Aberdeen-born, Glasgow-based duo t e s t p r e s s have exploded onto the scene in recent years, courtesy of their rave-ready supercharged sound which blurs the lines between techno, trance and hard bounce.
With performances on some of the world’s most iconic stages including Tomorrowland, Parklife, Warehouse Project, and BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend, plus ever-growing support from top streaming platforms and respected tastemakers, t e s t p r e s s are quickly cementing their place at the forefront of the UK’s club scene.
Off the back of their thumping new EP ‘Daddy’ released on Teletech, we sat down with the duo to talk about the best clubs in Scotland, dream collaborations and their favourite Velo nicotine pouch.
Hey guys, thanks for sitting down with us. Let’s start at the very beginning. How did the two of you meet, and what was the moment you decided you wanted to go full time in music? Paint the picture for us!
So we met years ago and started t e s t p r e s s as a no pressure fun project to make tracks to play in the local club Tunnels in Aberdeen. It all started when Fraser lent Dan a set of speakers while he was away doing a season in Ibiza and the rest is history. In regards to being full time this is something we have wanted to do for a long time, but only in the past year or 2 has that dream been realised.
Have you had any inspirations that shaped your style/sound? If so who are they and why?
We have had many inspirations over the last 7 years or so as we have changed our sound massively in that time. We think that’s natural for an artist this long in the game. The first inspiration was definitely Mall Grab in his lofi house era as that’s the style we initially started making and if we are honest he has consistently been the goat even if our taste has diverged. From there we were pretty self inspired for a number of years and It wasn’t until the rise of eurodance with the likes of DJ Heartstring and Marlon Hoffstadt. Neither of their sounds directly influence us now but they were the figureheads of the modern European trance sound and the first real exposure we had in the UK. We think currently we are most inspired by our peers on Polyamor Berlin who are a lovely bunch of forward thinking people.
Growing up in Scotland, you’ve been surrounded by some great event spaces including Glasgow’s Sub Club, The Tunnels in Aberdeen and Sneaky Pete’s in Edinburgh. What’s been your favourite Scottish venue, firstly to rave in and then to play at?
Tunnels the goat it has to be said. Honestly Scotland has such great intimate venues and it’s an honour to play in some such as Sub Club but we need to put respect on where we came from and the club where we first started partying to electronic music.
You’ve performed at some huge events including Tomorrowland, Boiler Room at FLY Open Air, Terminal V and Parklife. Is there a particular gig which stands out for you?
Boiler Room stands out for us. Just because we were at a crossroads of our career where we were moving into the faster stuff so it was the perfect springboard for a new arc. This gig really made us feel we were on the cusp of something great and all the little details such as the performance, the crowd, and even down to the aesthetic and our outfits were just perfect and a step above where we had been before.
You’ve just released a full throttle 2 track EP on Teletech called “Daddy”. Talk us through your creative process in the studio. Do you both have different strengths or do you both bounce off each other?
Fraser is by far the better producer, owing to his 15 years of experience, whereas Dan comes in clutch with the vocals and more experimental ideas. This works in perfect balance (usually haha) and we bounce ideas back and forth until something clicks. We finish a lot of tracks and we have slowed down a lot to just focus on quality, but still we only release something if we are really excited about it.
What do you hope people feel when they hear “Daddy”? Was it made for peak-time chaos, fuelling the afters, or both?
Man listen to it doing the ironing, it’ll change your life. In all seriousness it’s definitely a peak time track that was made to play in our sets, but we think a lot of people these days will listen to anything at any time which is cool.
Do you have any tracks that took a long time to get released but ended up popping off?
So we think the best example is probably our boiler room opener ‘U’. We initially shopped it around and we were super close to a deal with a major on it but they wanted to put another artist on the track to help with the marketing. This goes against our ethos as he hadn’t worked on the track and so the whole release was stalled. We are glad we stuck to our guns though as it’s ended up being one of our biggest tracks and came out on Stress Records which is a supportive independent label.
Curveball question here – you can only have one flavour & strength zyn for the rest of your life. Which would you choose?
First of all Zyn are the opps. This is a Velo household and you’ll do good to remember that. Out of all their wonderful flavours it has to be a Tropical Ice 3 dot for us. The perfect fruity kick some would say.
Who is the number one artist you’d love to collaborate on a track with?
Probably Kettama, we have known him for years and he’s a super nice guy. I’m not sure the styles would fit necessarily but he’s done loads of different collabs with a multitude of artists so I’m sure we could cook something serious
Finally, what’s your favourite track by another artist that you wish you’d made?
Has to be Peggasi- Yoyoyo. That track is just infectious and it’s sent him to the stratosphere. Have to give the credit where it’s due as it’s just the best example of a banger in a good few years. Big Sam is also a certified Geezer so I doubt he will mind us saying this.
Follow t e s t p r e s s on instagram
Listen to their Daddy EP here
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