As you may already know, Stööki Sound are coming to town!

The UK bass lords kick off their 6-leg tour this week, so we called them up for a chat. Well, not exactly.

Tassie based producer and utter legend Akouo did the talking for us, catching up with Stooki Sound last week and chatting all things touring, production and what the guys have in store for the future.

For more info on their your, click here. Check out Akouo’s interview with Stööki Sound below:

Akouo: So I actually met you briefly in the crowd out at Brownies & Lemonade a month or so ago, when Kastle and Luca Lush were on. It seems you’re killing it out there right now. Are you spending a lot of time in the states at the moment?

Stööki Sound: Ah yeah Brownies & Lemonade are the fam. We have spent a lot of time in this states this year, we started it by supporting Keys N Krates on their Midnite Mass bus tour across the country. We’ve been back and forth a lot since then playing more shows and also spending time in the studio making new music.

A: A lot of producers from UK tend to default to grime style production, but what made you want to move toward more melodic vibes with that anti-gravity bass, triplet kicks, etc? Any particular tunes that influenced that direction? 

SS: We have always focused on developing our own sound, and on our upcoming EP people will hear our evolution. We are influenced by elements of Grime, Hip-Hop and a range of other genres so we like to combine them.

A: From garage to grime to dubstep, innovation has always been a huge part of English club culture. Right now Troyboi, Mura Masa and yourselves are on that new wave. Do you think the London scene encourages more diversity in music or are London producers just more hungry to break out than the rest of the world?

SS: A lot of innovative artists come out of the UK and a lot of genres have originated in the underground here. We felt like right now there should be more events that support homegrown artists so we started our own night in London last month where we curated a showcase line-up. We aim to help create and build a culture where artists support one another and people come out to have fun, enjoy themselves and listen to good music.

A: In Australia, getting plays on radio tends to be the main way to break local producers into the tour circuit but Australian music tends to be a little more commercially driven than UK music. Is radio hype the most important tool in breaking new producers in the UK or do you think grinding hard aka local shows, online hype, co-signs from dope artists, etc, is more influential?

SS: National radio is commercial the UK as well. There are a few stations that support more underground acts and help new producers to break through such as Radar Radio, NTS, Rinse. We have always taken the approach of grinding hard, playing shows, and putting music out online. The more organic your approach the more organic your listeners will be and likely to be real supporters of your music.

A: Jumping on the mic on stage always tends to get the crowd on a new level, was introducing rapping into the live set an afterthought or has that always been integral to the Stooki brand?

SS: It was actually an afterthought. We always wanted to add another layer to our shows, and it developed so that I ended up rapping on sets. Were currently working on more vocal tracks so we can make our sets a lot more performance based.

A: Out in Australia, it seems like DJs are starting to revert back to dubstep in their sets to get that nostalgia value, do you see 140 bpm bass music steering back that way in the near future or somewhere else?

SS: That’s good to hear, early-Dubstep is our favourite style of Dubstep. I’m not sure where music is moving right now because there’s so many different things going on at one time. We just focus on what we bring to the table.

A: Ya’ll have any pre / post show rituals?

SS: Not really any pre-show rituals. Post-show we like to meet people who have come out to the shows to see us, we appreciate the effort they make so it’s always good to connect.

A: I find making beats on planes and hotels difficult because I’m just too use to vibing out hard in the studio with speaker blaring. Do you find making music on the road challenging?

SS: We start ideas on the road and get inspired by different places when touring and travelling. It is challenging to finishing off songs, that’s when you need to get into studio.

A: I’ve been seeing more Stooki production behind MCs recently, your joint with Outlaw ‘Stressin’ is flames. Can we expect more MC’s spitting over Stooki beats in the near future?

SS: Definitely. We’ve always had a minimal style which is great for rappers to jump on so that was always something we wanted to move toward

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Catch the guys at any of the following venues while their tour down under!