Next up to the plate with a collection of Select Cuts are Daniël Leseman and Hans Peeman (Junktion) who together form the formidable duo Fouk. The project which only began relatively recently has taken off in 2015 and they look set for a storming year ahead.

With their upcoming release, Gruff, just after debuting via Boiler Room, the guys stopped by for a very interesting chat and they’ve rinsed possibly the grooviest mix we’ve hosted to date. Ahead of their December 18th House of Disco gig in Dublin, this is exactly what’s needed to whet the appetite. Enjoy!

Firstly, ‘Fouk’ ….how did the name come about? What does it mean? Is it what we think it’s supposed to mean…;)

We were inspired by a track from years ago. There was this acapella on top of it that said “If you want to express yourself clearly. And you have a somewhat limited vocabulary, just say fouk”. (The track’s called T-empo – Fouk). But yeah there might be a cheeky connection to what you mean 😉
We recently saw someone asking us this about our name: “Funk + Soul = Fouk?”
We hadn’t thought of that yet ourselves, but we think it’s a rather good one!

Things are really taking off for the project now. Have you been surprised by the progress?

Well we’re pleasantly surprised indeed 🙂 Especially with our first release on our own Outplay label, First Things First EP. We really hadn’t expected it to take off that well! It has been fantastic so far, we’re quite happy with it of course!

Collaboration wise, were you faced with any difficulties and what’s been the best part about it?

Daniel can be a bit of a blockhead, but then again so can Hans! We both have a really strong point of view and most of the time it’s the same. But those “clashes” in the studio keep us sharp and focussed we think. We’ve been friends for so long it’s perfectly natural to bash each other’s head in once in a while, haha!

But it’s been great really, we noticed that production wise we really complement each other. Each of us has his own strong points, Daniël is the better keyboard player, Hans is a “grooveman” for instance.

You also run the label Outplay together correct? Which is harder and why? Running the label or Fouk?

Well, running Outplay might be a little bit harder, because we don’t just want to release our own stuff on Outplay. So finding those little pearls that fit with our label’s direction can be a bit difficult. So actually it’s the typical A&R work.

It’s also because we have to divide the time between both projects, that we sometimes don’t have enough time to actively search for hidden gems. And when planning our releases we depend on outside factors such as the pressing plants, which as you probably already have heard can cause some pretty big delays in the whole process.
With Fouk we can do everything ourselves, so it’s easy to keep the engine running so to say.

The title track off your next EP, ‘Gruff’, just premiered over on Boiler Room. We love it! What can you tell us about the rest of the EP?

Yeah we’re really happy with that premiere, glad you love it!
With this EP we’ve worked a bit more towards a disco sound compared to our previous EP’s. But it’s not as if we have a perfectly planned workflow or set of goals prior to working on a new EP. We just let things progress naturally as they happen at that time. We want the tracks to keep those spontaneous moments that happen during the creative process. The tracks retain that Fouk sound, but we do want to keep exploring where we can take it to without losing it.

There are three original track and three remixes on the EP, we think they complement each other nicely. We guess you’ll just have to listen to the previews once they’re online 😉

Your tracks, Gruff included,  feature a soulful groove which is often missing in dance music these days. Who were some of your influences?

Artists from the 70’s Jazz Funk era like Roy Ayers, Herbie Hancock, Idris Muhammad (and many more) are really big influences! The more contemporary artists like Max Graef, Floating Points, MCDE, Harvey Sutherland are also inspiring us a lot!  

You recently played in Opium, Nantes, France with Octave One. Playing alongside 2 legends. How was that?

We haven’t actually played together. Octave One played at a different venue. Both parties were organised by the same promoter. We had a blast playing there, people were really picking up on the tracks we played and so many happy faces give us a lot of energy during the set!

If not Octave One, who have been the biggest idols you’ve managed to play alongside?

it’s always a bit awkward calling people you’ve played with idols haha. It was great fun and a pleasure playing an all nighter b2b with the Detroit Swindle guys who have definitely been an inspiration for us as an artist duo.

You recently Remixed Groove Armada. Tell us a bit about about that? That must have felt good to remix such a renowned name.

Yeah it was a surprise actually when we got the first email from them asking us to remix Call Me. It was great to see that we managed to make an impression on them with our music.

We wanted to go all out on this one and really flip it compared to the original. So we took a trip to the Dutch coast where Hans’ parents have a summer house, bringing all of our gear with us. The setup there couldn’t have been greater with the sun streaming in while jamming to get the sound we wanted for the remix. We had such a relaxed and fun time working on it there and we think it shows in the track.

If you could remix one name in 2016 who would it be?

Thundercat! We absolutely love his soulful groovy music!

Rounding off the year, what have been some of your favourite records of 2015? It’s always hard to narrow it down to just 1!

Nu Guinea – Nu World EP, love their sound!
Brame & Hamo – Lamaj’s Secret EP, Brame & Hamo have been making really solid stuff this year!

No Dough Just Cookies pt. 3 on Times Are Ruff, Times Are Ruff – Got To Go especially, we’ve been hammering this one nearly every gig!

What was the last record you bought?

Dego & Kaidi – Adam Rock Dissed! Love the “Moths in Wallets” track!

Coming towards Christmas, what would be both of yours’ ideal christmas present?  

Prophet 6, Prophet 6, Prophet 6, Prophet 6, Prophet 6, Prophet 6! Please Santa we really want one! We’re saving up to buy this wonderful synth 🙂

Do either of you have any personal new years resolutions this time round?

Hans: Finding a good healthy rhythm for my body with all the nightlife and travelling around 😉 It hasn’t gotten really bad yet, but I noticed I do need to keep an eye out!
Daniel: That kind of goes the same for me. Other than that, trying to find better ways to find and make time for my social life.

Finally, do you have any goals or plans penciled down for Fouk in 2016?

World domination! No, we just want to continue what we’ve been doing this last year; make music, have good gigs and meet great people! And we have plans to create a live set, as we haven’t found the time yet to invest in it properly.