As you read this Detroit house duo Golf Clap — Hugh Cleal and Bryan Jones — are in the throes of a 15-date U.S. tour. The cross-country trek, extending through summer (see tour dates below), finds them bringing their Motor City vibes to top clubs and festivals all over ‘Merica.
Just before they hit the road we connected with the Clap’s Bryan Jones. We asked Jones about their buzzy new track “Bout That” crafted with Eyes Everywhere set for release this month as part of Toolroom’s Ibiza album, upcoming plans for their Country Club Disco label, and the significance of playing Movement Festival in Detroit over Memorial Day Weekend.
Movement is taking place at the end of the month in Detroit. Is there a palpable buzz in the city?
Bryan Jones: Of course, everyone is talking about it non-stop. Every day, people are messaging us asking us questions about when they travel here. We have so many friends coming in from out of town. It’s the biggest weekend of the year around here for dance music.
How do you prepare for your set during Movement weekend? Is it safe to say it’s your biggest set of the year because it takes place in your own backyard?
For sure it’s one of our biggest sets. It’s the most amount of people that we know all in one place, at one time. Will be spending extra time coming up with new DJ tools and finding some big tunes to keep under wraps until the set. We are playing at least four sets that weekend right now, so we will have a huge folder ready to go to avoid repeats. It takes a lot of effort from both of us to get all those tunes together in one folder before big weekends or marathon sets.
We love the Warm-Up Mix! Does it present a snapshot of what fans can expect to hear at Movement, or are there surprises up your sleeve?
It’s a good idea of the style of music we will be playing there. Our live sets tend to get a little crazier and have a bit more energy though. Expect more four deck layering and DJ tricks when we play live. Also, we will have an entire new set ready by Movement as well.
You kicked off a 15-date DJ tour on May 5. How does touring now in the U.S compare to back in the day?
It’s nice traveling with someone now instead of going alone. Also don’t really miss carrying records around. The coolest different thing about today is that you can take videos and pictures and share it instantly with everyone around the world.
There’s a nice buzz surrounding the “Bout That” collabo with Eyes Everywhere. What’s the backstory behind that cut?
Eyes Everywhere are friends of ours from New York who we’ve released music from on our label. We booked them for a show at The Grasshopper awhile back and worked on that song. We threw a show with Pete Tong a month or two later and played that song. Pete asked us to send it to him three times before we left that night. We got it in his hands, and the next day it was the Essential New Tune on Pete Tong’s Radio 1 show. He’s played it five weeks in a row now and Danny Howard also played it on his show. You can find the song as the first exclusive tune listed on the new Toolroom Records Ibiza compilation. We are really excited about this one.
In January you dropped a lovely label compilation, Golf Clap Presents, featuring artists including Lenny Kiser, Mad Villains, Sebb Junior and Bruze D’Angelo. What’s in the pipeline for Country Club Disco?
Just had a new EP by Dateless drop today. We’ve got an EP by an upcoming guy named Gribzy from the UK later this month. After that we’ve got a single by Codes coming with remixes by Treasure Fingers and Eyes Everywhere. We’re throwing lots of parties in Detroit as well. We’re throwing a Movement official after-party with Mija, Billy Kenny, & more. After our tour ends, we are doing another tour of Country Club Disco shows around the country at the end of summer. Also going to have our store running full steam ahead very shortly. Tons of shirts, hats, stickers, etc. Tons planned for the label this year.
Any other projects we should know about?
We’ve got another song with Eyes Everywhere coming out on Big Beat Records on May 19. We have a song coming out on Madtech in July. We also have a tune with Sebb Junior coming in June for Eton Messy. Been in the studio a lot more lately and can’t wait to release it all.
Thanks for your time and safe travels this summer!
Thank you guys. We are excited to get around the country and meet new friends. Appreciate you taking the time to talk to us.
