Chase & Status interview: “We never thought we’d even make an album”

“I don’t know if we ever thought we’d even make a bloody album.”

Chase & Status may be celebrating their 15th year as a group in 2018, but Saul Milton and Will Kennard never dreamed of being in any such position when they first started as “obsessed bedroom DJs” in the early 00s.

After gaining a reputation as in-demand jungle and dubstep producers it was the success of 2011 breakthrough album No More Idols, featuring collaborations with Plan B, Dizzee Rascal and Tinie Tempah, which really announced the pair on the world stage.

Two albums later, the pair are celebrating their 15th year with a huge festival season, including a headline date at Clapham’s South West Four festival, but they’re still pinching themselves about how things turned out.

“To be where we are now is more than a dream come true. We worked really hard for a really long time and we’re blessed to still be doing what we love,” Milton says.

Their position amongst the UK’s top dance acts is well established in 2018, but the music industry they know today is almost totally unrecognisable to when they started out.

Considering how things have changed, Kennard says: “It’s kind of obvious, but social media and the digitalisation of music has had a huge impact. When we were coming through we were very much obsessed bedroom DJs and the only way you could buy music that you liked to play was on vinyl.

“Just the fact that you had to go to a record store to find new music and engage with other people created this sense of community. You’d know the record shops all around the country and you’d mix with other DJs. People couldn’t hear the music online and so it created the definition of an ‘underground scene’.”

“The only chance you got to hear new music was in the nightclubs too,” says Kennard, reflecting on the formative years spent learning their craft in venues all over the city.

“People were really educated, we found. When kids were going out they’d know all the songs the DJs played. They were like trainspotters, and a lot of people were like that. There was a real obsession with the music and now it’s much easier to find everything you need to know about music very quickly.”

As proud Londoners they still continue to praise the impact the city had on them as artists. While the pair have spent time collaborating with the likes of superstars Rihanna and Jay Z in LA over the years, they say they were never tempted to focus their attentions away from the UK.

“We are blessed coming from London with the diversity, the culture and just the sheer amount of things going on here from a creative point of view,” says Kennard.

“There’ve been some brilliant places and worlds that we’ve worked in, but you quickly realise what we’ve got when you travel away and we’ve never taken it for granted.”

The pair also recognise the struggles live music venues in the city are facing today and see the growing number of grassroots venues disappearing from view as a real cause for concern.

“There are definitely fewer clubs [in the city] now and to be honest that’s been a big undoing of club culture,” says Milton.

“The whole club scene is definitely trying to find more venues again and go back to what it was. That was so important. Without the club culture we wouldn’t be here talking to you now. We wouldn’t have a career. It was that which made us love what we love.”

"You find a lot of the venues are being pushed really far out to the outskirts of London," Kennard added. "That isn’t always a bad thing, but there was a time when all the nightclubs were in central London at one point which was very accessible for everyone.”

Despite the problems the city’s creatives face though, the group believe there’s a real cause for celebration for London’s dance music fans in 2018.

“People are doing pirate radio again, buying vinyl, trying to throw jungle raves and squat parties,” Milton says.

“It’s all happening and it’s very reminiscent of when we started going out in the early 90s. I think it’s an exciting time now and it feels like it’s coming round full circle.”

Chase & Status celebrate their 15th Anniversary at South West Four Festival on Sunday 26th August. For more information and tickets visit southwestfour.com