Despite having only made two records together, Name One & Maxxi Soundsystem already have quite a following. Last year’s ‘Regrets We Have No Use For’ on the every-reliable Hypercolour imprint was hugely well-received, and their sophomore collaboration ‘One In Three’ – soon to be released on Defected – looks set to further establish their reputation as one of the most unique partnerships in house music.

With similarly melancholic tendencies as ‘Regrets…’ but with a stronger narrative and more emphasis one Name One’s vocals, ‘One In Three’ is a rare and welcome animal; a house record that stays with you long after the final kick drum has come and gone. Here, we caught up with the talents behind it to discuss musical influences and standing out from the crowd.

You’re both from around the South coast… is that how you guys first met?

NO: We met through a mutual friend. I was looking for someone to do more electronic music with and after a long list of people I tried before him I ended up with Sam. [laughs] I came here and we just hit it off really well.

MS: We wrote some music straight away, which ended up being ‘Regrets…’ and after that turned out so well we decided to do some more.

When I was at university down in Brighton about 12 years ago there was pretty much no house music, but loads of big beat, D&B and hip-hop. Now there’s a thriving scene… what changed?

MS: When I moved here I was musically in a bit of a weird place. I wasn’t originally a house music guy specifically, I liked house music but I was one of those teenagers into drum n bass and hip hop, before that electro funk and stuff like that. House music was around but never something I was specifically into. When I first moved to Brighton I wasn’t sure what scene I was affiliated to, I was in to hip hop and I still saw a lot of bands and everything. In Brighton there was the big beat thing in full swing, and that seemed like loads of fun but I remember going to the record shop after the nights and going “oh yeah there’s that record” and you would hear it on Monday and be like “oh I don’t want to buy it now”. I remember being drunk and thinking it was brilliant and you would think “I’m into this now” and then you listen to it and you’re like “nah I’m not into this”. So my record collection wouldn’t really get any bigger.

So what about house actually made you buy the records?

MS: It got a lot better around 2003 and 2004 and I went to Ibiza quite a lot which had a big effect. I used to go out in London a lot more to Fabric and The End. Then the music sort of became better and better, I got into the electro clash thing, DFA records and LCD Soundsystem when they first started. That used to be really exciting and I remember really getting into it from that point onwards.

Name One, you started DJing quite early as well, that was your entry into music…

NO: Yeah we used to do parties in Kentish Town a long time ago and I was really into people like Masters at Work and Roger Sanchez and early US garage. And then I went off and did all kinds of musical things and put out loads of records under a different name. When I heard what was happening to house music maybe three years ago it seemed to start to connect with what I was into from quite a long time ago. I started hearing records I really liked and when I met Sam the records he was making were exactly what I had quietly been into. We both like bass. [laughs]

On ‘Regrets…’ although the vocals are a major part of the record they’re quite minimal and abstract with no narrative whilst on the new record ‘One In Three’ there’s a very strong narrative… Is it based on personal experience?

NO: It’s actually based on a friend of mine’s experience; it’s quite literally about two people getting divorced. But it’s not overwhelmingly depressing; it’s about the fact that if it’s not working out it can be a reasonably positive thing. The thing about ‘Regrets…’ is it is actually a statement of ‘we’re going to get through this, we don’t have any use for regrets so were leaving them behind’. I think that One In Three is about that as well, it’s about going through a bad experience but actually once you both decide that it’s not working out it’s better for everyone.

MS: That’s why I like working with Name One because he’s not interested in writing lyrics that don’t mean anything, no “ooh baby yeah come and get some more”.

NO: Obviously I love that stuff too! But there’s so much of that around already.

MS: And it’s nice to work with someone who understands that what house music should do is make people dance but also goes beyond that to create something a bit more meaningful. 

You’re obviously enjoying working together. How do you avoid falling into the trap of essentially making the same record over and over again, how do you keep things fresh?

MS: By not working together! [laughs]

NO: Basically Sam’s been away. We made both these records quite a while ago, then Sam hit this busy period of touring which funnily enough coincided with us working together…

M: Mmm... [laughs]

Read into that what you will!

