Getting To Know… Peverell

Getting To Know… Peverell

f: Hi, Guys, it’s a pleasure to chat with you today. How are you? 

Peverell: We’re really good, thank you. We’ve had a great summer so far, juggling gigs, studio time and family life, so it’s been a great balance. There’s been quite a bit of sunshine in the UK too, which makes a change for us.

f: Please tell where you’re from and how you all got into making music? Did production or DJing come first for you? 

Peverell: We’re from Middlesbrough in the North East of the UK. We grew up in the family home listening to Northern and modern soul through our parents. This probably set the tone for us wanting to have some form of involvement within music. Nick was the first of us to start DJ-ing after buying some equipment to fill some time while he was a professional footballer. I (Matt) then used to sneakily play on the decks when Nick was out of the house. He caught me on them once and then offered to teach me properly. The production side followed around 7-8 years later. We both always had an interest in how house music was put together. We struck up a great friendship with Jon Fitz from Herd & Fitz, and he basically mentored us for a couple of years, which we’re forever thankful for.

f: How and when did Peverell form?

Peverell: We’re brothers and both started DJ-ing out separately, so we used to go by our individual names. Matt ventured off to Ibiza for a few years to hold some residencies there, but when he returned, we started receiving bookings from the same promoters and thought it looked pretty weird having two Peverells on the line-up. We initially went out as Peverell Brothers but shortened the name to Peverell (our surname) around 2018.

f: Who did you listen to growing up, and do they influence your music career at all today? 

Peverell: Masters at Work were always someone we looked up to. We collected all of their releases on both CD and vinyl, and they’re definitely artists who have had an influence on our sound. Dave Lee (Joey Negro at the time) was also some who had a major influence both on our production and the genre of house we played. His productions were always sublime, and it’s amazing to see him still doing his thing today. 

f: What was your first release? 

Peverell: Wow, this takes us back. 2013 was the year, and it was a track called ‘Get In The Mood’. We collaborated with Jon Fitz and a vocalist named Velma Danzdo, quite a funky track to be honest!

f: Which of your own tracks or remixes was the biggest labour of love to create? 

Matt: For me, it has to be Peverell & Ron Carroll – Way Back. This was the record that we had Roger Sanchez remix back in 2015. The fact that Roger agreed to remix it showed that the track had something special. And Ron Carroll’s vocals speak for themselves. There’s video footage out there of Roger playing the track at Space Miami; it doesn’t get much better than that.

Nick: It has to be the most recent track we’ve released with Kuuda. We came across their producer, Charlie Vasilou, through a mutual contact. When we got talking to Charlie, we found out he was actually also from Middlesbrough, showcasing the amazing musical talent we have in this neck of the woods. We hooked up, and their vocalist, Maeve, absolutely nailed it, adding the spiritual, euphoric, dreamlike feel to the track.

f: And what has been your biggest release so far? 

Peverell: It’s probably ‘Hardly Breathe’ with Sweet Female Attitude on Let There Be House. The track was remixed by Windy City Classics and it seemed to reach all corners of the earth. We’ve had people coming up to us in random places telling us how much they loved this track. It has so much energy and a killer, groovy bassline. Definitely one to keep an eye out for.

f: You’ve just released your new collaboration single with Kuuda, ‘So Spiritual’ on Let There Be House, how is it all sounding?

Peverell: It’s sounding great. The Kuuda guys are so cool and brought something totally different to the track. It was originally an instrumental with a huge break, and after hearing some of Kuuda’s previous tracks, we knew they’d be able to take the track to the next level. We’re hoping people get on board with this one.

f: How did you team up with Kuuda on the release, and will you be working together again in the future?

Peverell: They were recommended to us by a friend, and after reminiscing with Charlie about life in Middlesbrough, we hit it off, chatting most days over social media, sharing ideas and firing clips back and forth and then before we knew it, we had a hit on our hands. We’ve actually sent a second track over to them, yes. We’ll see how it fits in with their schedule, but we’d love to work with them again, of course. 

f: ‘So Spiritual’ also features a remix from Yousef. What did he bring to the table?

Peverell: We were absolutely over the moon when Charlie from Kuuda told us Yousef was interested in the remix. Kuuda has hooked up with Yousef previously, so the link was already there. We were obviously aware of Yousef from his Circus events so straight away we were on board with it. The remix is an absolute banger and was a bit chunkier than our original version. We could definitely see the remix being played at DC10 and going off.

f: What’s the best and worst part about working with your brother?

Peverell: We know each other inside out, which means we’re fully on the same wavelength when playing together or in the studio. This is a huge bonus as it means there are next to no disagreements when it comes to set lists or production ideas. With us being brothers, we’re probably harder on each other at times than we would be if we were just mates, but that doesn’t happen too often. And one of us tends to like to party more than the other, so one of us tends to do all the driving, we’ll let you work that one out! 

f: Who does what in the studio?

Peverell: Nick has a lot of the ideas, and Matt is the more technical of the two, but that works really well. We often use a guy who goes by the name of Davos for keys and other MIDI sections to our tracks, too. He was a YouTube sensation many years ago, who we’ve had lots of use out of; he’s a legend. And then we religiously use Reza at Rezonation for our mastering. This guy is amazing.

f: What’s your favourite piece of studio kit?

Peverell: We both swear by the u-he DIVA virtual analogue synthesiser. You can probably hear something from it in all of our recent releases, although you do seem to get a different sound from it every time. 

f: What’s been your favourite gig so far this year, and where are you most looking forward to playing next?

Peverell: We recently threw our own daytime event here in Middlesbrough with Michael Grey as our guest under the new brand Disco Down. It’s something we’d wanted to do for a while and give older clubbers the chance to recreate the 90s clubbing scene, but with an early finish. The event was amazing and a huge success, and we’ve booked 3 more dates with the venue, guests to be revealed!

f: As a duo, what’s been your biggest achievement in the music industry so far? 

Peverell: The fact we’ve been doing this for so long is an achievement in itself, but we’ve now released over 50 original tracks or remixes, which is some going when music isn’t your full-time profession. Plenty more in the pipeline, too.

f: Do you have any pearls of wisdom to offer producers who are just starting out? 

Peverell: It’s important to stay true to yourself, which can be a cliché comment, but it can be easy to focus on what others are doing and follow suit. But that takes you away from your preferences, and that’s when the fun and enjoyment can disappear. What’s the point in doing something if you don’t get enjoyment from it, hey.

 f: Which dance track holds the most precious memories for you?

Matt: Masters at Work – To Be In Love. Such an iconic track that brings so much joy to the dancefloor, still to this day.

Nick: N-Joi – Anthem. It’s got everything and is still heard on the dancefloor today. The old skool raver in me just cannot let go.

f: Who are your top current producers? 

Peverell: There are so many at the top of their game at the moment. The Josh Baker / Morgan Seatree sound is huge at the moment, but in keeping with our sound, Rue Jay is currently making some great music, which is being played by literally everyone in the industry.

f: What else is in the pipeline for Peverell?

Peverell: We’re going to keep our Disco Down brand going and try to develop that far and wide. We’ve got some amazing ideas for it, so let’s see what we can do with that, but from a production perspective, we’re currently working on a 10-year anniversary remix of our track with Ron Carroll ‘Way Back’ which we’re keen to get finished. This will be special.

Peverell & Kuuda ‘So Spiritual’ (incl. Yousef Remix) is out now on Let There Be House.
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