If you know London duo Trutopia, you know to expect some serious, party starting house music. The siblings have been putting their own spin on classic house sounds, informed by a spectrum of styles from techno to breakbeats, and it’s been placing them on lineups from the UK to Ibiza. Their recent mix for BBC Radio One gives credit to this, supported by tastemaker Pete Tong, as does the string of releases the duo have coming out on high profile dance music labels like Get Physical and Realm. Their latest single, Lights Off, has already quickly climbed the dance charts. A bassy acid house track led by the sound of a Roland 303, Lights Off sees Trutopia collaborate with friend and fellow producer Greta Levska for Get Physical. We caught up with the brothers to find out more about Lights Off, and what we can expect to hear from them next.
Download and stream Lights Off here
Trutopia, welcome to The Playground. It’s great to speak with you.
Class to be here, thanks for having us on.
Set the tone for us. Where did your journey with music begin?
It began pretty early with Kris getting his first drum kit at the age of 7, which quickly got thrown out the window by our mum within the first 2 weeks Years later we of course grew into our teens and luckily we persuaded her on the drum kit idea again, this time it stayed intact & in the studio! We formed a band and moved to London, Ash on vocals, Kris delving between drums & synths. Within a year, we found our love for dance music as the scene in London was so exciting, and we quickly realised that’s what we wanted to make.
You’ve seen some great success and support over the years. Is there a particular moment that stands out to you that’s made the journey worth it thus far?
There’s always a bit of a tingle when you tick off bucket list moments, we will never forget our first signing with Strictly Rhythm, receiving an email back from a demo we had sent with “we love this & wanna sign it” what a feeling! Another huge moment was having the legend Pete Tong play our music on his BBC Radio 1 show, we’ve loved Pete’s show for years, and making it on to his show felt so surreal when he said our names & bigged up our music!
Who would you consider as your biggest influences or inspirations?
When it comes to our sound, we have a wide range of influences from the likes of Prodigy, Masters At Work, Maya Jane Coles, Franky Wah & more. As far as inspirations, we have to say Gorgon City. They have heavily championed us on their label, at their shows & putting us on as their support. Being at the top of their game, & crushing it for years, It’s inspiring to see how much they care about music & bringing new talents through.
Could you tell us a bit about what you’ve been up to in Ibiza? What’s the vibe like there, and does it inspire the music in any way?
Ibiza is the one, Ash lives there all year around with Kris hopping back and forth monthly. It heavily influenced the music we have coming & it’s proving a productive place to be for our output. The summer was huge, with some massive shows for us including our debut at Amnesia but now the season has ended bringing in the winter, there is still such a buzz here with so much going on, places like Akasha in the north are putting amazing nights on bringing the likes of Steve Bug, Animal Trainer, & more over.
You’re working with Greta Levska on your new single, Lights Off. How did this collaboration come about?
We have known Greta for years & we’ve watched her grow as a producer & DJ. We love her sound, she’s just got such a wicked feel to her production & her DJ sets are fire, always introducing new music which we love. It was only a matter of time before we hit the studio with her & “Lights Off ” is the first record we made together. It was great to see it instantly snapped up by Get Physical.
What inspired the acid house direction of this single?
It’s always nice when you have new gear to learn & get your head around, we’d just signed up to Roland Cloud & had access to the 303. It was an instant vibe that just bounced out of the 303 and into the project which we knew would also tear a club up!
How has your experience at Get Physical been?
Get Physical are a dream to work with & we hope to continue our relationship with them by releasing more music in the future. Roland Leesker has such an amazing ear as an A&R and producer in his own right, we literally love everything they put out. It has definitely been a pinch-yourself moment for us to again tick off another huge icon label to have released with.
Aside from Light Off, you’ve released SRX ENERGY on Night Mayors and have a single coming up on Realm Records. Are there plans for an album anytime soon?
Funny you say this, we are at a point now, where we are making so much music & feel like we are in such a groove, that this is the first time where we can honestly say we could put an album out. We think it’s a really cool idea & it’s great to see people like Dusky & Anotr recently doing it and having big responses, we also love that they’ve done it on their own labels, so if we were too, then we would do it on Night Mayors.
While you guys make house and tech, there’s a lot of diversity in terms of the styles you explore in your music. If you could summarise your sound in three words, what would they be?
Electro…Melodic…Emotional
Where can we see you live in the coming months?
Next up we are at Steel Yard in London on the 26th Nov, this is gonna be a hugeeee party with some wicked artists on the line up including Selena Fader, Elliot Adamson & Ejeka.
Famous last words?
Nowen!
Big love for having us on today guys, we are so chuffed you’re feeling the latest release “Lights Off” which is out now on Get Physical.
Listen to Lights Off below.
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