CROOKERS [05:03:08]
SOUND MACHINES
The most important Italian export since Lamborghini, Crookers is comprised of two strangely named lads, Bot and Phra. Meeting in Milan in 2003, they play glitchy fidget house better than anyone else by blending booty, baile funk and sexy production.

This March they are heading to Australia to play a national tour, and they have just completed a compilation for OneLove titled ‘OneLove Sound Machine’.

“We've got a lot of new remixes,” says Bot, “and also some new stuff we're doing for the album and some new tracks that friends have sent us. You will hear a lot of new tunes on the tour in Australia. Basically just friends and people we love. We will play Boy-8-Bit's stuff, also Bumblebeez are friends of ours here in Italy, some Brodinski or sometimes we play Potty Mouth tracks. We are lucky in this field because many people send us their new tracks and we can choose and find the ones we like.

“We have finished the compilation and it will be one for the clubs. It has many of our major remixes, but also tracks from other people. We asked every artist we respect and who sends us their tracks. We also have some really great tracks from other people. It's all the tracks we play when we go to clubs.”

Bot says that OneLove got in touch via their MySpace, which is the only way anyone ever gets in touch these days. “The first contact is always a MySpace message and then it's through our agency.”

Famous for a string of high-profile remixes of late, Bot says the pair's favourite projects span different genres, for different reasons. “We have maybe two remixes at the same level that we are very proud of, The Chemical Brothers and The Prostitutes. I like The Chemical Brothers track because we are big, big fans and when we realized we had the opportunity to do this, we screamed like mad and were very happy. Also, it's a track that works, people like it and it made us happy. The Prostitutes we like because it's wild and unusual, and at first we weren't sure if it would work or not, but then we played it and sent it to people and heard that the crowd went mad. When we do something in that direction and it works so well, it really makes us happy.”

The same experimentation has gone into their forthcoming artist album, which Bot says will shy a little from the dance floor, leaning more towards pop-styled songs. “It won't be a collection of dance tracks; it will be more of an album with a focus on pop and a mix of everything we like. Not really a pop album, but when we say we're doing a new album people will think it's just dance tracks and tracks for the clubs. It won't be strictly that, there will be more. When we listen to a collection of dance tracks it doesn't make much sense to us. We prefer an album with many different moods, variations in the rhythm of the songs; and it's also much more fun for us when we can experiment with new genres.

“We have two different studios with the same equipment and nowadays we just send stuff to each other since we don't live in the same city. It's more of a collaboration and we send each other the stuff we are working on which also allows us to avoid wasting time. When you are in the studio together, sometimes time is wasted talking or you can't focus in the same way. Also, the most important thing is to consult because when you work alone, a lot of times you don't know if it's good or not. If we send it to each other, we will know if it doesn't work or doesn't make sense or if it's the shit! In this way, we are more productive than when we are both in the studio.”
Carlisle

Onelove presents Crookers at The Monastery on March 13. ‘Onelove Sound Machine will be out through Sony / BMG on March 29.
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