Friendly Fires: life's a beach

Following last week's hugely popular SMS mix (stream below!) we caught up with Friendly Fires' drummer and resident DJ Jack Savidge to find out how channeling the spirit of Carl Craig, Justin Timberlake and Black Sabbath is going on the recording of their new LP and why wet wipes are this season's essential festival must-have...

Summer's coming, what's on the agenda?
"Playing music in a few fields, and more work on our forthcoming second album."

Tell us about your latest projects?
"Our new album is perhaps just over half done, and sounding great. We've got a few other exciting things in the FF factory pipeline which I'd love to tell you about, but you'll have to wait for the official announcements. Apologies."

What current artists are you drawing inspiration from right now?
"Personally, Tony Allen. As for the whole band, so far on our new recordings we've been channeling Depeche Mode, Carl Craig, Black Sabbath and Justin Timberlake."

What are you favourite/biggest tunes of the moment?
BDI - City & Industry
Wild Geese - Labyrinth
Omar S - Feeling You (Henrik Schwarz mix)

What can we expect from your show at Stop Making Sense?
"Disco, House and Techno from 3 and a bit decades, probably a Friendly Fires remix or two if we're in the mood, and at least one howling error which I will attempt to laugh off and/or blame the equipment for."

Who are you most looking forward to seeing play at the festival?
"Juan Atkins, Carl Craig, Robelledo and Optimo."

Any unusual festival tips?
"Wet wipes."

Where will we find you at sunrise on Sunday morning?
"Having a quiet word with myself in the bathroom."

Optimo: Forever Mixing It Up

Dance music legends don't come much more consistently creative and jaw-droppingly inspirational than Optimo, the DJ pairing of Glasgae music lovers Twitch and JG Wilkes.

Having recently called time on their much loved weekly Glasgow party of the same name, the pair have already set up a new night - Hung Up! - to showcase the city's deep rooted musical talents.

We caught up with the duo ahead of their set at Stop Making Sense this September to find out more...

Summer's coming, what's on the agenda?
Twitch: "On the road all the time but hopefully will get a bit of time to relax."
JG Wilkes: "2 or 3 club gigs most weekends. Rockness, The Electric Frog, Glastonbury, Ibiza, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, USA."

Tell us about your latest projects?
Twitch: "Working on my label - Optimo Music. In the studio producing Scottish legends Sons and Daughters. Lots of remixing."
JG: "We run a new weekly party on Sunday in Glasgow called "Hung Up!" It's at the Sub Club. We program the line-ups, local and international, both live acts and dj's and we play at it occasionally ourselves. Hung up! has run 3 weeks now with great local dj's playing and it's taking shape nicely. Next week, 30th May, Twitch will DJ and Chromehoof will perform live - should be great. Other stuff…We're doing an Optimo party on a paddle steamer on the River Clyde and another on The Thames in London. We are also co-curating an all-day event at Tramway Glasgow on June 26th which culminates in an evening performance by one of our all-time favourite bands "Nurse with Wound" - we've called it 'A Midsummer Day's Dream with Nurse with Wound'. There's some surprises planned too for the Summer/Autumn period."

What current artists are you drawing inspiration from right now?
Twitch: "Amal Saha, Group Doueh, Chrissy Zebby Tembo, Troup Majidi, Christoph Buchel."
JG: "Nurse with Wound, The Comeme artists, Divorce, Arvo Part, David Hammons, Factory Floor, Wooden Shjips, Paul McCarthy, Levon Vincent and more."

What can we expect from your show at Stop Making Sense?
Twitch: "Lots of dancing."
JG: "Music we honestly love that we hope will make people want to dance."

Who are you most looking forward to seeing play at the festival?
JG: "Matias Aguayo."

Any unusual festival tips?
JG: "I'm a relatively inexperienced festival goer and am usually in and out… I guess I would say remember that mosquitoes can ruin everything…. apparently Catnip is a more powerful repellant than DEET."

Where will we find you at sunrise on Sunday morning?
JG: "Somewhere quiet."

The Very Best + Carl Craig + Friendly Fires + Theo Parrish + Nathan Fake + Django Django + many more to play our first festival!

