Under the rolls of obese grooves, beyond the dirty basslines of navel-lint synths, amongst the rubble of broken beat bubble, ITM’s sixthdegree uncovers the nether regions of one of the biggest breakbeat acts today. Gasp! Hold your glass up, wave your hands in the air like you don’t care about armpit hair, and catch a piece of why the Plump DJs are talking about camels in Australia, new tunes, and underwear.
Any kind of assumptions made on the sense of humour of this London breaks duo can be confirmed: Lee Rous and Andy Gardner have a collective, bent disposition as bold and cheeky as their tunes. Tunes loved by many.
It was a suspicion that the media-unventured side of these two would best come to play when the ‘Where do you think breakbeat is heading?’ tones were left at the ol’ abode to be covered by the more suited ‘Who wears the pants in the Plump relationship?’ jazz. And then? And then the bottle was uncorked…
“Who wears the what?” asks a curiously shocked Gardner before laughter bursts between the three of us. Rous jumps in to confirm that the “pants” mentioned wasn’t the English idea of “undies”, “You mean the trousers? (No, ballet tights, Lee! – 6.d.) Dunno really. Working out who’s wearing the pants is all dependent from where you’re sitting from.”
Another explosion of a chuckle here and a giggle there, as mental images of the two in French knickers lingers in connotation.
“It’s pretty balanced. I don’t think Andy would put up with anyone dictating him and neither would I. He’s got one leg and I’ve got the other…” there’s a long pause, ”...but maybe not in any sort of sexual way.”
In a more musical way, it was time to yank some info regarding the Plump DJs second album that is rumoured to be coming out in one of the three hundred and sixty five days of next year.
After Plumpified anthems that brought breakbeat back onto the scene in barge-arsed proportions, you would think that any producer would break out in hot flushes, trying to replicate the fame of such killer cuts. “It’s daunting,” expresses Andy on the pressure of performace, “But our sound has developed so we’re confident in what we’re doing now…and I think the new album will show a different side of our music.”
Lee goes on to confirm how making comparisons are best left in the Sahara Desert somewhere (possibly dropped off with the Camel Express): “Some of the tracks on the new album have a similar sort of flare to ‘Electric Disco’, and ‘The Push’, but it’s moving towards a new direction. They’re individual tracks and they should stand alone.”
Many a Trainspotter Ninja and plenty a Furious Chin Stoker Sumo become the next topic heavyweight. Andy-san assumes a praying mantis approach on how they stay grounded with criticisms within the dance scene:
“A lot of the stuff you’re talking about is the House crowd, and we never really felt part of that. It’s not about that for us at all. We write music that we wanna hear, we play music that we wanna hear…if everyone else likes that… that’s great.”
“You can satisfy one person to the detriment of everyone else. We hope it’s for the group enjoyment. Until then, we can say ‘stroke this for a while’,” says Lee.
For a couple of twenty-something lads who seem like they’d still pull pranks on their mothers, torment their sisters, and play ‘Murder In the Dark’, Lee and Andy are loaded with a serious side. When asked about whether they ever get tired of the same Plump jokes, the duo expressed that they were aware of the consequences related to the name. “We think the name being funny is enough…we try to be serious with our music,” explains Andy.
“It expresses our cheeky attitude towards everything,” Lee says on the moniker, as Andy relates the fun attitude as an integral part of their writing music:
“To us, it’s like fun. When we lose that… we should stop doing it. We don’t lose sleep about it because it’s a good thing to do and we really enjoy what we’re doing.”
Rous takes a Freudian approach on his prognosis of making music: “It’s like having a mate. As long as you keep enjoying each other you keep on being mates.” Who knows whether that statement was meant in any sort of sexual way! “It’s a weird path we tread,” into the humorous philosophy pool he dives.
Andy and Lee reminisce on the set they wrapped up prior to our interview: “The response from everyone tonight has been really cool because we played six of our new tunes,” explains Lee, “We are obviously concerned at how people will perceive the new stuff. But when you see them dancing to the new stuff like they’ve heard it already…it’s a really good sign.”
Similar to the sign of how the crowd at Gate Crasher in Melbourne went distinctively off tap when Meat Katie threw in ‘Remember My Name’ and Plumps remix of ‘Bumper’. Andy is beside himself with the news:
“Did he really?” he asks, surprised of how people react to Plump DJs tracks. What do the Plumps think about how something they created makes so many people happy? “That’s what it’s all about,” Andy continues, “That’s our first priority when we make music – to make people dance and to see it happening.”
“It’s like scoring a goal,” Lee adds, “People enjoying it is really mad.”
New Years in Australia will be “mad”. And the Plumps are gearing up in preparation to the sweet limelight of goal scoring moments – bar the high-pitched voice of Beckham. “We’re tailoring our sets now,” begins Andy before Lee slides in with the exclusive:
“We’ve written some tunes especially… a couple of old classics we’ve re-done.” Any further gossip is withheld – for the element of surprise! Poking and probing was ineffectual to the Plumpness.
Back tracking to yet another silly question, Gardner and Rous perk up with a ‘where-the-f-did-that-come-from’ look to ‘Did you know that country you will be gracing this New Years exports camels to the Middle East?’
“Exporting camels...to the Middle East?” upwardly inflicts Gardner in that English-accent way, “No, I didn’t know that at all!” before he states how he would love to go on a camel ride.
Rous looks anxious to get his bit in: “I’ve been on a camel ride at the zoo, when I was a kid. But it only had one hump. Not two.” His hands draw a diagram of the disappointing one-humped camel of his childhood.
Reports have it that after the interview on the weekend Lee Rous was spotted wearing a tea towel and pan on his head. Disc Jockey or Camel Jockey? What Andy Gardner was doing by nursing a Vicks inhaler remains a Plump-file.
Such a world shrouded in mystery the Plumps live in. What is explicitly clear, however, is the Plump DJs’ slant on life. “We’re about having a good time, squidgy sounds, dirty basslines, tough drums and an up-for-it sharing attitude for everyone to enjoy,” Rous had roared that night, laughing in self-mockery.
Plump DJs play in Brisbane on New Years Eve and at Field Day in Sydney on New Years day. Check out www.fingerlickin.co.uk and keep yourself posted on In The Mix!
