The Swede Beat Mixtape Vol 4: Montauk

May 25, 2011

Last spring The Swede Beat fell in love with the sound of Stockholm’s Montauk that was introduced to us by the Holiday EP – a breezy compilation of summer’s sweetest disco house. Since the summer season is upon us again we caught up with Victor Holmberg and Johan Cederberg of the duo to chat about two of their biggest passions: disco and DJing.

You guys are one of the few acts on Sweden’s nu-disco scene. Is the genre popular in Sweden or does your stuff sell better overseas?
It feels like the nu-disco scene here is relatively small. Sweden is easily influenced of what is happening in places like London, Paris and North America, so we have noticed the nu-disco scene growing lately to be”hip”. More and more we can see an interest here in Sweden for our music, but still the majority of our audience is overseas…

What do you love about the genre?
Chillin’… What we love is the feeling you get, the mood it sets. We never know what we are doing when we are starting on a new track. But the fundamental idea is based on your feelings, what mood you’re in or what mood you wanna be in.

What do you guys like to DJ when playing at bars and clubs in Stockholm?
More and more we like to play good old-fashioned disco. Mostly we play older tracks, hits that you have some relation to. We grew up listening to 90′s house and dance so there is something there that we’ll never shake off. Always love playing some Armand Van Helden or TC Crew – I Can’t Do It Alone. There are also some really good new acts we like to play, mostly disco and edits though…

Any memorable moments from DJing you would like to share?
Last summer we played at Debaser Slussen and we were really hyped up. It was pretty late, and we played house music. We were about to do a mix and Victor got so excited that when we did it he got some kind of stroke or something. He got like a cramp in his chest. I don’t know if that is a good thing?

Where do you go in Stockholm to get your disco fix?
The place we escaped to a lot this winter was Huset Under Bron. Their bar upstairs is the best Balearic disco bar if you feel like dancing. Otherwise I would go to Tranan, always good music there.

How would you describe this mixtape and how it’s related to Montauk’s sound?
These are tracks we’re enjoying right now. A taste of a not so disco-ey night out with us.

Montauk just relased a new EP, Newsroom on Canadian label Brilliantine. Stream it here:

http://www.myspace.com/ilovemontauk

The Swede Beat Mixtape Vol 4: Montauk. Download and Stream Here (Right click to save)

1. Madonna “Live To Tell (‘At Close Range’ Extended Instrumental)”
2. Madonna “Live To Tell”
3. Todd Terje “Snooze 4 Love”
4. Genius Of Time “Drifting Back”
5. Alice Smith “Love Endeavor (Maurice Fulton Remix)”
6. Richard T Bear”Sunshine Hotel”
7. Shine 2009 “Graduation”
8. Harvey Presents Locussolus “Next To You”
9. Montauk “Bombachas”
10. Fleetwood Mac “Hypnotized (Zambon Edit)”

By Lydia Kellam

Written by: The Swede Beat