Disciples first arrived onto the radar with their underground staple “They Don’t Know,” which was labeled as Pete Tong’s Essential New Tune and charted on the UK Singles list. Reflecting the stylisation of New York’s voguing scene of the late Eighties/early Nineties with a contemporary edge, ‘Disciples’ weld sounds of the old with new, creating a future-retro sound that can snare fans of all eras of music.
Photography by Julian Cassady
Interview by Mike Greene
Mike: What got you all into music initially? Friends, family, etc? A first guitar, keyboard, grandma got you music lessons, etc?
Duvall: I guess for all of us its slightly different, for me it was by accident. I’ve always liked music but only fell in love with it when I began to make it. I was fourteen years old and was being punished for something at school. They made me sit in a room with nothing but an old dusty piano in it. The rest is history.
Gavin: I’ve always wanted to be involved in music from when I was like nine years old (thanks to Dr Dre’s “Keep Their Heads Ringin“), but it wasn’t until I was twelve and became obsessed with DJing that I knew my direction. DJing led me onto production in college and I haven’t turned back since.
Luke: My mum and dad were the first to get me in to music without really knowing they where pushing me in that direction. Music would be played in my house hold everyday and my dad used to take us on a “family holiday” to Ibiza but it was really so he could rave at night lol. At the age of eleven I started going to a pirate radio station with my friend’s dad, he use to let me intro the next tracks being played. Mainly garage and hip hop joints, and from then on I was stuck. Music was my wife and still is to this day.
Mike: How was the music scene growing up in the UK, specifically your home towns? How did the underground scene shape you into who your are today? Were you producing while all the other kids were out playing football?
Duvall: Unfortunately nothing as cliche as that, we had a great social life growing up, almost too social – never missed a party, definitely feeling the effects of that now. The music scene in the UK is and always will be fresh. It’s naturally diverse and forever-changing. All types of music has definitely helped us develop, I can thank the underground for many crazy nights.
Gavin: Growing up in Croydon/London has definitely shaped my sound. I started DJing in high school during the UK Garage days which was very underground at that time. I was playing in clubs and on pirate radio in London. Those days I was more into the harder club sounds like wookie, but when I started seeing how songs that I would buy in a specialist record shop would grow from pirate radio to then hearing people in my school talk about it and then seeing it go mainstream, that whole process fascinated me. When I was younger I was either at a party or rewiring my radio so I could pick up more pirate radio stations from around London.
Luke: The underground was always in my soul. Pirate radio is how I came up, London is great for that. I grew up in Crystal Palace and T. Heath in the same area as a lot of UK rappers like Krept & Konan and Stormzy, I tried my little “rap thing” when I was fifteen with them but was always drawn towards production and dance music as I connected to it more. Everyone always used to look at me weird, like “why does he like dance music we live in the hood” lol, but I guess that’s why I’m here now because I didn’t act fake, I followed through with what I loved – dance music and production.
“The music scene in the UK is and always will be fresh. It’s naturally diverse and forever-changing.”
Mike: How does/did collaboration work being a trio? Each person typically has a top strength to balance off one another.
Duvall: Yeah its great, if we’re starting from scratch I’ll usually start with a riff or a bass line and develop some chords and get a structure going. Luke helps arrange, Gavin is great with percussion and also produces, also he’ll bring in ideas he’s already started and we work on those. It all depends on how the sun shines that day.
Mike: Music is typically created based off certain actions, inspirations, or feelings. What was the thought process going into “How Deep Is Your Love”?
Duvall: We sat in our studio with Ina Wroldsen for hours playing all the old 90’s dance music that we loved, from Everything But The Girl’s “Missing” to Tiesto’s “Silence”
Gavin: Yeah, we just wanted to create something with some real depth and not think about whether it would be a hit. That era of dance songs is a massive influence on me.
Mike: What was the collaboration process like with Calvin Harris? What was his strength and where did that play in with you three?
Duvall: 100 emails back and forth. Calvin really knows his shit. He has an incredible commercial ear. The majority of the record was already done, he made it bang! It was a very smooth collaboration.
Mike: How has your creation process changed over the years based on your sounds?
Duvall: It’s better we hope (laughs). We don’t over complicate things anymore, our ears have improved more than our sounds. Our sounds were always great, we can just use them better now.
Gavin: I don’t sit at home in my boxer shorts all day tweaking a bass drum any more so it has changed quite a bit for me.
Mike: An artist’s music is typically a reflection of themselves in one form or another – what does your music say about you?
Duvall: This is something we definitely like to leave up to the listener. We hope it says were not afraid to try something that hasn’t been done.
Gavin: It says we are confused, in a good way.
Mike: Have you learned anything about yourself in particular that’s surprised you after your journeys thus far?
Duvall: Yeah! Communicate with each other before someone ends up in hospital. The amount of times I’ve wanted to put my guys in a headlock!
Gavin: That I am always right, I wasn’t aware of that fact before (laughs)
Mike: You travel the world doing what you love. What’s the biggest insight you’ve gained about culture, and people in general?
Duvall: So we’ve been up and down the UK, toured a little in the US and just recently saw in the New Year in Sri Lanka. The differences between people and different cultures is what makes this job, and this world amazing, we don’t meet the same type of people everywhere, which means the reaction to our music is always refreshing.
