DJ Weekly Podcast

The two Scottish components of Wildkats - alongside New Yorker relocated to London Corey Baker - Scott Dickie and Stuart Sandeman also DJ under the name Sandeman & Mr Dickie. Resident DJs at East End party You Are We, their disco and boogie trawling productions as Wildkats have been snapped up by labels such as Lower East and Hot Creations, with remixes coming soon for OM Records and Get Physical.

Carrying on their transatlantic adventures, they also have exciting collaborations with New Yorker Thugfucker (last seen handing out Thugfucker tattoos in Miami) and San Francisco's Mikey Tello from Pillowtalk. Check below for our full interview with them.

DJ Weekly Podcast: Sandeman & Mr Dickie (Wildkats) by djmag

1. The Sub is The Babysitter - Wildkats
2. Unknown - Remi Mazet
3. Missing Love - The Mekanism
3. Small Proposition - Miguel Puente
4. Stalker - Balcazar & Sordo
5. Distorted Point Of View - Clayton Steele
6. Turning Point - Karmon
7. Shake That - Puente & Rosch
8. Sniper - Matt Fear
9. You Are Not My Girl - Bastard Love
10. Jimmy Mack - Kassette Boys

First and foremost gents, a bit of history would be nice... Where did Sandeman and Mr.Dickie meet? How long have you guys been playing together?

“We’re both friends from our hometown in Edinburgh so we go way back. We used to run some small intimate parties in basement bars around Edinburgh and DJ independently across the capital. It was only until we were both living in London five years ago that we started to DJ together. Initially it was a back to back situation at East London’s Casa Blue on Fridays, but it quickly started to develop to the Sandeman & Mr Dickie that you know from You Are We today.”

What do you enjoy about DJing with each other?

“I guess as we have been playing with each other for five years, ha ha! In a plutonic, not bromance, sense, we know each others sound inside out... We are best mates so it's always a good laugh DJing together and we bounce off each other.”

What don’t you like? Be honest, it's a nice chance to get things out in the open...

Scott: “The fact that Stu seems to pick out the bad boy tunes from our list during our sets despite us both selecting from the same list!”

Stuart: “When Scott plays a tune in a set I wanted to play, that gets on my tits! But I do the same to him sometimes I guess.”

You’re both now based in London, what made you venture down? Was it together or did one miss the other too much? Long distance relationships can be difficult...

Scott: “Ha! Yeah it was tough... Long distance relationships never work! I moved down at a time I was always talking about doing it but never actually pulled the finger out to do it. Stuart phoned me one day and said, 'I've got a job interview for you'. I came down one Friday, by the Monday I had the job offer. The following week I was a fully-fledged Londoner!”

Stuart: “My move to London was six months earlier. I had just graduated from Leeds Uni, my sister and some mates lived there so it seemed like a logical move for me. After a few visits I fell in love with the buzz of the city. There's so much happening, it’s a really great place to live when it’s not raining!”

Can you tell us about your early music influences, who were the first DJs/Producers that made you fall in love with house music?

Stuart: “I guess musically I had a huge range of influences throughout my childhood years listening to indie rock/pop and all sorts stuff. When it comes to house music, I was largely influenced by my elder sister’s love for house music. I started listening to harder dance but when I got a copy of Daft Punk’s 'Homework', I was a converted French house head and spent hours in record shops digging out some 12inch gems. Alongside house music I have always had an eclectic musical palate, loving everything including hip-hop, rock, folk and disco. Variety is the spice of life as they say.”

Scott: “My early musical days were spent thinking I was a gangster! I used to love rap and hip-hop through my early teens and that was only when I really got into and understood music. My dance music experience started just like Stuart’s did, through my elder sister. Initially I was more in to the harder side of house but through going out around Edinburgh I got to understand the lighter side of house. Funky if you like!”

You're residents of East London's You Are We - we've seen Sandeman & Mr Dickie tear up the dance floor there for a few years now. What in your opinions makes the You Are We parties so special?

Scott: “Honestly, the crowd. I have said many times before that this truly is the best party for me and I stand by that still! There is a certain buzz you get from playing in London and that is always there for every YAW gig we’ve played.”

Stuart: “Yeah, like Scott said the YAW crowd is wicked, its like one big family. It’s a super friendly welcoming vibe, with a great energy. Everyone involved, as well as the party-goers, look forward to YAW, especially the summer day parties.”

Let’s speak a bit about the Wildkats – how did this cheeky little ensemble assemble? How did you arrive at the name?

“We got together with Corey Baker through mutual friends. You Are We's Playset, Tom Roberts and Ashley Wild, actually. We got talking about getting in the studio together and the rest is history I guess. How we arrived at the name. Ha, no commen. It’s long and complicated.”

It’s been a pretty exciting year production wise for the Wildkats with much-admired releases on some of the most exciting and preeminent labels such as Hot Creations and Lower East - what’s that felt like?

“We are buzzing! We are doing something that we love and getting to travel around the world playing music. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

Your Wildkats project also had some very interesting and enthusing collaborations with the likes of Russ Yallop, Tboy etc. What’s it been like working with such talent?

“It’s been amazing. We’ve known Russ for a long time and when we had the opportunity to collaborate for ‘System Crank’ on Hot Creations it was a no brainer. TBoy (Antonio) is a very close friend, almost like a fourth Wildkat! We work together on a regular basis. As a gifted sound engineer he has taught us a lot in the studio. We have collaborated with Antonio on many projects and our most recent collaboration just dropped on the 1st Apr for Akbal Music.”

No doubt there’s plenty more to come, or at least there better be! Can you give us a little insight into what we can expect?

“Well, as we said just had an EP come out on Akbal Music with TBoy. As Wildkats we have a couple of big remixes about to drop, one for Miguel Migs on OM Records and another for Elon on Get Physical. We’re really excited for these!

“We have also been lucky enough to work with good friends Thugfucker out of New York and Pillowtalk’s Mikey Tello from San Francisco. Both projects are very much in the early stages but both equally exciting once finished. Everything else we will keep under our hat for now!”

And tour wise, you guys have been getting about a bit too, Mexico, USA, Africa! Can you tell us a bit about the places you visited? Did you encounter some of your fellow, slightly hairier feline relatives in Africa?

“Ha ha. Not so much wild cats but we did have some troublesome monkeys running around our complex in Durban. That was a bit strange to see! Honestly, everywhere we have been has been out of this world - you can’t really predict how it is going to go when you travel away from your home surroundings but fortunately for us it has been an amazing experience everywhere we have been. Again a special shout has to go to Mexico... We’ve travelled around quite a bit and they really know how to party! From our independent gigs to BPM Festival, Mexico truly is the new party place.”