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British purveyors of tech house get ready to conquer America.

English duo Ben Prok and James Fitch came together eight years ago to create their distinct brand of tech house. Both come from a vinyl background—”It’s all about turntables”—but their latest EP, Raw Cut, was created to produce music not for their DJ sets, but highlight what they’re really into—experimental house music that showcases the duo’s distinct tastes.

Hometown:
James: Born in Watford, England, but lived in Spain and Holland.

Ben: Originally from a small village in Sussex, England.

Current residence: We live around 1 mile from each other in sunny Brighton

How did you two meet?

Ben: "I used to work in the record shop BPM in Brighton, and James used to go there to buy records. I knew he was producing music, as his track “Pass The Funk” was selling in the shop. I'd always wanted to get into production, so I had a chat with him about re-doing “Outro Lugar”—he was also a big fan of the track, so the next step was the studio.

How did you discover dance music?

James: "I was living in Spain at the time of the acid house explosion. I was 12 at the time and my brother used to go to all these clubs in Madrid bringing tapes back the DJ had given him. I used to nick them off him when he wasn't around and record them, then spend hours in my room with my headphones on wondering what it would be like to hear the music in a club. I became obsessed with the music and have craved it ever since. I fortunately had my bike stolen when I was 16 ... the insurance money paid for my first set of decks. I'd also been wiring up my dad's CD decks to a cheap mixer since I was 14."

Ben: "I've been into dance music from a very young age, apparently raving it up to the sounds of madness in my highchair. Getting into house music through the legendary Sterns nightclub, I then started putting on a few parties in and around where I grew up, renting village halls and blagging marquees. It was all a little time-consuming, so the next step was getting behind the decks."

What's your favorite place in the world to play in?

Ibiza. It's got such a hedonistic history and has always been the place for forward-thinking music. There are no boundaries. It's strange; people who are maybe into top 40 back home, embrace the music they'll hear in Ibiza. It's an amazing place to DJ.

Name three indispensable artists/songs in your set.

Our current biggest records in our sets would be

  1. Technasia’s “Obsession (Hombre Lowdown's French Kissed Edit)”
  2. Carlo Ruetz’s “Sol (Stefano Noferini Re-Edit)”
  3. Prok & Fitch’s “Raw Cut”

What are your goals for 2015?

It’s very cheesy, but to keep on making the music we love, and of course when traveling to try as many different foods as possible!

Which non-EDM artists do you enjoy listening to and inspire you?

Ben: Blast from the past—Fleetwood Mac. I enjoy listening to the diversity of music played on BBC 6music
James: My inspiration has to come from disco; the production back then was amazing. Sample gold!

What do you do for fun?

Time is the most important thing, so we both spend as much time as possible with our family and friends. Hobby-wise James enjoys the gym and badminton. Ben likes golf, boating and tennis.

How has EDM’s recent popularity in the United States impacted your career?

With the recent popularity in house music we've seen an increase in quality booking in the United States. The aim for any artist is always to crack America, something we've yet to achieve but something we strive to do. It's obviously a huge country and once you've made it over there it musts be a huge career achievement.

 

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