No More Idols

Their second album, ‘No More Idols’, debuted #2 in the UK album charts and went gold in its first week. They’ve won numerous awards and can list Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, Rihanna and Pharrell Williams among their fans.

But rather than taking time out to pat themselves on the back, UK electronic duo Chase And Status - aka Saul Milton and Will Kennard - are staying humble and working harder than ever. Saul even takes this interview while in a car on his way home to London, after playing what he describes as an “electric” gig in Liverpool.
“Yeah, we're on our second UK tour this year… it started last week. It's been a massive success. Some have sold out. It's just really exciting”

The tour comes off the back of an exhilarating, but exhausting summer for the pair. “We did between 30 and 40 festivals. It's been a massive summer for us - huge, huge shows, big crowds, big headline slots. Yeah, everything is moving forward nicely.”
But despite all the performances, Saul says the studio is where he's happiest.

“It's being creative and making music, that's why I'm talking to you now and why I get to travel the world to perform … long, long after we're too old to be on the road we'll still be in the studio making beats. That's where the love will always lie.”

Milton says collaborations with Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z and Rihanna really changed their public perception, opening them up to a new market. The offers have been flooding in, but Saul says they're just concentrating on their own stuff for the moment.

“We've been getting calls from a lot of peoples’ people. It all began when we (co-produced) ‘Snoop Dogg Millionaire’... that really opened the gates and then when we did the stuff with Rihanna and Jay-Z, the whole world just came knocking.
“It's very flattering and we've had to turn down a lot of work, and yeah it's been a great profile boost for us, it's a real learning curve, we were in the studio with them for weeks and weeks and among other things - they've got a great working ethos and the way they do stuff is incredible -I’ve actually learnt a lot from those sessions - yeah it's all been super productive and positive for us.”

Not everyone is happy for them, however, with some begrudgers accusing them of selling out and becoming too mainstream. Milton couldn't care less.
“We just make music that we like you know.  And that we love …  if you don't want to see someone become a success, you want them to always play little clubs and not really progress in their career then you're not really much of a fan of the artist.”

Despite the success, the praise and the accolades, Milton says he still doesn't feel like they've made it. “We always set ourselves new goals and you know, don't rest on your laurels, don't get caught up in the praise or in the negative, and we've pretty much got the same attitude as we had 10, 11 years ago which is just write cool music that we like and there's plenty more stuff for us to do.”

Having been friends with Will since they were teenager,s and now working together closely, Milton says they're a bit like an old married couple. “We're like family members now … we know each other very well. If we want to annoy each other we know how to do that, we know how to get in each other’s face. But fundamentally, we've got on fantastically well since we've become friends and this sort of thing wouldn't work in such a close partnership if it wasn't so.”

Chase And Status have played a number of DJ sets in Australia over the last few years. Now they're looking forward to coming back to play Future Music Festival in March - so what can we expect?
“A full live band, a couple of guests happening, and carnage, just absolute madness. We like to sort of bring a punk vibe, like modern day Sex Pistols if you will to the arena. Like, really get that kind of like punk vibe with electronic music.“

Chase And Status will be joined by Swedish House Mafia, Fatboy Slim and many others at Future Music Festival, at Doomben Racecourse, Saturday March 3. futuremusicfestival.com.au