Starks and Nacey

What DC has known for awhile now is that Columbia, MD natives and friends since high school Nacey and Steve Starks, two-thirds of the Nouveau Riche triumvirate with Gavin Holland, are two of the most underrated DJs and producers in the country. The reason why the rest of the country didn’t know, is, well, Nacey and Steve Starks are also two of the most humble DJs and producers in the country, opting to let their mixing and skill speak louder than their marketing and voice. However, with a less than inspiring Winter Music Confernence spurring on the talented duo to replace thir humility with quiet confidence, Starks and Nacey have rolled out the most consistently solid remixes of the year, Nacey gaining the big prizes from Mad Decent and Discobelle, along with tracks rapped over by former Yo Majesty! rapper Shunda K, and Starks quietly honing his craft, a musical viper waiting for the right time to attack. Amd that right time was this past Tuesday, as the duo released their debut EP, a six song compilation of completely original tracks and reworkings of popular tunes as well, a clear shot to DJs everywhere that the duo are forces to be reckoned with.

Nacey’s three songs reflect his diverse interests, with a particular investment n his love of Southern bass and appreciation of an upbringing saturated in Bmore club. The EP kicks off with “Lose Your Love,” where Nacey deftly handles one of the most emphatic disco breaks of all time from the extended mix of The Emotions’ “Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love,” where the sisters sing the title as chorus over horn stabs, and with the aid of the break from “Doo Dew Brown,” and ambient noise, creates a perfect track that doubles as the perfect breakdown at the height of a Bmore club specific set, or to jazz up any disco mix. It’s a hit for sure, and I FULLY expect to see it showing up all over the place this summer. “Money on the Dressa” turns a sample of Bun B’s iconic voice from “International Playa’s Anthem” into a gangstafied house banger, replete with samples of a shotgun loading and shooting, squealing car tires and violin strings over a futuristic and hollow breakbeat, creating the perfect soundtrack if Major Lazer wasn’t a Jamaican freedom fighter but a Dolemite clone. “Work For This” may be the most sonically lush and mentally stimulating of the three tracks he delivers on the EP, taking what sounds like a sexed out Trina sample and creating a classic house jam, lush Arabian horns mixing with jazz horns over a syncopated bassline to create a sexy, sexy, sexy club heater that is certain to get the ladies moving seductively on the dancefloor.

Steve Starks on the other hand is similar, but with his deep house and funk explorations is a different DJ entirely. “So Sexy,” his first EP track, plays as an homage to Green Velvet (i.e. Cajmere of “Percolator” fame’s later project), all distinct spoken word vocals, deep synthy basslines and tinny hi hats with congo drums, it’s a classic deep house track, a retro fit for these most interesting times. “You Don’t Want None” follows next, a far more bass heavy and big sounding Bmore club exploration than Nacey’s smooth as silk “Lose Your Love,” it sounds like a Brick Bandits type club cut, the enormous filling sound mirroring what Philly has done with the early 2000s work of Debonair Samir and others. He closes his section and the EP itself with his most accessible for the current sonic atmosphere track, “Don’t Let Me Go” (Dub Mix f/ Manulita) featuring samples of heavy and orgasmic breathing, it’s a very dubbed out mix of a classic sexy club jam, and certain to be a necessity in the Serato boxes of any DJ looking to create the perfect mood as nightcapper to a night of playing nerve pounding wobbly basslines.

The EP is clearly aimed at creating noise and being relevant to the current set of producers and DJs presently making noise in the mainstream. At the same time though, neither Nacey nor Steve abandon what stylistically brought them to the forefront, instead weaving it into a set of tracks that are certain to continue the trend of DC infiltrating the club music mainstream.

DOWNLOAD EP HERE - The couch sessions

Bout time i finished up the post on these dudes. They’re doing some crazy shit lately – actually for a while – but they’ve been much more active on my radar since Nadastrom were here and they played us some rad Starks & Nacey tunes.

If you don’t already know, Steve Starks and Nacey’s background lies in Washington DC. They’re both part of the Nouveau Riche parties (with Gavin Holland) which i’ve only been hearing and reading good things about. They’ve got a bunch of tracks floating around the interwebs, and have had a couple of releases (solo and together) on that bit of hot, T&A Records.

Basically i’m just gonna throw up 6 (yeah i know, it was too hard to narrow em down) of my favourite tracks that they’ve given us.

Nacey – Six Million
This tune is just straight fun, like too much fun! I’m in bed writing this but as i listen i wanna jump up and have a pillow fight with a pack of girls in bonds…

Steve Starks – You Don’t Want None
Ultimate ghetto synth classic in this one. The classic Hip Hop/Dance hybrid that we’re all about at Scattermusic. HYPE.

Armand Van Helden – Witch Doktor (Steve Starks Remix)
A bit bmoreish in sound, but tuff not cheesy. The big bass and horns in this make guaranteed big room hit.

Old Money – Buena Mah Muvu (Starks & Nacey Remix)
Doooope modern club Hip Hop jam here. Great movement and drums, with a smooth arse original vocal.

Radioslave, Dubfire – Grindhouse (Steve Starks Bootleg)
I love how deep the original Dubfire remix is of this, I still play it. But Starks completely flips the song on it’s head. Still big and dirty but with a completely new sound and tune.

Starks & Nacey – Summer Madness
I dig this tune purely for it’s change-up at 2:15 – real summer vibes.

