Date Night Interview

DATE NIGHT SONGS CAPTURE THE ESSENCE OF SUMMER, INVITING YOU WITH FLASHES OF FUNK, DEEP HOUSE AND SAXOPHONE. OH YEAH, THAT SAXOPHONE WE LIKE SO MUCH. MEET MIKE, SHARIF AND ANDERS, THE CREATORS OF DATE NIGHT.

• First of all, Why Date Night? Who is behind this name?

Mike – We wanted a name that oozed class and sophistication, without sounding too formal. People always look forward to Date Night, it rolls off the tongue. A boring (but honest) reason that we chose the name was so when radio hosts back-announce us people would be able to find us, because everyone knows how to spell Date Night, right? 😉

• We have experienced during these last years a great reception for songs that combines electro music and saxobeats. Music projects like Klingande or Faul and Wad Ad are great examples of successful bands in this genre. We think you have this potential in songs like ‘Sun Goes Down’ or ‘My Friend’. How do you define your music style and which are your biggest influences in it?

Sharif – I think with Date Night we were initially brought together by our love of similar musical styles like the funkier side of Nu Disco, Deep House, Soul and Hip hop…collectively we all dig Rudimental, Crazy P, Kraak and Smack, Disclosure, Groove Armada and St. Germain… plus so many more 😀

Mike – I’ve always found it hard to assign one specific genre to our sound, we have a strong love for many genres of music and it shows through our productions. If we have to give an elevator pitch to A&R from a record label then we go with “funk infused electronic music”.

Anders – That said, it’s difficult to define considering that we’ve released everything from 105 bpm hip-hop though 120 bpm house to 175 bpm drum n bass.

• Like ‘Sun Goes Down’, your new single ‘My Friend’ seems like a perfect song for a chill summer afternoon. Which are your sources of inspiration to compose/produce a song?

Sharif – When writing a song I think we all bring our own individual musical strengths, influences, experience and ideas together…I love a strong use of melody and harmony within a song even if its subtle or simple. I’m also a sucker for a great groove no what matter the genre is.

Anders – My method is a little more chaotic. Inspiration can come from anywhere so I like to take an hour to put down a demo when I feel it. That way we can decide together later whether we can turn it into a nice track or if I’d just had too much coffee and got excited over something dumb.

Mike – My inspiration comes from experiences, whether it’s walking down an abandoned beach at sunset, or watching an amazing artist performing. I’ve been fortunate enough to have known and grown up with some very talented individuals and seeing them be able to make living through their passion inspires me to keep pushing harder when writing.

• As we have mentioned, the saxophone is a conventional resource in your music project. Who is your saxophonist and how did you guys meet?

Sharif – Hey there Im Sharif and Im the sax playing culprit ;). I met Mike a bit over a year ago at a gig, he was DJing and I was improvising on the sax…he was playing some really cool, soulful Nu Disco and House but not your typical tunes you hear all the time. He had a great ear and a natural flow with his programming….and through Mike I met Anders aka Golden Ears who I quickly learned was an engineering wiz kid in the studio…shortly after that we started sending each other ideas back and forth and putting songs together that way..

• We know your music is starting to gain some momentum. Do you think it’s possible nowadays to get known if your music is not on Spotify? What do you think about the streaming service?

Mike – Spotify is a fantastic platform for music discovery and has been the main service that has contributed to our success so far. We have been fortunate enough to receive support across many huge Spotify playlists including Indiemono. Playlists offer independent artists (like us) to be placed alongside established, popular artists. It’s a wonderful feeling to see our music alongside some of the worlds greatest producers and bands.

 

• What can we expect from Date Night in the near future? Maybe your debut album?

Sharif – We are in the process of writing an album which will be compilation of some of our past release’s and some new little gems we’re working on just for the album.

Mike – Our remix for Markus Schulz ‘Love Me Like You Never Did’ just went live this week. We are working to finish our debut album as Sharif said. We can’t wait to get this out and then next year we will be working on our second album and rehearsing like mad for our live show!

 

• Here at indiemono we love independent music and we’re always looking for new great bands and artists. Can you recommend a few new bands you have recently discovered to us? Which music projects are under the Date Night’s radar?  

Date Night Suggests