Leaf The 4 are Remy Unger and Warren Fellow and their partnership means just that. ‘Liefde de voor’ in their native Dutch tongue, everything they do right now, everything they have ever done in their combined 40 years of electronic music experience, everything they ever will do is done for the love. Complementing each other’s skills and selections every step of the way, Leaf The 4 is an exciting new chapter for two forward-thinking artists, promising a unique, authentic experience both on wax and the dance floor. And it comes from the right place…
There’s no way they could have succeeded in such a fast-paced, competitive industry if they didn’t have true love for their art. Representing two generations of The Netherlands’ rich techno heritage, between them as solo artists they’ve played in every possible corner of the groove-loving globe several times over and worked with some of the most respected tastemaker imprints in techno history: Bedrock, Global Underground, Harthouse, Desolat, Rejected and many more.
Mix of the Week - Gregor Tresher
Mix of the Week - NaifOur own Dutch editor, Jaap Ligthart met with Leaf The 4 ahead of their performance at Free Your Mind Festival to find out all about them.
Hey guys, thanks for finding the time to chat with us at Decoded Magazine today. How are you both?
Hey there, we are doing great, just came back from a great gig in Mexico City!
So could you tell us about your new project, Leaf the 4?
In short: LT4 is 2 friends DJing, performing and producing together, it’s as simple as that!
We understand you have been friends a long time, so at what point did you begin to think it would be fun to work together?
We noticed that after playing and touring together, in China, France and a few Dutch gigs, that there was a certain chemistry between us which made as feel for more. A typical case of Yin and Yang, and that we bring out the best in each other haha!
What sort of musical message would you like this project to put across?
We want to give people the vibe that we have together in the booth. No deep message or anything, just party like it’s the last time.
We hear you play tougher tracks as a duo than when you play solo. Was that important to you both?
For me (Remy) the difference is not so big as for Warren, I think. After a listening session in the studio we noticed that we love the sound which you get if you combine the sound which we normally play and produce. Pumping techno with warm spacey soundscapes. But basically Leaf the 4 stands for: techno, in all it’s shapes and forms!
In every Dutch city, club or even night the crowds are different. Are there certain clubs or cities that require harder work in the booth to get people on the dance floor to go crazy?
Not necessarily cities , but there are certainly some gigs where you have to ‘work’ much harder than normal. I think now it is an advantage that, with the experience we both have, these situations are easier to handle…….you can’t fool us so easy. But of course that’s also a nice part of the job, the challenge to capture the crowd.
Can you tell us about your DJing setup?
At the moment we DJ really basic: 4 cd players and 1 mixer, but we are now working an a more ‘live’ set-up. We really want to bring something extra, be more creative. So external gear, like drum machines, loops & FX and stuff like that. Especially with the productions we are working on it’s nice to add the live touch to them.
We hear there are some productions lined up for release. Can you tell us some more about that?
We’ve just finished our first release, and are now talking with some labels. They really bring out the Leaf the 4 feeling we like to play… that’s very important to us. What is your favourite piece of kit in your studio? The heart of the studio is my phat old noisey Mac Pro. We also have some really nice analogue stuff, like the 808, MS 20 and the Juno 106, a but without the Mac we are helpless!
Apart from the releases, what are the plans for 2016? Any cool gigs lined up yet for example?
Free Your Mind, Paradigm Loodsrave and more exciting stuff which we can’t reveal yet. We are also planning some own events, with at least one all-nighter. Dates following soon!
Photo Credits : DOOP
