NORTH WEST double-act Vibe Killers have formed a formidable bond together consisting of 20 years worth of blood, sweat, tears and straight up House music.
Brothers springing straight out of the streets of Burnley, both Mark and Mickey Horsey have turned heads throughout the electronic musical realm since their rebirth under a new banner back in 2014. Such drive and determination have seen them gain support from big names including Hot Since 82, Loco Dice, Richy Ahmed, Jamie Jones, wAFF and more.
Having accomplished releases on such respected labels as Knee Deep In Sound, Hottrax, Elrow, Solâ, Material and much more, the stock of this sibling pairing is one that continues to bubble over the surface much to everyone’s delight.
We caught up with them to find out more about their working relationship, touring together, what they look for when signing to a new label and more.
So, for those who don’t know – who are Vibe Killers?
Mark & Mickey, 2 brothers from Burnley in the UK
Your Vilolator EP has just dropped on Hot Trax – this must be a big release for you?
Massive mate. We’ve been lucky because Jamie has supported a fair few of our tracks so we thought we’d send him some bits over. Then I woke up one morning to an email asking if we want to release two on Hottrax – so sick!
When you’re working on your music, do you always have a label in mind that you’re writing for, or do you worry about that afterwards?
Nah, we just see what we come up with then try and work out the best place to send it. You’ve got to stick to your own sound, as soon as you start writing and trying to make a track sound like all the other tunes a label has released, you lose that original vibe.
There are so many labels out there now – what do you look for in a label if you’re going to consider signing music to it?
Having a good presence on the socials is so important now, as well as making sure that other artists have released on the label (successfully!), and things like artwork and branding are important too. We really just want to feel like the label cares about our music and is going to do the best job they can in making sure that it is heard by the people who matter.
Looking at yourselves as an act – what’s it like working as a duo? Was it always the plan to work together?
Mint mate, we really enjoy touring together especially. Working together just seemed like a natural thing to do really. We learnt to DJ together about 20 years ago and have been record shopping together for years so it kind of makes sense really. It’s always good to have someone to share the long journeys and studio sessions with.
How do you think being brothers affects the dynamic?
It’s good! We bounce off each other and obviously know each other well – so all good! I can imagine some siblings don’t get along and would hate the set up that we have, but it works for us and that’s what’s important.
We hear that you’ve got plans to launch your own label soon?
That’s right, Star Cycling Club launches in Jan 2018 and it’s literally just going to be our music coming out on the label. First up is Favelas which I heard Jamie Jones dropped at DC10 this Summer, then Latmun got in touch asking for a copy – so a decent start ha ha!
Running a label in 2017 is very different to even just ten years ago – what do you think is the biggest challenge new labels face right now?
Getting your music heard! There are so many labels out there and so much good music it’s hard to stand out. But it is do-able. You just need to make sure you have a plan in place, stick to it and remember that persistence pays off.
Streaming is the hot topic in music, what’s your opinion on people consuming music ‘for free’?
Streaming, as in Spotify, I think is cool as fuck, I use it every day. It’s cheap, easy to use and you have access to so much new and old stuff. Illegally downloading music is not cool, but there’s not much we can do about it really. At least people are playing our stuff, it’s just a shame they can’t pay £1.50 for it!
And finally, what else should we be keeping an eye out for from you over the next few months?
We’re Back on Solardo’s label, Sola, which we’re buzzing for, Nathan Barato & Carlo Lio asked us for an EP for Rawthentic Music which is relaunching soon, and shows confirmed for Hull, London & Southampton. Plenty on the cards!
