INTERVIEW: Codes and Craze

CODES and CRAZE are two of our favourite DJs, touring internationally and wooing crowds everywhere. We caught up with them to find out how much they're looking forward to their Aussie tour and to school them on Australian cuisine.

Purple Sneakers: How did you guys first come to meet up and start collaborating?

Codes: I think we met through Kill The Noise. After Slow Roast picked up and put out my first EP Craze asked me to come to Miami to get in the studio. I ended up staying there for like a week and that's where 'Deeper' and the 'Big Bad Wolf' remix were born.

Craze: I met Cody through Jake (Kill The Noise). They grew up together in Rochester NY. One year at WMC Jake showed me some of his tunes that he was working on as Codes and I immediately asked Jake if we could sign them to Slow Roast. The rest is history.

PS: You both come from shared backgrounds in drum 'n’ bass and hip-hop, but what are the main differences in your music styles?

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Co: I play a bit more house music then Craze. I'm also not a world renowned DMC champion!

Cr: There's not that big of difference in our styles. I guess since we grew up listening to the same kinda stuff, only makes sense that we now share the same taste for music.

PS: Do these differences ever get you into any friendly disputes or are you generally both team players?

Co: I honestly don't think we've ever gotten into any disputes before. We both have a solid ear for what's hot and usually agree on most things. That's why everything has worked out so well for me with Slow Roast.

Cr: We both generally are into the same kinda stuff. We always send stuff to each other that we think is hot and most of the time we agree.

PS: Your remix of Duck Sauce's 'Big Bad Wolf” received such a massive reaction; were you expecting that from the track?

Co: I guess you always hope for a good reaction but I try not to expect too much. I focus more on keeping it moving and making sure everything is a as fresh as it can be.

Cr: We didn't expect anything from it, we just thought it'd be dope to do a remix to it. We didn't have any of the parts and we just did it one night that Cody came to Miami. It was fun and we wanted to try something different with it. A-Trak ended up liking it and that was that.

PS: Craze, you started up Slow Roast records 2 years ago, signing people like Codes of course, as well as Klever and Kill The Noise – it must be keeping you pretty busy?

Cr: Yeah its pretty hectic trying to keep up with the label and my DJ career but at the end of the day it's fun. I work with my best friends on putting out the music and we make sure that we do what we want, how we want. We have hired more people to work with us this year to make things a little bit less hectic.

PS: We’re loving the new track from you guys 'Deeper.' it’s been described as a fusion of a few different genres, how would you describe this track?

Co: If I had to describe it, I would say it's on a liquid house trip.

Cr: I would describe 'Deeper' as liquid house. Me and Codes come from a DnB background and when we were making the tune that's all we kept saying ... "Lets make a liquid house tune!!"

PS: On the topic of genres, you guys seem to defy genre boundaries in a lot of your work, what would you generally class your music as?

Co: You can find my music in the "Music I Like" genre.

Cr: I would describe my music as .... music .... don't know what else to call it. I bounce around from genre to genre all the time so I really can't say it's this or that.

PS: And finally, you’re headed down under soon for your Australian tour, is there anything in particular you want to do or see while you’re kicking it here in the land of Oz?

Co: It will be my first time out there! Do you have any suggestions on must-do-or-eat extravaganzas?

Cr: When we're out in Australia I'd love to see polar bears and eskimos ...... oh wait ..... wrong Continent .... I guess I'd love to see some crazy Aussies getting down and sexy to some of our music at Slow Roast!

PS: Well you've got to check out the Sydney Harbour Bridge when you get to little old Sydney town. And maybe if you're feeling real adventurous, taste kangaroo for some special Australian eats. It's actually really lean and really good for you!

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CRAZE AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES

Thursday May 24

Electric Circus, Adelaide

Friday May 25

Oh Hello! Brisbane

Saturday May 26

Chinese Laundry, Sydney

Wednesday May 30

Plan B, Hobart

Thursday May 31

Transit Bar, Canberra