Releasing boogie-worthy track called “The Dark ft. Bklava“, is Dublin-based DJ duo Obskür. The pair (Lorcan McCarthy & Faustas Astrauskas) are known for their Housey Techno style & have quickly started to make a name for themselves since May 2019.
Their use of hard-hitting 90’s, slick Hip-Hop samples, and Raw elements has gotten them a lot of attention online. They’ve already performed some great shows while holding residencies in big Dublin clubs like Konspiracy and Meridian, as well as continuing to grow their fanbase with 1,000,000 monthly listeners on Spotify – and listeners are hungry for their next release.
With backing and collaborations from some of the greatest names in the business, including Annie Mac, Eats Everything, Pete Tong, Ejeca, Danny Howard, Gorgon City, and many more, these two are on their way to the top. In an interview with the dance music team, we find out what it was like to produce ‘The Dark ft. Bklava’ and get the inside scoop on what it means to be one of the most fast-rising DJ duos.
Hailing from Dublin, how did you both make steps into the electronic music scene?
We both started out teaching ourselves Djing/Producing when we were around 13/14 years of age. After about a year or two of learning the trade in our bedrooms, we both managed to secure an underage event residency in Dublin where we’d play 5/6 hour b2b sets together in room 2 of a venue before being upgraded to room 1 as we progressed with our careers. We then moved on to do separate things as Lorcan was working under a different alias and Faustas played solo for a couple of years. After a year or two of doing our own thing, we felt like we were both losing interest in the music we made/played as it was quite commercial and wasn’t cutting it as we grew older and our music tastes developed. Fast forward to 2019 we shared the idea of joining forces and working on a project that we actually liked and making/playing music that we enjoyed and that was when Obskür was formed. It’s crazy how much our music tastes and also our ability to make music has improved over the last couple of years. We haven’t looked back since.
It’s said the raw energetic productions you create, capture your personalities – can you elaborate on this?
It’s true – We are both still young and have very bubbly and fun personalities (or at least we’d like to think so haha) so we think that really translates well in our productions with the Happy, fast and energetic raw sounds that we use in our tracks
How has your music identity developed?
We’ve developed so much over the years compared to what we used to make/play when we first started years ago. We became a lot more open-minded when it came to music and realised that there are a lot more styles of music out there than we thought before and that’s what really makes Obskür what it is. It’s being open to different genres of music whether it’s House, Techno, Acid, Breaks, DnB. When you start thinking like that it really helps creatively as you are not held down by one genre, instead you can pick and choose the elements you like from any of the above and combine them while making music. The creative process is so much more fun and easier that way.
Where do you take influence from?
This really isn’t a straightforward answer. We take influence from everything – Whether it’s a set someone played or a track someone made and that can vary from a very old essential mix/boiler room set or a classic piece of music and try to always incorporate the inspiration and ideas we get into our sets/productions. Some names that have inspired us over the years would be Disclosure, Bicep, Denis Sulta, Patrick Topping. So much to take from these guys – All smashing it in their careers.
What have been some of the best moments in your music career so far?
We’ve been lucky enough to have quite a few sick moments. Signing with FFRR was a big one as it is such a legendary label with so many big names being part of it that inspires us to make music so it is a big buzz to be able to bring our own sound to it and continue on the legacy of such a big and well-respected label. Another few big moments that we are extremely happy with are the gigs we’ve been doing post-pandemic. We’ve managed to sell out 3 headline shows (Galway, Glasgow and Dublin) which is such a sick feeling knowing people are actually interested in us and what we do.
Can you tell us a bit about your upcoming release ‘The Dark ft. Bklava’ what does this track represent?
The Dark represents the next step in our release schedule showing off a much darker side of us as a follow up to Bayside while still being just as energetic but with a more synth, strong harmonising vocal and a darker twist. The record has been in the works for well over a year now so it’s such a class feeling having polished it off and ready to be shared with the world. We cannot wait for the release of this one and hopefully people like it as much as we do ourselves.
What was it like working with Bklava?
Working with Bklava on this one was a pleasure and such an easy process. She was so cooperative and nailed the vocal just the way we wanted it using the lyrics we wrote and listening to the instrumental. She and her team got on it quickly and got the vocals recorded in about a day or two which was sick. Her voice is exceptional and one we’ve been huge fans of for quite some time now so it was amazing to finally get her on a project that means so much to us.
How do you want people to feel whilst listening to track?
Euphoric would be the best word to use here. To get lost in the emotions and depth of the track and enjoy themselves with it. The best setting for it would be in a dark and sweaty warehouse or a festival stage like the steelyard with a lot of lasers and strobe lights – Unreal!
Are you going to perform it live? What shows have you got lined up?
Yes definitely. We have our first Dublin headline show in Index this Saturday (5th February) which is a big deal as the last time we played in Dublin was nearly two years ago so we’re excited about that. Next weekend we are in Belfast with Ewan McVicar with the shine crew in Limelight, then our London debut in march for Shut the front door at Brixton Jamn followed by many other festivals/club gigs both at home in Ireland and the UK that are still under wraps at the minute. Itching to test it out at all of these.
What is the aim for Obskur, where do you see you guys in 5 years?
The main aim would be to continue to make music we both like and to make people happy with it for as long as we can. Very basic but that’s the dream. Gig wise – we’d love to be able to headline/play The Warehouse Project, Printworks, DC-10. Who knows what can happen haha.