inspiration isn’t a rational thing

In case it’s escaped your attention, there’s a new duo who are very much doing the rounds on the house and techno scene right now, and they’re a prolific pair too. Since first hooking up little over a year ago, Lee Van Dowski & Dean Demanuele have already put the finishing touches to a catalogue of great releases, releases that have enjoyed the spotlight on seminal labels such as Intacto, Mobilee and – most recently – Dean’s own Dazed & Confused imprint. So why are they such a devastating pair? We sat down with them recently to find out…

I believe you guys met in Malta, where Dean is from. Were you plating there at the time, Lee? How did you guys first end up chatting to one another?

Dean Demanuele:

Dean: In reality the first time we met was in Zurich, but after some months we found each other in Malta again. My manager back then knew Lee well, as they worked together at Cadenza and he introduced us better. We ended up chatting about everything and we had a really great time.

Lee Van Dowski:

Lee:  Yeah, actually we met for the first time in Zurich when I was playing in Hive club and we already had a fun short chat at that time. Then I got a booking in Malta and Marco, Dean’s agent, told me he wanted to introduce me to a cool guy. It was kind of a surprise for me to realize we already met few months before.

Whose suggestion was it that you get into the studio then? Had you checked out one another’s music before then?

Dean: Well it was me who mainly suggested it in the beginning. I knew his music before and I loved how he played so I knew that we had similar tastes, but I never would have imagined the great connection we grew up to have.

Lee: I really didn’t know Dean’s work before meeting him, so when he offered me to have a try working together, i said: “yeah why not!” thinking that this probably won’t happen at all. But one day we chatted on Skype and we started to work. At the end of the day we had one track finished and another one almost done! I knew directly that we got something special going on together and I have to say that till now, this collaboration is working beyond all my expectations.

Lee, are you a big fan of Dean’s previous stuff? Dean, are you a big fan of Lee’s previous stuff?

Dean: Yes of course, Lee’s been in the game for much longer then I have been and I have followed his older stuff and played some of his music, although I still am discovering some gems from him even now.

Lee: As I said before, I really didn’t know his work before meeting him, but I think this is why we hooked up in such a nice way!

Lee, I believe you’re in something of a production rut before you met Dean? Did it ever get to a stage where you worried if you’d not become inspired again?

Lee: Hmm, not really. I’m doing this for quite a while now and I know that inspiration isn’t a rational thing, it comes and goes u don’t know how and why, but for sure Dean arrived at the perfect moment for me.

Lee, did you just get jaded with the scene? Was everything just the same all the time?

Lee:I was just in the need of a new rush, it’s just the step I had to go through after spending 10 years with Cadenza…All is good again now.

Had you guys both collaborated with other people before? How does this one compare with other partnerships?

Dean: Yes the longest I’ve worked with was with Pig&Dan, It was at the very beginning of it all so it was all magic to me, but with Lee it’s something really different. I remember looking at Pig&Dan and wanting that connection they had with each other and I wished for that. I think I found this with Lee.

Lee: well, it’s very different for me as it’s the first time I’m thinking about a long term collaboration with someone. In the past I worked a lot with other people, but it was always as one-shot releases. With Dean I really feel we can go as far as we want…I can’t explain it. It’s just matching perfectly.

Dean, do you find that being less exposed to dance music, as say, Lee is in mainland Europe, arguably more inspiring? Are there still clubs and festivals you’d still dearly love to play at or visit then?

Dean: Yeah I need to be outside of it all to have a clearer mind sometimes. I’m setting up my studio here to have a place of my own and work at my own pace. I travelled and lived in the UK and Berlin these last years so I had a bit of it all. I’m trying to have it both at the same time because it’s a big part of the job to be in the scene. Well yeah I miss the clubs in Berlin sometimes and having those really cool gigs with friends around and festivals like Time Warp or Street Parade, but I like to try and have a balance in my life.

So is Malta a pretty inspiring place to make music then?

Dean: Yes it is, I need to be relaxed to make the music I want and be able to have less distractions as possible, Malta gives me this. I’m at a point in my life were I feel I need to be here, but as soon as I feel the need to leave, I leave, I’m like that.

Do you think that by not being exposed to the culture as often that you’ve developed more of a fascination with it?

Dean: Maybe, I really have no clue how I ended up being here, I just did what I wanted to do and ended up playing around, having a record label, a music partner and working with a lot of friends. I was looking for something different then the usual, I hated office jobs and I felt school was limited. Music was the only thing that kept my alive.

Are there many underground clubs or do most of them play the same sort of stuff?

Dean: There are a few clubs but most of them play the same stuff over and over again. It’s not that bad but being used to Berlin and the UK it’s difficult to find something new.

So you collaborate mostly over Skype, right? How does that one work?

Dean: Well we sit down together and someone starts to jam, we keep on jamming till we get something solid and something that we both like. We end up having a specific plan for these sounds and then I get all the parts to do the final arrangements. It’s pretty simple actually. It’s like being in the same studio but communicating in another way.

Lee: Yes that’s it. Nothing particular! the way we work is nothing special, what makes the difference is how fast we work that way. It’s a bit scary lately cause we work even faster now as we know each other better.

Is it the kind of production relationship that’d work better if you were in the studio together? Or does that matter in this day and age?

Dean: Well we haven’t tried being in the studio together yet so really I have no clue on if it would work better or not. I’m curious to know if that would take everything to another level but I guess we are at a great point already. What matters in the end is the result we get and we are already very much happy with what we are doing at the moment.

Lee: hmm, I don’t think the media we use to collaborate could have an incidence on our work. Being in studio together or thru skype is kind of the same in the end. Maybe being together could be a bit easier for experimentations etc. But it will come as soon Dean’s studio is ready.

What do you produce most of your music on then? Have you introduced one another to a new way of working since you first caught up?

Dean: I work on logic, which is my main thing, I would never think of changing that because I feel really comfortable with it and I used it from the beginning. I use Maschine a lot too, it’s a main part of my studio. I love jamming on it and getting a hands on feel is very important for me.

Not really, we work both in our own ways and combine our strengths. The most important thing about us is that we are open to new stuff and challenge each other.

Lee: I think we’re that productive mostly because we work on 2 different ways. But also because we’re both super open on any suggestions and ideas…there’s definitely no ego problems between us.

Your new EP is out now on Dazed & Confused Records. What’s the idea behind this one and how does it differ to your previous work?

Dean: The idea in this EP is to have something we really want to put out, we chose these tracks and we made them specifically how we wanted them. I love the result of all 3 tracks and we might have another one coming up later too. Having a label to release on is cool as you really can do whatever you want and release what’s really deep inside of you. No compromise.

Lee : The boss says noooooo compromises hehe…

Should we expect more collaborations from you two in the future then?

Dean: For sure, hopefully this is just the beginning. We feel good working together and we became very good friends now, so why not in the end :)

Lee: i have no other plans than working with Dean in a close or far future…

What does the rest of the summer hold in store for you?

Will definitely be locked down in the studio soon again. We just finished some other tracks for mobilee and maybe some other labels too. We can’t wait to play more often together, which will definitely happen more soon. Thanks for having us :) Ciao

Lee van Dowski & Dean Demanuele’s What’s Up Doc is out now on Dazed & Confused Records

more info:

Dean Demanuele // Lee Van Dowski