We recently caught up with Miguelle & Tons for a quick chat on what they had been up to the last year, their background in music and much more. Most notably we discussed their record label “Two And A Half Cats” and the output they have on the way. Here is what went down
Hey guys, how are you both, how has the year been?
M / T: Hello, first we want to thank you for giving us a space in Feeder. For us this year has been excellent, despite the adversities that have arisen for the whole world. At the beginning of the year we signed as Resident DJs in Heart Nightclub in Miami. When the confinement began we focused on creating a lot of music every day and we visualized preparing ourselves for when everything returns to its abnormal normality, so it has been a year of a lot of musical and personal growth for both of us. .
Can you remember the first time you heard electronic music and what you thought?
M: Sure!! I was at my house watching House Festivals Videos. In addition, I was born in Venezuela and this always had a lot of influence from deep house and local festivals that I attended from a very young age, from that moment I was fond of this.
T: Yes, since I was a child my parents took me with them to several of their parties. I remember one in particular that I approached the DJ and asked him what that genre was called, from that day I was captivated and began to investigate on my own.
What was the scene like that you got into, what labels, parties and DJs existed for you back then?
M: I remember I started having parties for my friends at my house and I was the DJ. Shortly after I got to know the local DJs that helped me grow as an artist, so basically the DJs I was listening to at that time were those from my city. In Venezuela, there is not much international variety making the public cling to local talent and create our own culture.
T: I started at the age of 13 being the DJ of the parties of my class friends. We listened to House music, Progressive and other Latin music genres. My environment required me to be a very versatile DJ in order to achieve my goals, I also dedicated myself to the production of events and festivals, giving me the opportunity to grow as an artist at the national level.
And what is your own musical identity, what do you add to your take on house and minimal that is standout do you think?
M: My musical identity comes from salsa, alternative rock and hip hop. Knowing musical cultures of other countries thanks to travel, I managed to mix my musical identity with house and minimal making unique sounds.
T: For me it comes from tropical genres such as Salsa and Merengue, on the other hand Jazz and Alternative Rock which are part of my musical identity that I add to house and minimal. M / T: In our productions we use many instruments, melodies, vocals, house and minimal bases along with salsa or hip hop percussions to jazz basses, many more things that we can imagine, create and innovate.
Tell us about some of the best places to play in Miami and what makes the place special for you?
M / T: Our house Heart Nightclub, is where we can feel like home with good music, friends and people.
What are your aims as DJs, are you party people, or people who like to get crowds in a trance?
M / T: We like to make people dance, enjoy the party with energy, making them enter a musical trance of good synth, pads and percussion.
Tell us about your new release Taste / Taken, what inspired it, what influenced it?
M / T: The vocals, we thought they might sound good with our Flow so we added them to some beats we made and were really happy with the end product.
About the title of the label, what are you hinting at there?
M / T: Two and a Half Cats? We both like The Cats at home we have two, one black and one white, they are an incredible energy balance. From there, we started to create main and base an idea of how to express something that identifies us.
What will the first record be that you play when you get back to clubs?
M / T: Surely some unreleased track from us that we have been dying to play to people 🙂
What else have you got coming up / are you working on to Two and a Half Cats?
M / T: Many collaborations with great electronic artists and singers of world recognition.
Our next release will be December and is with 2 Venezuelan renowned singers and for 2021 we have a bunch of great projects on the way. Some of them share our original sound on wax, special tracks for Spotify and YouTube and a lot of Edits on bandcamp. TWAHC will also be the channel where we will produce events and experiences in Miami with artists from around the world, as we are seeking to create a better culture in our base city.
Links:
https://soundcloud.com/twoandahalfcats
https://www.instagram.com/twoandahalfcatsrecords
https://www.instagram.com/miguellecastillo
https://www.instagram.com/djtons