Datsik and Bais Haus have been busy as of lately, particularly when it comes to their collaborative project Ephwurd. Between their monthly radio show, as well as an upcoming EP, the duo is also currently embarking on a North America-wide spring tour to kick off the outdoor musical festivities! Amidst all of this, we had the pleasure to gain some insight and see how things are going – here’s what they had to say on the matter.
How did you guys come together?
We met through Steve Aoki at Identity Fest back in like 2009. We started touring together about 2 years later, and started writing songs on the road. Eventually we had enough material to actually make it into a real project and thus Ephwurd was born!
With Ephwurd we have kinda been going all over the place but our home rests at 128bpm with bass house.
How does the dynamic of producing and touring differ from your solo projects?
Well we’ve been touring together for about 5 years now, so there isn’t much of a difference there. As for production, Datsik’s music is primarily 140 – 150bpm dubstep with a lot of hip hop and Shaolin influence. With Ephwurd we have kinda been going all over the place but our home rests at 128bpm with bass house.
I (Bais Haus) was always a “behind the scenes” kid, writing music for TV and ghost producing for other DJs. Ephwurd was really my first step into the limelight.
How’s the tour been by far? Any memorable/crazy moments that stick out to you?
The tour has been non-stop this month lol. I think one of the best moments so far was eating turkey legs and jousting at MiddleLands after playing in front of like 15,000 kids.
What’s a tune you’ve enjoyed playing in your sets recently?
Oh man, good question. The Bassnectar remix of Get Deaded is INSANE!!!!
If you could host your own festival(s) with no limitations, what would it look like?
Shambhala lol
June’s almost here – how’s the upcoming Eph’d Up Radio #3 looking so far?
Actually just started hunting for new tracks today ;) Got some good ones to play out. Stay tuned.
With summer around the corner, what are you guys looking most forward to?
EDC Vegas Main Stage set, Lollapalooza, Shambhala…. Finishing our EP and releasing it ;)
Since you’re both massive lovers of sushi, what are your favourite sashimi/sushi rolls?
Mmmmmmm Suuuuushhhiiiiii….. Well we’ve kinda graduated from all the crazy rolls to just finding the best quality fish out there. New Zealand salmon has been at the top of our list. We will literally crush as much of that as humanly possible. I (Bais Haus) have been going off the deep end with eating weird fish, nothing is off limits anymore. Uni (sea urchin) has become a staple for me and now I’m really into Iwashi (sardine).
Also, finding perfect yellowtail has been like the quest for the holy grail.
We’re really exploring what we are capable of vs. simply releasing non-stop bangers.
What can we expect from you musically in the near future?
A lot of different stuff. Some kids might hate it, others might love it. We’re really exploring what we are capable of vs. simply releasing non-stop bangers. We are excited as hell but also shitting our pants at the same time. We can’t wait for kids to hear what we’ve been cooking up!
The duo has a few more Canadian and American stops remaining before focusing on their festival sets for the quickly-approaching summer. Check out their remaining spring tour dates below. If you can, also catch them during their summer festival run – you won’t be disappointed!
Featured image courtesy of Piper Ferguson; all other photos courtesy of Desmond Chong.
