Neu Nguzunguzu: ‘We Have All Sorts Of Unfinished Tracks’

On 14th August, Nguzunguzu (that’s “en-goo-zoo-en-goo-zoo” for all you people who like to speak actual words), a Los Angeles electronic duo of very few boundaries, release a new EP on the Hippos In Tanks label. ‘Warm Pulse’ is without a doubt the most high-profile of Asma Maroof and Daniel Pineda’s works to date, but you get the impression in our interview that reaching heady heights of success is barely on the agenda a pair who tend to bask in the experimental side of things. Both Pineda and Maroof have made a steady, important impact on both the electronic scene and that of their home state, Los Angeles. We talk about the new set of songs - spanning Oriental war cries, The Knife-like synthetics and a hip-hop pallette of beats, as well as detailing their own club night, Wildness - an award-winning L.A. party which has even had a film made about it - as well as being brought up as classically trained musicians.

The title ‘Warm Pulse’ - what is this supposed to convey or suggest? It reminds me of the EP’s sound, both seem to tie together because both breed a real sense of life.
Warm Pulse comes from the title track, which made us think of a warm pulse of air while hiking. You can be on a mountain, turn a corner, and sometimes feel a pocket of warm air. Overall the record sounds a bit cold and harsh, a warm pulse to me sounds like barely alive, but still holding on.

How did you come to release the new EP on Hippos In Tanks? How aware were you of the label’s excellent work with Hype Williams, d’Eon, etc.?
We have been following Gatekeeper and James Ferraro and love the visual aesthetic of the label.

You gave a previous EP away for free, seemingly frustrated by time delays with labels - what made you convinced that Hippos In Tanks was the right step forward?
We gave that record away for free because that was exactly what we wanted to do. At the time we weren’t even thinking about releasing through a label so much. It was our first release to the public. We made a website and we thought that was the most exciting thing we could do with that music at that time.
It wasn’t really out of frustrations with any labels. Since then we’ve released on several labels, Fade To Mind being our home base.

What differs this EP from your previous works? To me it feels more cohesive, with a real dark undercurrent.
There’s not much of a dancefloor focus on this one. But this isnt a huge change in direction for us. Just one of our many moods.

How did you go about rattling down the EP to just five tracks - were you working on other stuff at the same time?
We are always working on lots of stuff, and have all sorts of unfinished tracks. These fit best together as far as sound, mood, and texture.

Is a lot of your work sample-based? How do you go about finding these samples and how do you adapt all of this into playing a live show?
We often use samples but usually the tracks we release arent built around one main sample. We find these samples anywhere, records, the web, around the apt, wherever.

I read somewhere that you were both trained on the classical violin. How do classical arrangements play a role in the music you make?
We both grew up first generation American kids and our parents both put us in suzuki violin school at very young ages. Not sure how that is reflected in what we do. We don’t play anymore, but we really like working with string sounds.

Does being based in L.A. have an impact on your songs? So much is spoken about how there are two distinct sides to that city…
I think so, we came up DJing our weekly party Wildness, that was a major part of our development and the time we felt most connected musically to Los Angeles.

What are the rest of your plans for 2012 once this EP comes out?
We are working on our next EP thats gonna come out on Fade To Mind, work on lots of really special projects, and tour Europe, hopefully South America, Australia and Japan.

Stream ‘Delirum’ below:


Nguzunguzu’s new EP The ‘Warm Pulse’ is out now digitally and will be released physically on 14th August via Hippos In Tanks.