to give Londoners something different to dance to. We set up Feelings to break away from the normal weekend music we’re accustomed to. We wanted to book artists that are incredible but might not get shows in London as people may not know about them. We’ve seen that many of the artists we’ve booked for the first time in years are now seeing a resurgence in their bookings.”

As twins growing up in Columbia how did this influence your current sound? What memories do you have?

“All of the music we play has to make us dance, if not we won’t play it! The music that influenced us has always kept our hips shaking. It came in handy once when I [Deniz] was on the run having to dodge four policemen after I got caught stealing a few loaves of bread. If it wasn’t for my famous snake hips I would have been caught.”

When did you move to the UK and how did you break the UK scene?

'We started our first event on our 18th birthday taking over Madam JoJo’s in Soho. The party was very successful and our popularity has continually grown through word of mouth. Our idea is to make sure everyone is having a great time while also offering different styles of music. You know it’s going to be a party when the Menendez Brothers are in town!”

What exciting things do you have planned for this year?

“We have lots of shows over the summer, lots of festivals and we will also be playing in Ibiza, Barcelona and Croatia to name a few of the great places we’re heading to. What we’re most excited about is the launch of the Feelings Riverside Summer Fete on August 13th, this one is not to be missed. It’s our birthday weekend and also Karl Karlson’s, who we run Feelings with, and we have an unused riverside location with spectacular views. And as always the music will be to the high Feelings standard.”

What is your favourite festival and why?

“Naturally we have mad love for the FOUND series of festivals in London. The one that we have the most fun at is Glastonbury. It’s there where you can really just do as you please and there’s too many fun stories that have come from that special place! If you have any hesitations about going there, don’t. Just go and experience it!”

What format do you like playing on most and where do you source the music for your sets?

“We learnt our trade on vinyl and will try and play it where we can, but for ease of travelling we use Serato. The music from our sets comes from everywhere. We might hear something on the TV we like and will try our best to find out what it might be.”

You play a cross range of music – what genre of sound do you prefer most?

|”It’s very mood based. Some days we listen to some golden hip-hop, some days it’s going back to our Columbian roots, the next it’s house. It completely depends on what we are doing that day.”

For your afternoon parties are you cocktail or cool beer people?

“Our drink of choice is rum and whenever there is rum about we are good. Although, with that being said, we don’t hold any prejudice against any alcohol, we like most types!”

Do you have any releases coming up ?

“We have Kasra V putting out our first release on the Feelings label and we also have Joe Rolet and stevn.aint.leavn with releases on our Plantary Notions label, do check them out. We’ve been hitting the studio a bit ourselves but aren’t close to putting out a release yet. Watch this space.”

What hip-hop acts have shaped your career?

“There are too many to list. Having Raekwon down at So Fresh So Clean was something to tell the grandkids about - we are paying homage to the greats and will continue to do so. Our next show is with MOP at Scala on the 28th May, and if it’s anything as good as the last one then you shouldn’t miss it.”

We are looking forward to you playing at Egg LDN: The Birthday on Saturday May 7^th. What special memories do you have of the venue?

“We played many years ago at Bottom Bunk, which was in the Loft, and it was a mad party and it was our first time at Egg LDN. Since then we have played there fairly regularly and have always had a great time. The last time we supported Dimitri From Paris who is a favourite of ours! It looks like The Birthday is shaping up to be something special!”