The turnaround to success when you’re Disclosure is short. Less than a few weeks after uploading their first tracks to MySpace, brothers Howard and Guy Lawrence (aged just 18 and 21 respectively) found themselves featured on prominent music blogs and soon approached by vying managers. 2012 has been especially favourable for this sibling powerhouse who were nominated for the Best New Artist MTV Award with hit track Latch reaching number 11 on the UK charts. Having racked up hundreds of thousands of Soundcloud plays with their remixes for Jessie Ware and Emeli Sande, the boys are currently working towards a much-anticipated debut album. Blending deep house bass lines, Dilla-esque snares and melodic two-step top lines, Disclosure have proven themselves as producers with a sonic maturity beyond their years. Due to hit Australian shores for a festival circuit, 100% speaks with Guy about Disclosure’s influences, groupies and the perks of working with family.
The Lawrence brothers started playing music as children, Guy on the drums and Howard on the bass and piano. “We were listening to music as kids and were learning how to play,” Guy explains. “We knew nothing about producing back then… I was in a band and wanted to start producing. Howard started messing around on laptops and was making beats. [Music is] all I ever wanted to do.” While it takes some musicians years to be discovered, Disclosure found the process to be much shorter thanks to the advent of the internet age and a progressive yet soulful sound. “Howard was making beats and because I already knew how to mix sound and use Logic, I ended up mixing them,” Guy begins. “We put them on MySpace and within a week, we were on this cool blog. It was watched by a lot of managers so within a few weeks we had management.”
The duo’s pieces of post-dubstep admiration have blossomed into increasingly solid soul-laden tracks. Drawing from ‘90s garage tropes and vintage house, their vocal and melodically driven gems have been a defining sound of 2012. “At the start, we were influenced by what was happening in the UK scene,” Guy says. “I had just started to go clubbing and I was watching the early beginnings of dubstep… I never wanted to make very aggressive beats and I went to more house sets…Now, three years later, I would say I am definitely influenced by Detroit techno and Chicago house. Once we got into the UK scene, we kind of wanted to know who were influencing the people we liked. We didn’t know the history of house music. We were buying as many records as we could and were learning. As we progress we are influenced by older and older things.”
Listing their influences, Guy explains they look to forward thinking and original artists including Burial, Joy Orbison and J Dilla. “I think when we heard Joy Orbinson’s Hyph Mngo in 2009, we were pretty captivated,” Guy explains. “It was 140 BPM, which is the same speed as dubstep, but it was the first track that had chords and melodies as well as being bassy. We thought, ‘People can make music out of it?’ He just happened to be the first guy we heard. But J Dilla – he’s our man. I don’t think you can call yourself a producer if you aren’t influenced by him.”
The fact that the duo are brothers sweetens the Disclosure deal. It is something that isn’t seen too often, especially in the electronic scene, but it has its perks according to Guy. “We are totally honest with each other,” he says. “There isn’t too much bickering and we are very chilled. We’re more like friends to be honest. We are pretty laid back plus we know what we’re both thinking which helps.” On their creative process, Guy says, “I always do the mix and production, but the creative process is quite shared. I probably do a bit more programming in terms of how the song is shaped, but Howard has a big part in writing. I hate it. But I love writing chords and melodies.”
The Face EP is the most recent offering from brother’s Guy and Howard Lawrence who have already been playlisted by Radio 1, received enthusiastic co-signs from Pitchfork, FACT, Fader and The Guardian, toured the UK and Europe and supported SBTRKT on his UK tour. With its addictive sunshine sound, their latest EP compounds Disclosure’s growing reputation as the UK’s most exciting, and uplifting, new producers. Despite its uptempo BPM, it’s a sound that Disclosure insist owes as much to ‘90s hip hop as it does to Detroit House and UK Garage. “We’re working around house tempos”, Guy explains, “but we’re not setting out to make house music just for the club. It’s more about the chords, melodies and vocals. We want a warm sound; a jazzy sound.” When asked if much has changed since The Face, Guy says not much. “We’re still on a similar vibe,” he explains. “The upcoming album still consists of instrumental tunes. Songs like What’s In Your Head, Boiling and Control are good previews for the album.”
This “preview” has racked the boys up some pretty solid recognition, including a nomination for the MTV Best New Artist award. “It was pretty mad,” Guy laughs. “We only heard about it on the day. It was great to be recognised and MTV have provided good support for us.” Other highlights of 2012 include body-writhing/sexy-time inducing song Latch reaching number 11 on UK charts. “It was unexpected,” Guy says. “We have also had a few amazing shows too. We played in a club called Space in Ibiza. Also in America, we played a club in LA on Halloween. That was one to remember.”
Like most performers, Disclosure have an embarrassing tale to share. “We were playing in a town with Annie Mac, a radio DJ,” Guy begins. “It was the last show and she had these flashing cubes that were four foot high on the ground in front of the stage and I just thought they were speakers. When we play Latch I normally go and stand on the speakers, but I got onto one of these cubes and fell into the box. It was made of thin plastic and I was still standing out while the song was on. Everyone was asking ‘Oh my God, is he alright?’ But I just held the microphone up and when it was done I pulled myself out.” On the topic of crowds, and more specifically groupies, Guy laughs, “Recently, there have been a lot of girls at the shows. With Latch, the front row becomes full of girls. I don’t know what it is, but when that song comes on, yeah, they all flood toward the front of the stage.”
Playing Summadayze in Melbourne, Guy says this is their first trip to Australia. “We are really looking forward to the weather,” he says. “It’s zero degrees here right now, so the Australian summer will be great. We are also looking forward to the crowd. It seems Australians are quite a receptive fan base, which is great.” Their favourite things about festivals? “I love the crowds, the drinking and the partying,” Guy says. “Normal festival things. Though not camping. I hate camping.”
BY TAMARA VOGL
