MDC.285 Ernest & Young

The lovely legends behind @onorecordsperth join forces under their Ernest & Young alter egos to shower us in killer house grooves. Q. Hey mates, tell us what’s the latest with your label / mix series / party service ONO Records? A. Sup! We’ve been working away for the last couple of months on putting out some records after the summer party period here out west. We should have at least two records coming out this year, one is finished, it's just going through the production process currently. Pretty proud of that one and keen to see it come out, we think it's quite different to what people may expect from the label considering our previous output. Other than putting out records, planning a couple larger scale parties towards the later stages of the year which we’re also quite excited about. Some solo parties and some collaborations with some great homies! Q. What inspiration did you draw upon when putting the mix together? Is there a sound, feeling, or time in dance music history that connects all the different elements in one way or another? A. We wanted to create a mix that has the ‘live’ feeling, a representation of what we might play in a party setting. We don’t spend much collaborative time planning sets or mixes meticulously, we prefer to show each other a couple of records we think would be good for the setting and bounce off each other after that. We did that with this mix, pulled out some new records and some old favourites and had fun with it. That might speak to our influences though, we always seem to gravitate towards sets or DJs that have a more rough and raw approach or feeling. Musically we seem to enjoy that sweet spot with dance music where records are not specifically one thing, it's not quite house and it's not quite techno and maybe there’s some dubby elements to it. So maybe there’s a musical feeling there that connects it all but we’ve never really been able to describe what that is. Q. Are there any records in the mix that are especially close to your hearts, or old favourites that you’ve been keeping up your sleeve for the right moment? A. (Warwick): Quite a few favourites in there for me, one that sticks out is probably the Mood II Swing record. When we launched the label a couple of years ago we did a warehouse party collaborating with some great friends of ours, the System: crew. It was a really special night for us, being the launch party of the label, but also to be able to do it with them. They’ve always been such big supporters of us, have taught us a lot and are irreplaceable assets to the community here, big love 2 u Kyle, Cheye, Ben and Alex! But at that party another good friend who we have drawn a lot of inspiration from over the years played the tune, which was one of those spesh party moments for me. It has now become one of those records that reminds me of great times and great friends. A. (James): The mix is basically a big collection of my favourites, both at the moment and all time! But if I had to choose one it would probably be The Kings of Tomorrow record played around 30 minutes into the mix (Fade II Black the Roger S Blackout Mix being the track in question). I picked it up at a great Record Fair that happens here at Bowls Clubs around the city every month or two and it’s a favourite to play out ever since. It's dubby, soulful, tense, psychedelic and it's got a killer groove. The track has this great tension that creates a really special dancefloor moment every time I play it out and about, so it felt fitting to include it in our mix here and try to capture that feeling! We’re super grateful to be able to contribute to one of our favourite mix series, the institution that is MDC! And I just wanted to add a shout out to everyone in the community here in Boorloo, we’re so proud and privileged to be a part of this community whose love and support is an endless source of inspiration and motivation.