C60 in Conversation: RADIDAS

As part of the C60 Club, we here at austerity will be catching up with some of our favourite artists of the underground music scene. This month, we’ve spoken to Connor & Joe - the men behind the psychedelic alt-dance duo known as RADIDAS…

Hello RADIDAS, & welcome to the C60 Club.

R: Hey austerity!

From being heavily featured on BBC Introducing programming to securing support slots for the likes of Wolf Alice & Bat For Lashes, RADIDAS have achieved a lot in a relatively short amount of time. Please fill us in on the story of the band so far…

We’re both from Maidstone in Kent & have been friends for over 10 years now - we both played in the local music scene in other bands, but quickly discovered we shared a really similar music taste. We began hanging out & jamming, & spent ages playing with synths & loops in a home-production set up where we wrote our first EP, “Dream Button”. We moved to Brighton in 2017 to study & pursue the band further & have since released several singles & music videos, playing a number of shows in both Brighton & London & a short UK tour. Our last two single releases have been working with local label Pool Valley Music.

The RADIDAS sound is a very unique take on modern disco & experimental/psychedelic electronica that sits in a genre all by itself. What inspires such a distinctive & exciting sound?

After releasing our first EP, which was more psychedelic/guitar-inspired, we started getting into & learning more about drum machines & synthesis, which is now a big part of our sound. Our musical style is established through a lot of experimenting, both in the practise room & at home, self-recording & producing our tracks to find unique synth sounds that we can also use in our live set. As for our musical influences, we grew up listening to bands like Klaxons, Hot Chip & Crystal Castles - we’re also huge fans of a lot of records from the early 80’s, which also heavily influences our sound.

Despite originally forming elsewhere, the band has flourished in Brighton’s underground scene. What does the local music community mean to you as artists?

The Brighton music scene means a lot to us & it is a really distinctive place. Although we sometimes feel we’re a little leftfield for Brighton’s DIY scene, which is so heavily driven by guitar & noise bands, we really enjoy engaging & playing live shows with other local acts. Having the electronic influence on our music gives us the opportunity to remix some amazing bands - most recently we’ve worked with LIME to create a disco edit of their track ‘Surf N Turf’ which went down really well. We definitely feel there is space for more of an electronic scene around here!

A vast number of local venues, clubs, bands, promoters & just about every other profession related to music & the arts have suffered profoundly during the unfortunate events of 2020. How has this year affected RADIDAS & is there any bands or venues etc. that you feel are integral to the recovery of the local scene?

Like for a lot of unsigned bands, the live scene is an integral part of what we do. It’s a chance for us to try out new samples & effects discovered through writing & put it together with the live aspect of drums & guitar; everything comes together. We feel that Brighton’s local scene has a really diverse variety of bands & that every act, no matter the genre, is important in keeping it alive during these difficult times. The live scene has obviously come to a stop & a lot of the local venues are at risk of closing & potentially never opening their doors again. But, hopefully, campaigns like the Live Is Alive series of events can bring attention to how important local venues like The Dome, The Hope & Ruin & The Green Door Store are to Brighton’s scene. Losing these establishments will have a huge impact on culture & lifestyle for many people in the area, & the most important thing to do now in our opinion is to support organisations like the Music Venue Trust that fight for local venues.

The C60 cassette of “The Hits” EP is the first time your popular singles have been featured on a physical format, & your first release since your debut EP back in 2016 that isn’t digital-only. How does it feel to have your music released on a physical format again & what does the medium mean to you?

We feel that physical releases are an important milestone for a band - it’s being able to see & feel your work in a tangible form, which is just such a special feeling as an artist. Our last physical release was a special vinyl print of our “Dream Button” EP in 2016, & since then we’ve only released via digital formats, so we are thrilled to be working with austerity to put all of our work out on a limited, special-edition cassette. We’ve really enjoyed collaborating on the creation of the tapes & can’t wait to share them.

With a crazy & almost surreal year winding down & 2021 just around the corner, what are RADIDAS’ plans for the near future?

After our most recent release ‘Daisy Chain’, we are taking some time to work on new material. We’re kicking off 2021 with a recording session at Devon Analogue studios, so new music is on the way & we can’t wait to share it. We’re going to spend the next few months transforming our live set for the new year, to do something unique & exciting for when gigs are hopefully back to normal & we can all enjoy a boogie again.

RADIDAS’ “The Hits” EP (AUS-C02) is available on baby-pink cassette in the austerity webstore now. ORDER HERE