...written and compiled by spank.

By releasing a bunch of killer singles and a whole host of remixes, expectations of the WOW LP were heightened. How much pressure were you under?
NW: The LP was difficult in that I had a new baby and that Jody and I spent so much time remixing, DJing and that it was hard to find the time to put down the tracks.
JW: In general tracks take about 1 or 2 months, some take less, others take as long as a year. Remixes take a lot less time. Some as little as 2 days, no more than 2 weeks.
NW: What happened is the LP is less a concept album and more a selection of tracks. I knew the tracks would work as I had been putting the tracks onto CDRS and then testing them out at Cream or wherever I was DJing. However the album as a whole has had good responses. There are no tracks I‘m disappointed with and we have already started working on our second album for deConstruction.

So how do you work together?
JW: We both have our own studios, Nick’s just building another one in his new house, where we can work on the tracks and come together when necessary. Nick brings a huge amount of source material and samples and we tend to go from there.

How long did it take to put the live set together?
JW: Our debut was at tribal this year and prior to that we worked together for about a month. Tribal was a good place to cut our teeth although no soundcheck and condensation dripping down on us made it a bit tricky.
NW: We were lucky in a way that our volume wasn’t cut. Tip for the week: always play outside festivals before midnight. Sasha wasn’t as lucky! What’s so great about being Bristol boys?
JW: With regards to the clubs it probably comes down to drugs. I play the 3-5 sets at Lakota so it quickly becomes obvious. However in a broader context its a bit different
NW: Musically and beyond Bristol is far more multi-cultural place than anywhere else in the UK. It’s not a problem for a black person to walk into a techno club or a white person to walk into a drum and bass club. If you go to Leeds or Manchester that just wouldn’t happen.
JW: What with Roni Size, Massive Attack, Portishead there certainly is pride in the local scene. We do each other favours. We remixed ‘Share the Fall’ for Roni and he has already expressed an interest in remixing ‘King of the Beats’ for us.

Jody, Is it true your Dad is WOW’s manager?
JW: Yeah, (grins) the old git’s in there (points to the van). You should never really mix family and business but most of the time it works really well. We know financially he wouldn’t rip us off.
NW: Well, we can hope!

You were unhappy in allowing ‘The Gift’ to be used on the Halifax advert.
JW: It created a bit of a media backlash with them claiming we made X amount of money. In truth we got fuck all as most of it went to the publishing house to pay for the sample.
NW: It was a bad call. You get the call on Tuesday afternoon whether they can use the track and you have until the end of the day to make your decision. If you make the wrong one you pay for it. I’ve always said I wouldn’t mind doing music for television, I would just prefer next time it if it wasn’t a single.

With the likes of you and Slacker the media claimed a rebirth in progressive house. Has it ever gone away?
JW: It’s always been there, it’s a club sound. It’s just whether the media decide to give it attention.
NW: They’ve weaned off it a bit as they go off on the speed garage tip.
JW: In a way speed garage is just the same as progressive house. There are good tracks and there are bad tracks.
NW: The only reason people are claiming that it is the new drum and bass is that a lot of black pirate radio stations are playing it instead.
JW: This year at Notting Hill there was speed garage overload. Not a drum and bass tune in sight.
NW: London has always been like that - obsessive! They get hold of one thing and everyone wants a piece of it. Dream Team remixes are coming out on every major double pack around. All that happens is that scenes implode on themselves because they haven’t got the time to develop naturally.

Nick, you took over X-Press 2’s residency at Cream. Why did they fail to set the Cream masses alight?
NW: It was too deep, too mellow for most.
JW: I’ve been to Cream once and it was what I actually wanted to hear. It would have added some variation.
NW: What you’ve got to remember though is that the majority of the punters work Monday to Fridays in shops or whatever. Saturday night is Saturday night. They don’t always want deep house 12 till 3. It’s all right occasionally but not weekly.

There have been rumours Cream will make it to London. Will they?
NW: (Hesitates) - Yes. They will supply the quality of sound system, decor and DJs. The atmosphere will be up to London. Only time will tell whether London wants a Northern night out or not. Whatever, it’s bound to be in the punter’s favour giving clubs like Ministry a kick up the ass.