When you see Blond:Ish playing, you will probably get an impression that these two blonds are all about fun and dance. Sort of, entertaining DJs, who are enjoying themselves, and that’s it. But that’s not about them. Anastacia and Vivienne are really fun to listen to and watch. Vi may even dance on a DJ deck. But there’s a whole musical world behind that.
Blond:Ish come from Canada, where they won the World Air Guitar Championship in 2008, and since then, the big swirl of gigs, acquantancies and production has taken them. But before that, they’ve met on WMC 2007 and immediatly felt the bond. Their passion for house music and everything that has to do with it, the similar vision and at last, but not the least, the friendship, created the duo that is taking over the world now.
A number of releases on biggest labels like Get Physical and Kompakt, gigs all over the world, and finally, the 2015 album “Welcome to the Present” have made the statement – Blond:ish don’t just have fun and play fun music. They are a duo of serious musicians.
“Welcome to the Present” was recorded in Tulum, where the girls rented a house and dived into music production. They took it slow and serious. Four weeks of recording and about four months for mastering and mixing the tracks. They have dropped the BPM to about 98 and put their souls into the process. When they’ve finished the album and sent the tracks to Kompakt, they had to wait two weeks for the managers to answer. We can only imagine the anticipation and the emotions they’ve been experiencing at that period. But in the end, the album is here and it’s great. A little disco infused, a little airy, a little serious techno with a little guitar, then there’s downtempo in Shy Grass, a little bit of everything and a big work of two musical minds; and one of the best albums of 2015.
The way the album was recorded and the atmosphere of the place where Blond:Ish recorded it, is reflected in the music and in the names of the tracks, infused with sacred philosophy of simple life.
We didn’t really find it difficult which was surprising.. everything kind of just flowed really nicely together.. We sent Kompakt 12 tracks and we ended up cutting out one that we all agreed didn’t fit with the vibe of the album.
2016 sees Anastasia and Vivienne on stage, touring the world and dancing, as they have always been and recording their first Essential Mix for BBC Radio1, and that is another confirmation of their success.
“Welcome to the Present”
