The Jinks have had a busy couple of years. 2008's 'Spread My Wings' was a massive underground club track which they followed up with 'Got to Do Better' earlier this year. They've also been gigging all over the place and somehow find time to run their own imprint - Jinks Inc. Records - which has just been relaunched under the Defected umbrella. We caught up with them to find out the ins and outs of the deal, their personal highlights from their time in the industry and why their new single is causing serious damage wherever it drops...

Who are The Jinks?

The Jinks are Dan Savidge and Chris Gau; two age old friends from West London. There was a third Jink, but we don’t talk about him, at least not outside visiting hours

When was Jinks Inc. Records born and why is it important for you to have your own label?

It was Afronaught [from Bugz In The Attic] who first gave us the idea of starting a label. In a time where there is so little margin in the steps from production of a record to the buying public, it seemed crazy to go through a middleman every time we put out a single. Our profile was at a stage where we didn’t need a Big Brother figure to help us reach the heads so much, so we went for it. That DIY spirit really drives us forward too.

What are the benefits of this new deal with Defected?

Defected in many ways represent the pinnacle of the music we love. They have been sitting at the top of the tree for so long, and have an indisputable A&R savvy that you just don’t find anywhere else. In many ways this deal will be like an apprenticeship – we intend to learn as much as possible.   We’ve already started working closely with their team, and they’re a well-oiled machine!

Do you think it’s indicative of the current industry climate that indie label’s are joining forces like this more regularly?

For sure, although it’s not just a case of safety in numbers, as different labels bring different qualities to the table. What with the inevitable surge in piracy and file sharing, however, it’s just not possible for some smaller indies to survive alone. To be fair though, it’s also been happening with the majors in recent years, so it’s an industry wide trend.

Tell us about the new single ‘Dynamite Muzik’…

‘Dynamite Muzik’ started life as an instrumental banger that we were planning to release on a forthcoming tracky EP. When jOHNNYDANGEROUs got in touch about collaborating, we put 2 and 2 together and came up with a bomb! The reactions so far have been immense; we have high hopes for this one all summer long. Remixes will follow, and without giving anything away, they are gonna smash it too!!!

Where in England is stronger for house music – North or South?

Haha. Well our product manager Simon is from Leeds so we’d better be careful here! Having lived in both, I can honestly say there’s a different approach in both places – up north it’s much more a balls out, have a crack, who cares mentality. Down south everyone’s a bit more reserved and image conscious. Both have their merits, but let’s face it, I know which type of crowd I’d rather play to!

Are there any personal highlights from your time in the business?

Chris - Aside from all the firsts (signing, big gigs) there have been a lot of hilarious situations you find yourself in due to the work you do. We were booked to play in Hong Kong once and after the gig the promoter took us to an early-hours eatery. Lovely guy though he was, he got a touch surly with a business associate after a long night on the shandies. One thing led to another and he ended up in a kung fu fight with 4 waiters, while we finished our late night breakfast calmly looking on.  I would like to add that after we dragged him out he apologized profusely and said he would take us to another restaurant. In our jetlagged/pissed state we hadn’t noticed that he had led us back to the same spot for round 2!

Dan - A gal on Facebook recently filled in a questionnaire on 5 songs that changed her life. Nestled in amongst Stevie Wonder, The Beatles and MAW was a track of ours called ‘Like Music’. It’s all subjective of course, but the fact that our song meant so much to someone was definitely a highlight for me.

If you could only either produce or DJ, which would it be?

It’s an incredibly hard one this, as they are such different experiences. A good DJ set is a much more immediate pleasure than building a track, as you get a crowd response in a few seconds. However, seeing someone react to your track is also really special. Also, producing is something we can be doing long after we get too old and wrinkly and hang up the DJ headphones!

Anything else you’d like to tell us about..?
 
Well I guess this is the ideal time to plug what is forthcoming on Jinks Inc. The next single is called ‘Make This Work’ and features Pete Simpson. We’ve gone back to our soulful roots for this one.  We’re then letting loose a banging tracky EP and the reactions to the tracks on it at recent gigs have been immense. We’re playing a couple of festivals this summer (Bestival and Winterwell) and have some Ibiza dates lined up, so keep an eye out and we’ll see you there!!

'Dynamite Muzik' is available to download now and for an idea of the kind of beats these boys drop, you can check out The Jinks Dynamite Muzik Mixtape right here