Tips:
Keep an eye out for their ultra remix of Rampage & Nader – track 3 in this mix.
Grab their TRO/Lydia EP and Starks’ Git Em EP (previewed below), all on T&A.
Watch this space for more Starks & Nacey!!! - Scatterblog

Starks and Nacey -- aka Steve Bock and Andrew Wallace -- are two Washington, DC-based DJs who, never content to rest on their laurels, are on a mission to create the ultimate party tracks. Their passion for partying encompasses Nouveau Riche, the monthly dance night they host at Club U-Hall (along with a third DJ, Gavin Holland) that has become one of the pillars of the Capital's DJ scene. They have a released an EP on their own, and 2010 brings the 'Time Run Out/Lydia' EP on T&A Records. While they plan to continue to rage at Nouveau Riche, they are also going to spread a little bit of DC to the South when they arrive in Austin, TX for SXSW.

How did you come up with the name Starks and Nacey?

Andrew: My story is really dumb, but Steve called me N.I.C., and I spelled it phonetically when I came to DC, I put out a remix EP under the name, and my friends and ex-girlfriend couldn't pronounce it. So they just called me Nacey, and I just stuck with that -- it's what my good friends called me.

Steve: And then Starks, well, Steve is my first name and Starks -- I just think it sounds good. I was a huge Ghostface fanatic when I was in high school, and his alias is Starks so, Steve Starks.

Describe your sound in your own words.

Steve: That's a tough one -- we're definitely all about stripped down, beat-driven dance music. We have a lot of influences but it's definitely about the beat.

Andrew: It's definitely beat-driven, bass heavy, club-oriented music and it's pretty much stripped down. We just try to put real emotion into it. It's definitely oriented towards creating a certain feeling, especially on the dance floor. We've been doing this for a while and we have compositions that never really were meant for the club, but at this point now, we have that in mind -- what can we make that we can play tonight.

Who are your influences?

Andrew: We both grew up more in hip-hop -- pretty much and got into dance music a little bit later on. The first thing I heard that really made me want to produce, was when I was in high school and maybe middle school even, I really liked the early Timbaland stuff. As far as dance music I really love the Prodigy. Like when we were moving to DC back in 2005, a lot of the stuff that was coming out back then was changing things... I remember Diplo and M.I.A. It sounded brand new, it sounded like the natural thing to be going on.

Do you think you're trailblazers in the DC?

Andrew: In a sense, yes. Tittsworth really paved the way for us as far as DJing and producing, but Nouveau Riche, when we started it, there wasn't really much going on. It was hard work but luckily we had a group of friends who were into it and it really started from the inside.

Any fun stories about meeting musical heroes?

Steve: I used to work at XM, and I got to meet Ghostface one time. I was an intern for the uncensored hip-hop station, and the guy knew I was a fanatic and he introduced me to him, but I was so young and overly excited, that he just kept moving.

Do you have any musical guilty pleasures?

Steve: We have too many! It's not even guilty. Basically we listen to everything just as music -- we're not too idealistic, or worry about what it might imply about us. But we get into everything, especially southern hip-hop and real cheesy, epic, euro house music. We listen to country music. Our friend once said country music and hip hop music are so similar because it's all about hometown stuff and being proud of where you're from -- the lifestyle, telling stories. We make club music but we put ourselves in it. Lady Gaga is my thing as far as pop music goes, at least everything she's put out so far.

What would the lineup at your ideal show? Who would you love to play with?

Steve and Andrew: The Prodigy -- that would be tight -- as headliners. Lately I've been listening to a lot of Claude Van Stroke, and Green Velvet would be awesome. - Spinner

In case you hurt your bladder roller-blading and haven't been keeping up with DJ news, the prelude to this Starks and Nacey EP release was a real slew, yes a total slew, of awards given to them for their remixes by blogs like Discobelle and Mad Decent.

THEY HAVE RELEASED A FULL EP now:

click here for a major download

Since Nouveau Riche began, I've been tagging along after hours to the home of Starks and Nacey and sleeping there upon a yoga mat. They were never sour about lending me mesh basketball shorts or letting me use their Tea Tree facial scrub before bed, and this is all without mentioning to you that if I became a bit peckish, Starks never held a grudge if I knocked on his door to ask him about a snack. Once, on my birthday, he obliged me with an authentic New England Clam Bake.

Starks is less willing to oblige on this close-fisted wallop.

YOU DONT WANT NONE

Sundays mornings at the house, I'd rise at around 11 and take a long salt-bath. In secret, I'd take a book from Nacey's shelf and give it a read. The same book actually, Margaret Atwood's A Handmaids Tale. Those were contemplative days.

At after parties, Nacey was always careful not to leave any money out actually.

MONEY ON THE DRESSA

The real treat Sunday mornings was watching them produce music. Obsessively they created tracks never even intended to be heard or danced to. They created for craft.

Some whining cuckold might simper "my father always buys me traditional furniture at Marlo," accidentally close to the microphone, and suddenly their voice is looped, chopped, and commanding a large beat.

Resident babe and fellow DJ Manulita was not so accidental on this sexy Starks slow-ride.

DONT LET GO dub mix

Well anyway, these are my own musings on the duo of Starks and Nacey, with great excitement about this great release. I'm glad they've settled on a name for themselves that so immediately expresses their chemistry. If Starks and Nacey sounds to you like a buddy-cop duo, it's because Starks and Nacey are actually cops.

Cops that love you. - Brightest Young Things