Producers, DJs, long-term music fanatics and now – perhaps most life-changing of all – fathers, Copyright are Sam Holt and Gavin ‘Face’ Mills, the UK duo whose considered and mature approach to house music has earned them a place in electronic music history.

Long-time globe-trotting DJs for Defected, the duo are set to appear at Ministry of Sound on April 5 for the latest in an incredible run of Defected In The House parties at the London clubbing institution. Ahead of their appearance we caught up with the group’s Sam Holt to discuss developing their production techniques and their ongoing relationship with Defected.  

You've been house DJs for over a decade now, and endured some times when the kind of house you champion went through a fairly tough time... how do you think you've managed to maintain a level of success and popularity?

We’ve always maintained our output of music. We recently took two months out of the studio to relocate which was our longest studio break in 10 years.  Records and remixes are your calling card,  and in such a fast moving environment, you need to keep a profile. There has been times where it seemed vocal house was totally out of favour, but there is always a core fan base. If you keep the music coming and stay true to your roots they will stay with you. We’ve always had a strong association with song-based house. That’s what we make, that’s what we mostly play. We’ve never released a record we haven’t 100% believed in, which is key. And we’ve also nurtured a long standing relationship with Defected, which has meant we’ve always been part of a gang. Pretty much most of modern day house music is made up of gangs.

In 2013 house was probably as popular as it has been for close to 20 years... as someone deeply involved in the scene, what were some of the major changes you noticed?

It feels like there is a scene again; a global scene. And at the moment the trend seems to be towards a deeper more musically rooted music, which is a welcome change. House music has its roots in disco, soul and jazz even, so the fact that deep house kind of became the antidote to EDM means the latest wave of deep house is musical and actually links back to the origins of house. Plus we are older now, so to see a whole new generation enjoying great house music and being part of a scene – which is how we got into house – is great. I think all this will influence another generation to start making beats… and so it goes on.


Tell us about some of your own highlights from last year, in terms of parties, your own releases and anything else that comes to mind…

I think it was our tenth year Djing in Ibiza last summer. Playing at a brand new club Booom! for Defected was really exciting because Ibiza has traditionally been dominated by a small number of clubs. So there was a genuine freshness to it. In recent years we’ve also been presenting the Defected in the House radio show, something which has really grown in the last couple of years and something of which we’re really proud.

Defected is celebrating its 15 year anniversary in 2014... how does it feel to have been involved with the label for almost the entire time it's been around?

It’s a great feeling.  I’m think that in  30 years’ time people will look back at Defected as a kind of Motown of house music; so many of the legends of house have released music on the label.  It’s been great seeing the label go through many changes, and now to be enjoying a really successful period. It just shows, if you stick to what you do best your time will always come, sometimes twice. It’s also great seeing new talent coming through the ranks; it keep everything fresh and old battle-hardened producers on their toes. Even though these days it’s easy to make music, it’s still not easy to make great music, and I think Defected represents a benchmark of quality for anyone.

You've both become fathers in the last few years... how has that changed the amount of time you can dedicated to your careers?

Having young families means we’ve just changed the way we work. You need to grab an hour here and there making music. In reality it’s quite a good way of working, because most often the best results are pretty instant. When you are slogging away at tracks you just end up over thinking them and over-producing. DJ wise we just grab the earliest plane home, which means no sleep, but whoever has kids will know you don’t get much sleep anyway! We’ve also started doing things separately and then collaborating over the internet. One of us starts a track, just a rough sketch of an idea, then we bounce the files over to each other to continue the vibe. It’s exciting to hear how each other has developed the idea. It has already given birth to some great new tracks that are going to be coming very soon. After working for so many years in the studio together, working like this gives us a fresh perspective and space to develop ideas. It’s quite a cool way of working as it brings a new dimension to things, and after 13 or so years, changing things up is a good thing.


If you could speak to your younger selves just about to embark on their DJs careers, what advice would you offer them?

Djing and producing is the same as many other businesses; the key to longevity is developing relationship. Hang out at gigs, listen to other DJs, go for dinner with the promoter, collaborate with other producers, you’ll learn loads. If you try and make every decision, whether it’s a gig, or a release, based solely on the music and try to keep it as pure as possible then you are already playing the long game. And don’t take yourself too seriously. At the end of the day we play records, we make music, which is an amazing way to live your life. We read some Twitter feeds and cringe at the way some DJs go on about how tired they are – they seem to have no grasp of how lucky they are.

How do you see Copyright developing throughout 2014 and beyond, both musically and as a DJ act?

We've lasted this long, who’s to say we won’t last another 15 years? We’ve been writing songs for the past few years but our recent demos seem to be rawer more basic and less vocal-oriented. We’re really happy with the direction. The most important thing is we still love making music and having the being in the lucky position of playing it to people on weekly basis. Our lives have changed massive in the past three years, but our enthusiasm for the music hasn’t changed one bit.

Copyright plays Ministry of Sound 5 April – click for full line-up details and tickets

From The Inside (Copyright Remix) is out now - buy from Beatport and Traxsource

Copyright play AIR, Amsterdam 4 April for Defected In The House - click for full line-up and tickets