Chemical Brothers Are Back And Ready To Rock SW4 Festival

They may be a bit vintage but the Chemical Brothers have still got it. Ahead of their set at SW4 this weekend we chatted to the electro dance duo about the good old days of Turnmills, their robots George and Mildred and what they’re up to now.

Is there a story behind your track ‘Hold tight London’?

‘The title of the track comes from all the shouts outs on the early pirate radio stations we both used to listen to.

‘We loved the idea of connecting the phrase to this emotional, warm sort of house song we had written.

‘So you had the dual meaning of being held tight in the warmth of the sound and also a nod to the underground stations we were in to.’

Are there any venues in London that hold special memories for you?

‘First, The Albany pub on Great Portland Street where the Heavenly Social used to be held.

‘It was where we first had a residency in London in 1994 and it was really the making of us.

‘Thanks to the amazing people at Heavenly, we met so many interesting, music obsessed people.

‘We were making the album ‘Exit planet dust’ in the studio in the week then we would show up at the basement of this pub and play demos tracks off tape. So many great nights and friendships were made.’

‘Secondly would be Turnmills where we had a DJ residency in the 90s.

‘We would come back again and again for special one offs, including the last weekend before it closed down in 2008. T

‘That was a proper nightclub with an amazingly intense dancefloor. It was run by great people and really shaped the music we were making at the time.

‘Tracks like ‘Hey boy, hey girl’ and lots of the electronic battle weapon series were made to play on this dance floor at 1am on a Saturday night.

‘It continues to influence our music, when I think of an underground club with strobe/smoke/acid house this is it.’

What have you made of the continued success of GB cycling at this years Olympics?

‘It’s been awesome, an amazing effort that every member of the cycling team have won a medal.

A special memory from London 2012 was when we heard that Chris Hoy had been listening to ‘Escape Velocity’ on his headphones before competing in the keirin. Mind blowing!’

Is it true that the you have a pair of Robots onstage? Are they called 'George & Mildred’?

‘Yes, though Ed and I aren’t overly keen on their nick names, but someone said it and somehow it’s stuck in 70s sitcom land.

‘Remember even if they are called ‘George and Mildred’, they are giant robots with lazer eyes and they’re coming for your soul!

We can’t wait!

Get tickets here southwestfour.com