Those crazy Brits always have several pseudonyms. You may know Steve Cornish and Nick Mace as Digital Dog, Jack Rokka, or Elek-tro Junkies. Three different names and three different sounds. As Digital Dog, they've remixed the likes of Armand Van Helden, Cascada, and Ultra Nate with an electro edge. As Jack Rokka, they had a big crossover smash teaming up with club siren Betty Boo. As Elek-tro Junkies, they explore the groovier sound of house with tracks showing up on Fierce Angel compilations. Locked in the studio and only occasionally leaving to DJ at their residencies, the two produce incredible dance music that sounds great in the club and on the radio.
DJ Ron Slomowicz: So how did the two of you meet up?
Nick Mace: Well, we didn't start doing music at school, but we were mates
at school. After school, I was into DJing, and Steve was a bit more of
a musician than me, and we started getting into music production from
there.
RS: Where did the name Digital Dog come from?
Steve Cornish: Thin air. In actual fact, a couple of guys we know, they had
the name Digital Dog. We liked it, they weren't using it and we just
used it.
Nick Mace: Nothing more exciting than that, I'm afraid.
RS: There's a bunch of names associated with you guys – what's
the difference between, say, Digital Dog and Jack Rokka?
Nick Mace: Well, Jack Rokka's actually more a commercial front. More of
the clubby stuff tends to be more Digital Dog, where it'll be a bit of
a tougher production. With Jack Rokka, we're still using the club
elements, but it's more on the commercial front.
Steve Cornish: It's slightly more cross-over, maybe.
Nick Mace: Yes, it's a bit more of cross-over. It's our outlet for being a
little more musical, really.
RS: And then what's Elektro-Junkies?
Nick Mace: Elektro-Junkies is more of the Hed Kandi vibe – more funky and
more piano. It allows us to do a bit more soulful stuff, so we can
sort of vent there a bit. So it's not quite as tough, and it's just a
little lighter. And, again, that's probably more commercial as well,
than the Digital Dog stuff.
RS: So when you guys are in the studio, how do you two collaborate?
Steve Cornish: It seems that I tend to do more of the riffs and work on the
musical side. Nick brings in all of his DJ influence, so Nick will
sometimes come in with reference tracks, and just say "Look, this is
the vibe that's coming through at the moment," and if we both love it
then I'll sit at the keys and sort of start from there, and see what
comes out.
Nick Mace: We're both sort of hands-on with the equipment, but Steve's
definitely more riff-oriented than me.
RS: Are you guys using Logic, or what are you using to make your music?
Steve Cornish: Yes, we're using Logic. We've got ProTools, as well, that we
sometimes use to record on. Logic just feels easier to write a song
in, and it's more natural. With ProTools, you tend to get caught up in
the technicality of it a bit too much, so we tend to use Logic for the
actual songwriting.
RS: Talking about songwriting, when you work with someone like
Therese, do you come with the track first, and give it to her to write
to? Or how do you collaborate artists?
Steve Cornish: To me, there's no right or wrong way to do it. Sometimes we've
done a backing that they'll get inspired by, and they'll come in and
we'll write with them. On some occasions, they may have had an idea
or concept – the groove is already there, and then we just have to
put the music behind it. So it really is chicken or egg, there's no
right or wrong way.
Nick Mace: Regarding Therese, we've got utmost respect for her. She's a
great songwriter, and we love working with her.