The sun is shining and we're beyond super-excited to say that after months of juggling and pondering, musing and arm wrestling, we've come up with a stonking line up for our first Stop Making Sense festival that fires are collective imaginations and sets our pulses racing on hyper-speed. Oh yes! From the live tropical Malawi-via-Dalston sounds of Friday headliners The Very Best to the classic emotive Detroit techno of Carl Craig topping the bill on Sunday, we reckon we've nailed it!

Joining such musical royalty for three days and nights of genre-shredding anarchy in Croatia this September are a truly global crew of party-starting pioneers and musical revolutionaries, including the brilliant new breed post-everything Django Django, Crown Prince of UK electronica Nathan Fake, revered Detroit techno pioneers Juan Atkins, Theo Parrish and new-school protege Kyle Hall, loose-limbed future pop party-starters Friendly Fires, South American house hero Matias Aguayo, one-man band master of twisted blues Son of Dave, MIA-acolytes and global beat makers Radioclit, legendary Scottish club originals Optimo, teenage flamenco troubadours Fran and Josh and Vampire Weekend-remixer and Mexican mash-up king Toy Selectah, plus many, many more...

Combine this mighty lot with the know-how of our esteemed club promoters plus the promise of sun, sand, boat parties, beautiful beaches, open-air clubs and bars and a real sense of reveling in a new environment and we reckon you have the recipe for a legendary festival in the making.

Stop Making Sense 2010, see you there....

LIVE: THE VERY BEST / DJANGO DJANGO / NATHAN FAKE / MATIAS AGUAYO / SON OF DAVE / WBEEZA / THE WORM / JOANA & THE WOLF / FRAN AND JOSH / LATIN DUB SOUND SYSTEM / LONGJON LA FLECHA / THE LOOSE FIT

DJ’S: CARL CRAIG / JUAN ATKINS / THEO PARRISH / FRIENDLY FIRES (DJ SET) / RADIOCLIT / TOY SELECTAH / OPTIMO / BENJI B / PATRICE SCOTT / KEITH WORTHY / KYLE HALL / ALLEZ ALLEZ / ISA GT / MARK E / REBOLLEDO / CHRIS COCO / RICHARD NORRIS / TAMA SUMO / JAMES PRIESTLEY / GILES SMITH / RUSS JONES / CAL JADER / SENSU / LAKUTI / GIRLCORE / FACT DJS / ALI TILLETT / ROB SUMMERHAYES / GRINGO DA PARADA / COUNT CHOCULA / TCHICKY AL DENTE / LEON LACE

3 days & nights of musical anarchy by the sea!

So, here we go...welcome to the Stop Making Sense blog, a beatific, sun-kissed showcase for this summer's brand new international music festival with an irreverently independent vibe.

Each week, you can get a taste of Stop Making Sense right here on the blog, where we'll be providing you with exclusive DJ mixes from SMS' extended friends and family (more below) plus in-depth artist interviews, promoter profiles, competitions, videos, festival updates and much more besides!

Showcasing quality live acts & DJs in the sunshine and under the stars, Stop Making Sense brings London, Glasgow & Paris’ hottest club & concert promoters to come together from 3-5 September 2010 in paradise - a beautiful woody peninsula in the village of Petrçane on the stunning Adriatic coast of Croatia.

With beach and boat parties galore, and a soundtrack ranging from Detroit techno to Afro-beats via jazz, house, disco and a whole swathe more - revellers can do as much or a little as they please!

Complete with a sterling line up soon to be announced, SMS is curated by music lovers and promoters NEED2SOUL, THE C.A.M.P, SWAP-A-RAMA, DEVIATION, OPTIMO, SUB CLUB, SUD ELECTRONIC, SECRETSUNDAZE, MOVIMIENTOS, WARM, FACT, DON’T PANIC, FAVELA CHIC, ALLEZ ALLEZ & FANTASY ISLAND.

We'll be announcing our quite-frankly mind-blowing (if we do say so ourselves) line-up right here next week, so be sure to make this your first point of call come Monday morning. Till then amigos...