Dance music maestros Simian Mobile Disco have been rocking the dance floors for years, and have made a name for themselves as producers and remixers. Just about everything they touch turn to gold, which is a good sign since when the duo now is branching out with their own record label imprint and club nights. Dazed Digital spoke James Ford and Jas Shaw about the new adventure and a recent gig in Berlin...

Dazed Digital: You have club residencies in several cities - how did that move come about?
Simian Mobile Disco: The move to having residencies was in order for us to take a bit more control over some of the dj gigs. We always choose gigs based on who else is playing but to curate the whole line up from scratch is fantastic, kind of like planing your ideal night out.

DD: Is Delicacies your own record label imprint?
Simian Mobile Disco: It's all still through Wichita, who have been great, but it's up to us what we do with it. This seems like the ideal situation as we get to abdicate responsibility on all the business stuff which James and I are both utterly rubbish at.

DD: You are releasing a series of 12" records - are they coming out  as  an album as well, or is this how you see music being bought and listened to from now on?
Simian Mobile Disco: We don't have any plans to do an album of this stuff but we are not ruling it out. The joy of this Delicacies stuff is that we don't need to have a plan; we just make some music, play it out a few times and then put it out. It's not a reflection of how we think music will be consumed in future, no one knows that, it's just a fun way for us to get music out quickly. It's fun.

DD: Where did the name Delicacies come from, what are you trying to say?
Simian Mobile Disco: Delicacies are usually quite grim. Often the part of the animal that usually gets thrown away and often slightly rotted or treated in a bizarre and unappetising way. However these dishes are highly prized by a small minority of aficionados. Somehow this seemed to tie in with the sort of music that we were making and buying, wonky, noisy, atonal, odd techno. This is not music what has wide appeal, some of it isn't even really music but we love it.

DD: ow would you describe the sound on these new records?
Simian Mobile Disco: Like eating an egg that's been buried until the contents turn black.

DD: How do putting on club nights compare to playing 'normal' gigs?
Simian Mobile Disco: It's more stress but more rewarding. When you go to play at a normal club you are not involved in anything apart from turning up on time but with this you need to think about the flow of the night, how one artist will fit with another and what the best line up and order will be for the whole night.

DD: Are any of you working on producing other bands at the moment?
Simian Mobile Disco: Both of us are but we don't like to talk about things until they are done, sorry.

DD: Will Simian, your first band together, ever return?
Simian Mobile Disco: I doubt it.
 
DD: How did the Smirnoff gig go in Berlin?
Simian Mobile Disco: It went well actually. It was pretty stressful as we were busy getting all the equipment working right up until they opened the doors but it all came together in the end.

DD: What was the highlight - except for the gig - during the weekend?
Simian Mobile Disco: We spent the entire time working on getting everything to work for the gig so there wasn't really anything else.

DD: How does Berlin compare to London and NYC as a party city?
Simian Mobile Disco: Berlin is amazing, there isn't anywhere like it in terms of a party city anywhere else in the world. Parties don't just go late, they go early and then late and then early again. It's cheap to live and there seems to be a great artistic community. It's one of the few cities in the world aside from London that I'd like to live in.