Interview Bondax: “I thought Bondax was over, I thought we’d fucked it”

The two of them claim they’ve “got back to basics in a musical sense.” The past few months hasn’t been full of shortcomings. They’ve become a go-to band of 2014’s festivals. Stumbling teens flocked in their thousands to see them at Reading & Leeds Festival, and Latitude’s Lake Stage peaked in popularity with their sunset slot this year. Partly that’s because they’ve recruited a drummer for shows, and both Townsend and Kaye have started applying live bass and pianos to their bubbling up dance tracks. It’s still just a taste of what they have to offer, mind you.

Out steps ‘Bondax & Friends’, a “compilation” which in layman’s terms acts as an intermediary. Fans who wondered where the hell Bondax had buggered off to have summer single ‘All I See’ to wrestle with. But Townsend also speaks about the release like the duo owe this to their fans. “We want to give them something to keep excited about,” he says, celebrating a birthday drink a few hours ahead of their gig. “In the meantime, we’ve been getting our album almost finished now. I mean, it’s not finished. But we have about fifty tunes. We’ve got tunes there, it’s just about wrapping it up and picking our favourites. Ensuring that the piece of music has some coherence.”

George labels ‘All I See’ and ‘Giving It All’ as the “commercial” side of Bondax, and with their ‘Bondax & Friends’ mix, and the eventual full-length, he says they’re aiming to showcase several different sides. “‘All I See’ is probably the most commercial piece of music we’ll ever make. We hope so, anyway. We know it’s commercial and we know it has a certain place. We’re trying to work out how to create original music while still attaining that accessibility,” he says. Adam backs that statement up: “We’re very much into jazz and soul. That’s what we listen to. We don’t feel like we’re fully achieved that yet in our music.”

“We’ve only released singles really. There’s never been the right moment to release a lot of these tunes,” says George. Within the compilation, there’s the appearance of Karma Kid, and less familiar faces like Canadian producer Shagebond. “Without being harsh to anyone, a lot of the things we get sent on SoundCloud are absolute bullshit,” admits George. “We almost gave up, because we got sent so much rubbish. I remember thinking, ‘Yeah Shagebond, I bet this is wank!’. But it’s amazing. Still nobody really knows him, he needs a bit more of a push in that direction.”

With this release, they’re also set to take to a DJ tour across the country. It’ll be their last for a while. Bondax have taken up residency in a London house, where they’re building their own studio. It remains a collection of bit-parts, objects and instruments that don’t quite have their place, and that’s largely due to a festival schedule that’s swept them up, dreaded Bulgaria onwards. George claims they’ll have “everything required” to finish the record, with Adam chiming in that “hopefully it’ll be ready for next year.” There’s an urgency in how they address the album - there would be, given what happened - but if there’s anything to be learnt from their experiences, it’s that they needn’t rush things. The demand’s still there. ‘All I See’ keeps their place on the map as one of dance’s bubbling up, chart-ready names.

“We feel like we’re in a good position, because hopefully we’re not too old yet!” claims George, half-joking, half-nervously approaching a make or break 2015. There’s an anxiousness to get something out there, but given the setbacks, and the desire to keep going, there’s every chance that Bondax’s first full-length will be a special one.

Taken from the October issue of DIY, out now. Bondax’s new album ‘Bondax & Friends: The Mix Album’ is out 24th November via Relentless. Pre-order.

Tags: Bondax, From The Magazine, Features, Interviews