MAKING NOISE: MAK & PASTEMAN

“We don’t take ourselves too seriously,” says Matt Pasteman, one half of Mak & Pasteman alongside friend Craig Mak (who also records solo as Last Magpie). “I wouldn’t just play straight 4/4 techno with no vocals, that’s not us. We play music for people to dance to and have a good time, not scratch their chin over.” It’s a candid claim not many are prepared to make in the super self conscious years in which we live, but it couldn’t be a more truthful assessment of this fast rising duo.

They first met at mutual DJ gigs in Leeds about three years ago. “We ran into each other from time to time,” says Matt. “Craig had a way better studio than me so we worked on one track and thought it was good so kept going!” Since then they have shot to prominence off the back of a number of bootlegs and edits of people like Larry Heard and Tyga, as well as with their own productions on Shifting Peaks, Senseless Records and Sounds of Sumo.

Combining Matt’s garage background with Craig’s predilection for jungle and Detroit techno, their music marries a fresh bass weight with bold house rhythms and deft sampling, and it wasn’t long before Mary Ann Hobbs got wind and began championing the duo on the radio.

Now having fully found their sound after months honing it in private, there is much on the horizon for the pair, including a self-released white label vinyl featuring two party starting bootlegs of Whitney Houston and Kendrick Lamar under their M.A.P alias (reserved for edits and the like), a new EP for Redlight’s Lobster Boy label and also a new radio show on BBC 1xtra.

“We have five one-hour shows which will feature live mixes, but also we hope to be a bit funny and get some personality in there,” says Matt before explaining that the pair also hope to take their productions to the next level in the coming months by working with some original vocalists... sounds like the only way is up.