Following last month’s feature on the vastly experienced 2000 and One, we decided to chalk and cheese it up and give some highly talented yet relatively unknown artists a chance to shine. Zoo Look are Sam King, Alex Warren and Craig Watkins - a trio of DJs and producer hailing from Bournemouth, England whose debut ‘Holdin’ On EP is just about to drop. Known for their deeply hypnotic take on house and disco they are an exciting prospect for the future; if you’re aware of them already you’ll know what to expect, but if not we are honoured to present them here for the first time. 

In Their House #06 - Zoo Look by Defected Records

What are your backgrounds, musically?

Well, we've all been DJing and performing under various guises, projects and bands over the last few years, all of which have had various levels of success. Zoo Look is a culmination of the three of us coming together, experimenting and having fun.

Within Zoo Look, where do your individual strengths lie?

Alex is the main technical head as he's the one with a music technology degree. We all have a strong input on the tracks we make and we all have our own specific ideas on what should happen next in the track we're making or which direction it should take. We basically spend a while bouncing a load of ideas around and seeing what happens. It's all about experimentation with us but the end product is always pretty interesting (we hope!) Our DJ sets are also split three ways, usually on a one track back to back rotation which is always massive fun.

Who do you most respect in the industry? Is there anyone or any group that you’d particularly like to emulate?

That's a really tough one as there are literally countless artists, labels and DJs out there – past and present – that we hold a great deal of respect for... we wouldn't know where to start.

Tell us about the kind of music that excites you…

There are all kinds of genres that excite us but when it comes to picking records to play out in our DJ sets we usually go for all things deep, groovy, raw and housey. There are so many awesome labels putting out good music at the moment we're pretty much constantly excited... and broke.

Where and how was the mix recorded?

The mix is a 50 / 50 blend of vinyl and CDs recorded into Logic at a local club in Bournemouth. We would have recorded it at home but our neighbours hate us enough as it is. Shouts to all of the team at Sherbet Club for letting us come down and make a racket.

Was there a particular idea behind the mix?

Yeah, we just wanted to include a selection of tracks from the past, present and future that we all really love. Some of the older tracks in the mix are absolutely timeless and sound fresher today than they ever did, which is just a sign of great production and forward thinking on their part.

Tell us about some of the tracks that you’ve included…any particular highlights?

Besides the two tracks from our debut EP the other main highlights for us are probably Medlar's epic 'Terrell' track (forthcoming on Wolf Music) and Huxley's superb remix of Ooft - Deep Wading (forthcoming on Raw Cutz), both of which are destined to be big.

Everyone seems to be slowing things down these days…why do you think that is? Is it merely another trend within electronic music that will eventually have had its day?

We wouldn't say it's 'merely another trend' as such, it's all part of the cycle. There are tonnes of old house records in our collection that are really slow, really raw and really groovy…it's all just coming back around again with a few modern twists, turns and techniques chucked in along the way and it's here to stay.

What are you going to do next?

We have a couple more vinyl releases already confirmed but we're always busy working on new material, as that comes first. We're also in talks with some pretty amazing artists for remixes which is really exciting. Along with that we have quite a few gigs and festival appearences lined up for the summer which is amazing. We've always been keen on the idea of travelling around playing the music we love to the people that love it.

Tracklist:

1. Vincenzo - Moodkinda
2. DJ Aakmael - Get Down
3. Genius Of Time - Drifting Back
4.Ooft - Deep Wading (Huxley Remix)
5. Zoo Look - Space & Time
6. Lewie Day - Bedwetter
7. Medlar - Terrell
8. Pepe Bradock - Lara
9. Chaton - +91 Ahead 4 (Quarion's Bklyn Version)
10. Dead Rose Music Company - Baby I Don't Know
11. Zoo Look - Holdin' On
12. William DeVaughn - Be Thankful For What You Got