Pelussje, a.k.a. James Nayler & Chiara Benelli, are a couple of italian electro producers and DJs born in 2004 through flaming walls of sound, burning screams and fiery stage divings. After a period of circuit bending, noise, and underground live based shows, they decided to bring back on the ring their deep love for mixer and turntables.
In 2008 their productions turned to a stronger, more complex and club-oriented sound, colored by massive basslines and the full flavor of their musical roots. Their love for Mexican Lucha Libre, it’s theatrical violence and the acted madness broke through, and masks became a fundamental symbol of their live shows.
During the last 5 years Pelussje acquired a significant reputation worldwide, bringing their show to Europe, USA, South Africa, Mexico, Taiwan, South Korea and Brazil, sharing the stage with Skrillex, Crookers, Deadmau5, Steve Aoki, Cyberpunkers, Congorock, Boys Noize to name a few.
PCM’s Larry Cochran recently had a chance to catch up with Pelussje, to answer some questions about EDM, their love of lucha libre, goals for 2014 and more. Check out the full interview below:
Q: What soul or funk track would you love to remix that you haven’t done yet?
Pelussje: Absolutely “The Mexican”- Babe Ruth, “Apache”- The Incredible Bongo Band, “Theme from S.W.A.T.” – Rhythm Heritage, “It’s just begun” – Jimmy Castor, “Street dance”- Break Machine, and of course everything from Michael Jackson’s Thriller album.
Q: How did you first learn about lucha libre and what about it fascinated you most?
Pelussje: Unfortunately in Italy lucha libre is not popular at all. So we got in touch with that world accidentally, with some graphic design magazines which reported some artworks with luchadores on it. Also thanks to an italian noise band called Almandino, who during their concerts used to wear lucha masks. We were so fascinated from this visual phenomena, that we decided to learn more about it, we came through a wonderful and huge culture we fell immediatly in love with.
Q: Would you ever compete against another DJ or DJ in a mask vs hair (lucha de apuestas) match? If so, who?
Pelussje: Competing against another DJ in this way could be definitely fun, even better against another couple of Djs! There are so many duos…fun is what’s important, so we’d probably choose our bros Belzebass.
Q: How do you think that EDM has changed since you started in the industry?
Pelussje: It definitely changed a lot! When we started this adventure, back in 2008, there was much less competition, and everything was way more simple. Now everybody wants to be a DJ, a superstar, and lives this whole world as a challenge. Music, unfortunately, has become a marginal detail, years ago it was not like that.
Q: What are your goals for the rest of 2014?
Pelussje: First of all we’re focusing on our next North & South America tour starting at the end of March for 3 months, in the mean time we’re experimenting on tons of new music and working on several interesting collabs.
Q:What’s your favorite part of touring and is there anywhere you still want to perform?
Pelussje: The best part of touring is definitely being always together, we’re a couple so every time we travel it’s like a honeymoon! We never performed in Australia so going there would be awesome…even if there’s a lot of insanely creepy animals!
Q:With the increasingly electronic influence recently, where do you see music as a whole going in the next five years?
Pelussje: Music is evolving, nowadays it’s just happening faster. Technology is a big part of the game now, in the past music was made of ‘real’ instruments, and now most of the records are made of electronic instruments, so I think this evolution is natural and kinda obvious. I don’t think the real instruments will disappear, but the electronic aspect is surely here to stay.
Q: Would you ever create entrance music for a luchador and if so, who would be your top choice?
Pelussje: Well, we’re already working on an entrance music for a famous luchador, but we’d like to keep everything secret…it’s a surprise!
Q: How did the two of you decide to form the band and come up with the name Pelussje?
Pelussje: We started making music as a live band, becoming a DJ duo was just the natural evolution of what we felt in that moment. We’ve always had a great feeling behind the decks, so from the very first time we knew that was our path.
The name Pelussje has a foggy story behind it, but it basically born when we were trying to create a word both strong and tender, as it’s the mash-up of ‘pelear’ (to fight in spanish) and ‘je’ which is a suffix that means little in dutch.
So we ask you where in the world can you find such diverse acts as Queen, Skrillex, and Miley Cyrus hanging together? Why, in PELUSSJE’s long anticipated video for Carol Williams “Love Is You (PELUSSJE Remix)”, out now on ULTRA Music, of course! Let me say there is nothing we don’t love about this video!
You can check out the video below:
The post Pelussje Talk EDM, Lucha Libre And More In Exclusive Interview appeared first on Unskinny Pop.