As the market for Electronic music swells, the pool of talent does as well. One of the more notable hands, and more established hands enting the game are Canadian producers, Pigeon Hole. Having stemed from Sweatshop Union lends an established foundation in the music industry, and years of experience. Footing like this is an amazing spring board of the right kind. These factors are bringing a fresh perspective to their brand of Electronic music. A more organic sound coupled with rap hype energy that the current variety of Electronica is all too frequently lacking.
Below is the interview. Questions that will lend some insight into the duo’s background were asked, in order to begin a picture of a name you are undoubtably going to see more of.
It looks like PH have a busy festival season ahead.
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Sweet guys, thanks for taking the time. You’ve been killing it online with these past few releases. Please introduce yourselves.
C: Thanks for having us. I’m Colin aka Lebowski1 aka Black Dracula aka Dusty.
L. Lee aka Lebowski2 aka Chi Harvey Oswald aka Young Jakarta.
What are each of your roles in Pigeon Hole?
C: We both produce and make beats, play synths, write and rap and are just starting to get into djing. Lee definitely flexes a little harder on the synths and bass. I’m more of a drum guy.
L. We both think we’re BReal to the others Sen Dog.
C: Oh I’m Sen Dog for sure.
For clarity’s sake, what is Pigeon Hole’s involvement in the Canadian Hip Hop staple Sweatshop Union, and for how long have you been doing it?
C: We’re one third of Sweatshop Union. We’re OG’s. We’ve been part of Sweatshop since day one. Thats our family and crew.
Previous to the union, what are your musical backgrounds?
L: Grade 7 band class and Rap City. It was all about doing what they did in the music videos. Everyone was an icon back then.
C: We used to just record at home and play small shows around town. We went as Creative Minds back then. We were really creative. haha.
L: We were, in our minds anyway.
Are there any plans to fold other members of the union under the wing of PH? Featuring or otherwise?
C: We were hoping to feature some of the dudes on the record but nothing really panned out. Mos was on the first record though. He killed it.
L: Yeah. We hole up and geek out while we make a record. Reaching out to people is something were working on. I want to work with A Tribe Called Red.
When and where did Pigeon Hole come to be? I’m wondering if big electronic festivals Sweatshop Union / Leisure Gang performed in had bearing on the decision to branch. Namely Shambhala.
C: Oh hitting all those festivals and getting exposed to these new sounds definitely had a huge impact and influence on the new record. Being out there and feeling all the builds and drops huge bass…. i just remember being like ‘we need to apply this shit to our music’.
L: Shambhala is our local festival pilgrimage. I definitely pictured performing the music there while I was making it. So it had to be BIG and exciting.
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Hip Hop influences of yours are well documented to date. Which electronic producers have been revving your engines?
C: I’m always stoked on anything Diplo does. Hudson Mohawke, A Tribe Called Red are insane! Bird Peterson, Hermitude, Yellow Claw, Zeds Dead, Ta-Ku, Cashmere Cat, Clockwork, Grandtheft, Small Town Dj’s. I’m huge on Moombahton too so Lady Bee, Bro Safari, Stereothieves…. there’s so many. That’s what has me so stoked; how many people are making great shit.
L: There’s so many new producers and influences every day. Justice, Crystal Castles, and Squarepusher are some of the older stuff that got me into it. I remember wondering how I was gonna make it work with hip hop music.
In your interview with Waxhole (which was a good read) it came out that you pref to perform big festivals over clubs. Can you list 3-5 of your favourite Canadian festivals?
C: Shambhala, Rifflandia and my third is a small island party I don’t want to give out the name of. Sometimes festivals are awesome when they’re small and intimate. I really want to play Basscoast this year though. I’ve heard so many good things.
L: I haven’t been to enough Canadian festivals. Basscoast, Astral Harvest, and Diversity are three I’m looking forward to.
In the same interview it was also said that live performances are to be a big concentration of your attention and game upping. You don’t have to spill the full can.
L: Right now it’s a an extremely hype rap show. In the near future we want to focus heavy on visuals, projections, and perfect our backline as we become better dj’s.
C: Yeh, we just love performing. I’m stoked on the show we have together right now but in reality we’re only just getting started.
Seeing as how your well a part of the Canadian music industry I was hoping you could list up some up an comers doing good things. Peeps that peeps may not have heard of yet.
C: A-Ro, Panther, Astrological, Claire Mortifee has an amazing voice.
Lastly, what’s upcoming?
C: We’re going to keep pushing tracks from Chimp Blood, working on a remix EP and we plan on touring around getting buck.
L: We’ll have new music out every couple weeks. Check the soundcloud for the newest releases: https://soundcloud.com/pigeon_hole
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