T.H.E Interview – Love & Logic

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Love & Logic

With a lifetime of experience behind the turntables, and as co-owners of SOUP NYC (SOUP stands for Supporting Our Underground Properly), Love & Logic are staples in the underground house & techno community, as well as being dedicated artists who have devoted themselves to underground music.

SOUP NYC has held a residency at Cielo since 2012, and last year launched a record label which has already seen releases from Derrick Carter, Solardo, Pirupa and plenty more.

We caught up with the duo and spoke about the challenges faced today by underground DJs, and how do they manage to keep the spirit of NYC parties alive.

T.H.E – Hi Guys! How is it going? In addition, what have you been up to?

Andy – Hey! We have been awesome. We’re really excited about 2018. We’ve been busy for the past few years laying the groundwork and getting out label off the ground. We feel like we’ve finally landed where we need to be, and we’ve got all the pieces in place now for a banner 2018. Our most recent development is signing with and moving to a bigger distribution company. Music released on SOUP is now available on all the major streaming platforms like Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music, etc. in addition to Beatport and Traxsource (which are mostly DJ driven sites.) We are ecstatic to be able to connect to our fans in more ways. We were initially setup as a mainly DJ driven label, but we’ve had huge interest from our event attendees (who are mostly not club DJ’s) in listening to music on the label as well. We are now available to EVERYONE and that’s exciting.

T.H.E – Let’s talk about SOUP. What was the need behind starting a project dedicated to supporting underground music?

Chris – When SOUP was created in the 90’s we were playing House, Techno, Jungle and underground Hip Hop. Our parties were underground parties mainly because we were spinning underground music that wasn’t yet exposed to people via mainstream platforms. You had to go to raves, and very specific records shops etc. to find the kind of music we were playing. Commercial music was never our forte. When EDM broke in to the mainstream it was the first time some of these music styles could ever be categorized as “mainstream.” We always lean towards the more cutting edge “underground” style of House & Techno with what we do at SOUP, so I think in today’s climate, the “underground” music driven events are needed to balance out the cake throwing, stage diving, and production gimmicks we’re seeing at more “mainstream” functions.

T.H.E – It was originally launched in 1997. How do you feel the challenges faced by the underground community have changed since then?

Chris – I think the challenge now is getting the newer generation to understand what underground is. It’s not easy when all they know and grew up on is file sharing and social media.

Andy – One of the largest challenges today is that because of the growing popularity of dance music, all types of big money outfits have been drawn to our game to cash in. While it’s been cool seeing our culture become more widespread, it’s been tough watching how watered down some of it has become. Many of the most talented DJ’s and producers of this era will never see the success they deserve because of lack of big financial backing, social media savvy, etc. In the current climate, you have to be more than just a good producer and DJ. You have to be an online marketing specialist, a PR firm, an IG model (lol), etc. We been resolved to keep our axe to the wheel and keep fighting the good fight.

T.H.E – Moreover, how have these changes caused the brand to evolve over this duration?

Andy – From an event standpoint, we’ve always been mainly music driven…. great DJ’s on great sound systems. For the longest that was all it took to do big numbers at events. Now, we’ve had to add to our formula a bit from a production standpoint to attract new, younger fans. Musically, we’ve been striving for balance in our line-ups and it’s been working really well for us. We try and balance young, up and coming talents pushing our brand of House, Tech House, & Techno, with more “legendary” DJ’s on our line-ups to create good balance. It makes for an entertaining and musically interesting night on the dance floor.

T.H.E – SOUP also represents a record label for underground music. How would you say the label has been doing, and what are the plans for it in 2018?

Chris – The label is doing great! Like we mentioned above we’ve just moved to a large, blue chip distro company so look forward to more listeners being exposed to our music in 2018. We’ve been busy signing lots of exciting music and have some big toons coming out on the label this year. The future is very bright!

T.H.E – Any NYC party has a certain spirit about it. How have you managed to keep it alive?

Andy – I think our formula of balance has kept the vibe alive for us. We aim for a perfect balance of people at our events. All are welcome! Women, men, ravers, people of varying sexual orientations, break dancers, music fans, drinking fans, and all types of NYC late night freaks. That combined with carefully curated DJ lineups creates a pretty wild dance floor environment.

Chris – Our relationship with newer up and coming DJ’s and producers on our label who appreciate and are influenced by the older pioneers who we work with make a great mix for a party. Like when you have someone like Kevin Saunderson playing at your event and he’s there with his son who’s now out on the circuit making music and DJing as well. The music is always being passed down to the next generation and that’s what keeps it alive.

Apart from SOUP, are there any individual goals that you have set for yourself in 2018?

Chris – My individual goal is to spread knowledge through music and food on how we can keep our planet alive and thriving. So one day we just might be calling it Supporting Our Universe Properly!!

T.H.E – Top 5 underground house/ techno tracks that should be on anyone’s playlist.

Love & Logic – Not sure if you’d prefer an “all time” list or a list of what we’re into currently so we decided to give you our current top 5 that have been killing it for us on the dance floor in early 2018!

Greco (NYC) – South Jamaica (Mad Villains Remix)

Catz ‘n Dogz – Our Crazy

Eskuche – In The Air (Love & Logic x Chris Patrick Remix)

Joe Pompeo – Shake The Club (Ciszak Rmx)

Eats Everything feat Dajae – The Tribute

T.H.E – Thanks a ton guys! Can’t wait to see what 2018 has in store for you.

Devon James and Ant LaRock – Ghetto Style is out now on SOUP NYC. For more info on SOUP NYC releases and events, click here.

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