In case you’ve been sleeping, PURGE have been taking over the back end of 2016. After bursting onto the scene with their incredible debut Feel Your Love EP, they proved their consistency with singles ‘Die Tonight,’ ‘HEART,’ and ‘Holding On’. In just a few months they’ve gone from unknowns, to one of the most promising production duos out. Their ability to fuse emotionally gripping sounds with filthy bass is pure magic. Since their debut we’ve been warning you that they’re next up. Despite their mysterious way of moving we were lucky enough to connect with them for an interview to help pull them out of the shadows. We touch on their background, the reason behind the mysteriousness and more. In addition PURGE also dropped off a massive exclusive guest mix.
I could go on about why the mix is straight fire but it’s best to let the artists describe it themselves, “You can expect it to be pretty weird. You can expect a journey. You can definitely expect to see artists that you wouldn’t typically see next to each other in a mix. Also, a lot of unreleased and underground material. We hope you enjoy it.” Dive in and be sure to grab the free download. The full track list is below.
There’s a mysterious air around your existence. What’s the reasoning behind this?
Honestly, we’re weird people and in PURGE, it’s just a true reflection of our individuality and our personalities. We love dance music but we just want to do something weird with it and keeping the mystery behind who we are is a huge part of that art. We try to keep things really personal too. We want people to understand that their are real people behind the project to connect with but staying anonymous kind of creates this disconnect from stardom or fame. We want people to pay attention to the art and the mystery, that’s a huge part of it.
We want people to pay attention to the art and the mystery, that’s a huge part of it.
You guys seem to have popped up out of nowhere. What were you doing prior to PURGE?
A lot. We had actually been working in the industry for awhile. One of us came from a recording engineer background and the other one came from a DJ background. We’re best friends and we put the two together. We have been producing for other artists and acts for awhile. We’ve worked with a lot metal/hardcore bands, pop artists, rappers, DJs, etc. We just figured it was time to work on our own true artistry. We didn’t want to follow trends by any means. Venturing out and starting this project, was our way of finally being able to display the ideas we had stored inside our heads.
How long had you been building the project before putting it out publicly?
Not very long. We probably started putting songs towards a fresh project around August of 2016 and the songs were pretty unique. That’s what kind of sparked the idea of creating a weird anonymous project. The Feel Your Love EP was produced around late August.
We make what we like, and what moves us. We also come from a very dark past, and we bring a lot of that into our music creation process.
Your music is categorized as dark bass. Where do you draw inspiration for the dark sound?
Our inspirations are very diverse. Big Makk, Noisia, What So Not, Baauer and even Carmack are among the biggest influences. We’ve gotten ideas for songs from metal bands and rap songs. There are zero boundaries. We make what we like, and what moves us. We also come from a very dark past, and we bring a lot of that into our music creation process.
Your releases also pack a wealth of emotion. How do you go about translating emotion into an audio experience?
It’s easy when you’re not trying to copy anyone else. A lot of the newer guys producing music are straight up just copying the most popular tracks. When we produce music, it seriously just comes from nowhere. Sometimes it’s really just a weird beat idea that sparks an entire song. When you produce straight from your mind, it influences so much feeling and individualism. Like we’ve said before, we often sit down and begin working on something to get away from the outside world. Whatever’s going on in our life, whether it be positive or negative, it’s all expressed through the music, and that’s why our tracks pack so much emotion, and people seem to really vibe with them.
It’s not a joke when people say that all you need is a computer to get started in producing. Get serum, go to the Cymatics site and get a sample pack and preset pack, next thing you know you’re making dubstep or future bass. There’s no art in that at all.
During a conversation we had previously you mentioned that anyone can produce music, not everyone is an artist. What defines an artist?
Technology has made it very easy for people to become producers. It’s not a joke when people say that all you need is a computer to get started in producing. Get serum, go to the Cymatics site and get a sample pack and preset pack, next thing you know you’re making dubstep or future bass. There’s no art in that at all. Picasso had the same tools every other artist had in his time but what he did with the tools, set him so far apart from everyone else. The same idea can be applied here.
I know you have a lot in the pipeline. Can you tell us about any upcoming releases?
We have a song with a rap group named Krime Fyter coming out on December 12th though Elysian. I think that’s the only one we can really talk about right now. We are constantly working on new content though. Not even just music but visual ideas too.
Are there plans for any collabs in the near future?
There isn’t a ton of planning behind this. We really want to work with a lot of rappers and singers. We do have a couple of collaborations in the works now, however. It’s all about the vibe with other artists. It’s not going to be a huge priority for us though unless it happens naturally.
Everyone will remember their first PURGE show.
You recently Tweeted, “The ideas we have for our shows, are gonna blow people’s mind.” Can you give us some insight into what we can expect?
We just have so many visual ideas, it doesn’t end. We get excited and tweet from excitement sometimes hahaha. We’ve definitely had to delete a couple tweets in the past from our excitement about different things. All we can say however, is that we have so many amazing ideas, to really bring fans an experience they won’t forget. Everyone will remember their first PURGE show.
Tracklist
PURGE – Intro
Part Native & Holly – Purge
PURGE – Hit Em
RL Grime, What So Not, Skrillex – Waiting
PURGE – 828
sober rob & manitee – Jungle
Big Makk – IMMA ROCK feat. King Rod V
adiidas – i’ll be runnin’
Die Antwoord – Daddy
Slumberjack – RA (Yvng Jalapeno Edit)
PURGE – Fracture
Jesse Slater & G-Buck – Body Talk
josh pan x x&g x jorgen odegard – Tomahawk
Dabow & Herzeloyde – Whats Up
graves & ASKA – There Are No Penguins In Alaska
Noisia – Vigilantes
PURGE – Six
Boys Noize – Overthrow
kyle hughes – dennis rodman
PURGE – Kush
Flume – Smoke & Retribution feat. Vince Staples and Kucka
Destructo – Winning feat. Problem
graves & iNT3L – Death Meadow
Sumthin Sumthin & Lemay – Buck
MR. CARMACK – Justicia Ahora feat. Gladiator
Callie Reiff & Ronaissance – Tin Machine (PURGE Remix)
PURGE – Cleanser
HEKLER – Ultimate
Demur – Stairs PURGE – Running Away Young Folks vs Febreeze (Palms Edit)
Seb & Valko – Dreaming
Flume – Helix
KutThroat – WAYS
KRNE x Jupe – Seventeen
Topi – Backup (Tisoki Remix)
Yvng Jalapeno – Rufus
Baauer – Sout London
PURGE – Breathe
Nevsky – Forget What You Look Like feat. Lowell
Kai Wachi – DEMONS
QUIX – The Cut
Nonsens – Phase
Callie Reiff – Shadow Dancing (JSTJR Remix)
Buku – Freaknik (ATLiens Remix)