NO: For me, in other projects that I’ve done I’ve been really careful not to cover the same ground again which actually has probably been a bit of problem because I’ve never developed a sound or particular vibe that’s carried through. I’ve always been a bit of a magpie, taking different things from all over the place. I think a lot of producers when you listen to their records you can imagine them going through exactly the same process every time. Not to big him up too much, but Sam doesn’t really do that. Sam sits for a long time and really experiments with the synths and sounds and I think that also comes from liking a broad range of electronic music.

MS: It’s quite good that I got into house music later on because although I get stumped in interviews when people ask me about histories of house music, I have a lot of different influences. I do remember sounds and what types of sounds I’m after and I know exactly what I want to get out of my production. Stuff I did six months ago I don’t really have any interest in doing again.

Maxxi, after you made your first record you described it as “accidental music for parties.” Now that you spend a lot more time on the records you are making, how do you think that has changed your output? Is it still as fun?

MS: When I was first making records everything I was doing was completely new to me and I was only just getting to grips with certain pieces of equipment. That sort of joy in learning those new things results in creative output to create something interesting. If you’re always learning something new it keeps you fresh so I often change up quite a lot.

Name One, you’ve made more mainstream pop music under a different alias. Why did you move away from it? Were you bored of doing a particular type of music?

NO: I think a lot of the mainstream has become a lot narrower since I’ve started making music in the pop world. As it narrowed I started to not want to do that and as you get older and your life changes you look into doing different things. I was very narrow to start off with and now I try and do as many projects with as many different people as I can. With the Name One thing I can do things anonymously, people don’t care who I am or what I’ve done and what I’m like or anything. I think it’s very liberating; I’ve just done something with Sasha and was just doing something with Adriatique. I’m an anonymous voice and it’s a completely different thing for me when people aren’t studying you under a microscope to see what you’re up to. People just send you a track and if you like it you do something with it.

So you enjoy that anonymity?

MS: Well you weren’t a comfortable pop star were you?

NO: No not at all! So doing the Name One project I can be whoever I want to be, I’m basically like a chameleon: I sing quite differently on all the different tracks I’ve done. It’s kind of cool not having to be a personality; you are literally just a voice and I can write what I want and express what I want.

MS: People can hide in dance music a lot I think. When you become pop famous you’re up for abuse and people can have a right pop at you. Of course that can happen at the very top level of dance music too, but I don’t think it gets the same level of attention. People just let you get on with it.

With at least the basic framework of house becoming more prevalent in pop music, do you think there’s a danger of the underground losing its identity?

NO: The underground just changes…

MS: A lot of people who were making deep house a couple of years ago are now making techno. Techno is sort of where you go when you definitely do not want to be commercial. I’m pretty sure a techno record will never make it into the charts...

2 Unlimited?

[both laugh]

And there have been some house records that have been really successful in the mainstream this year…

NO: Maybe, but they don’t have the weirdness that underground music does. I think it doesn’t have the strangeness and personally from what I’ve seen people specifically almost start to distance themselves from things that they see going mainstream. Like with techno; people would get a bit harder or tougher or stranger or whatever.

Have you got any plans to develop your collaboration into a live act?

MS: Yeah I would love to do the live thing. Name One has sung a couple times with me using just with an effects box. It was not a live show by any stretch but it was a step in the right direction.

NO: I think if we had enough tracks that we would want to do in that way and do something that was more than just a PA, we would both definitely be up for it.

MS: I’d like to be doing something up there you know? I was in a band before on Southern Fried a few years ago in the early Ableton days. I was very new to it so I wasn’t really expecting to do much but I just remember feeling odd being on stage, running something that could have run anyway. It was more acting than playing and it was the most unsatisfying moment, even though I was in front of loads of people on stage and it should have been a great moment I really didn’t enjoy it. It has to be able to go wrong if you know what I mean?

N: I totally agree.

If it’s exactly the same, what’s the point?

MS: If it does go wrong when you’re playing like that, you’re fucked! It just turns off! Messing a few keys up or the beat not coming in at the right moment… I think people go with you if they’re into it and it makes it a bit more real and interesting. If it’s just going to be an exact copy of what you’re doing in the studio, why bother?

One In Three is out 11th November on Defected Records