VF Live x Rush Hour: Another Taste

Disco and boogie straight from Rush Hour Records.

In our latest VF Live, we’re back at Rush Hour for a set from Rotterdam-based band Another Taste.

Fresh from the release of their debut album via Space Grapes Records, Another Taste share a mix of disco and boogie producers and bands that have influenced the record.

To accompany the set, Rush Hour’s Bevan Gosling sat down with Another Taste to discuss the mix and their debut album.

This mix includes many prominent disco and boogie producers and bands. Are there any particular records in the stream that inspired certain parts of the LP or a general sound/feel that helped shape it?

For sure, the idea behind this mix was playing a variety of tracks that have inspired us in the general sound and feel of all the music we have released so far.

After the success of the 12″s, how did you all approach putting the album together and in what ways did it differ from the first few EPs? 

The idea of an album came almost immediately after establishing our group and creating our first tracks together. We wanted it to be more approachable than say, a 12-minute 12″ mix with extended breaks, but still have it be DJ-friendly.

We absolutely wanted something with a proper lead vocal, which turned out to be “Anything You Want”, and something a little more downtempo. We stuck to the same recording and engineering process throughout the six tracks.

On the topic of the initial EPs, what was the reasoning behind the various aliases in the early releases? It created a buzz and interest that even led people to believe this was unreleased material from the 1980s.

Since our first three releases were very different in how we approached them, we just came up with different artist names to put on them that sounded fun. No marketing schemes behind it, just good old fun in the studio finding its place on wax.

Believe it or not, the buzz around our first 12″ (which started well over a year before its release in late 2020) was initiated by record heads sharing a clip of a recorded set of Danilo (co-producer), trying to figure out what it was. This sparked many threads all over the internet including YouTube uploads, and we were completely humbled by this.

All of your material has that late ’70s/early ’80s feel in both composition and sound but still contributes a fresh energy. How do you navigate bringing something new and exciting but still paying homage to the ‘golden era’ of the sound?

We all have spent many years being obsessed with this period in recorded music, no matter the genre. For some of us, 95% of what we listen to is from this era, so it has sunk very deep into our musical worlds. Being influenced at this level during the writing process, along with employing some tried-and-true engineering methods of the time, resulted in something new that feels different.

Your live sets have an immense amount of energy. How do you see the album material fitting into this? Are there any upcoming gigs that you’re excited for?

Absolutely! There are many very exciting shows coming up this summer (hard to pinpoint a favourite), but we will play the whole album at most of them. So far we’ve gradually seen more and more people who sing along with our releases, which is great obviously. For some tracks (like the instrumental “Mad Honey Theme”) we play a version very different from the album, sped up and with extra sections for solos, which usually gets the crowd roaring. Always a moment to look forward to!

Watch the set above, and check out the VF Live archives here.