Interview: Pellusje

Heavy fanatics of Mexican fighting, blood, violence and all things heavy that they hold sacred, Pelussje are reminiscent of Bloody Beetroots meets Skrillex washed down with a brass knuckled punch to the face; these guys are theatrical to say the least and all round anarchists. It’s no surprise that their music sounds just as crazy, cut from the same blood soaked cloth, their sound ranges from fast paced dubstep, dirty electro and heavy house. Having just dropped their EP Sangre, which translates to a “bloody release”, these up and comers signify the very future of dance music and JUICE are 100% behind them. Just don’t be surprised if you get choke slammed at one of their gigs, but it would be so worth it…

Where does the name, Pelussje, com from?
You’re starting from “easy” questions! Well, we invented a word that sounds like sweet & sour, soft & strong and that recalls Mexican Luchadore’s names.

‘Sangre’ EP means more a less bloody release. Do you guys get quite violent when you perform?
Sure! But our violence is theatrical. We learned if from the Mexican Lucha Libre. Our shows are closer to a hardcore concert than a traditional DJ set. Including screaming, moshing and stage diving.

What’s the Sidechain Massacre Crew?
It’s our family. We’re a group of people (DJ’s, producers, video makers, graphics and sound designers) that, inspired by old school hiphop crews, cooperates, influences and pushes each other to grow up together.

What is with your fascination with wrestling masks?
We’ve always been obsessed by that inspiring world (of wrestling). In fact, we’re big fans of ‘Mistico’ and ‘Huracane Ramirez’, two of the greatest Luchadores ever, the former from currently and the latter from the past.

You guys look like Insane Clown Posse meets Bloody Beatroots, have you always had this look?
No! We started to wear masks since we had that ‘little deal’ with the law, but that’s another story.

Your sound is clubgore/punk house – not quite taken off here in Malaysia, so can you describe the sound to us?
It’s sort of a mutant handclap which evolves into a 1000 face slaps! What we mean is; Do you know the state of mind you have when you’re super relaxed in your teenage room, listening to Sonic Youth, and your mom comes in and screams something you can’t even understand with yelling and shouting? And you look at her, astonished, but with an idiot smile on. So, our music is exactly like that.

For us, it sounds like a mix of dubstep, hard electro and progressive house. Where do you get your inspiration from?
We have a background deeply linked with the past we’re made of; punk, hardcore, rap, indie, post-rock, funk, old school emo, glitch, lo-fi….. We learned to fly! And now we can stage dive!

You do sound a little like Skrillex and have remixed one of his tracks. Have you ever met him and do you count him as an inspiration?
Unfortunately we haven’t met him yet, but we hope it will happen soon! He’s our favourite producer and obviously a great inspiration.

What can we expect from the ‘Sangre’ EP?
Sweat, core, moves, blood, hype, teeth, fire, masks, gore, bass, soul. I gotta clash, I need some more, I wanna smash you on the floor. Oh and a video clip too.

Tell us the creative process behind this EP?
There will be a video that explains this concept better than our words could ever do. So stay tuned!

We like the way your sound is almost like the new direction for harder, faster paced dubstep, on top of a mix of different electronic genres. Do you agree with this?
Yeah, that’s a quite cool description of our present style, even if just talking about our background. This is only the tip of iceberg.

Do you thinks it’s an easier or harder way to DJ?
We frequently talk about this and we’re absolutely sure that’s one of the hardest genres to mix. It’s structure is not linear, much more similar to rock, with stop and go, rhythm variation, tricky melodies, completely different from ordinary club music.

Your Ramones remix ‘Blitzkrieg B(u)op’ is quite popular on YouTube. What do you think about making music that wasn’t made for clubs and remixing them to make it so?
This is the thing we love the most…we’re known as “The Bootleg Makers”! It’s our distinctive feature, especially because we want to share with the dancefloor the music we loved.

What are some gigs that you’ve played at and which ones were the best?
We’ve played a lot! Each show was amazing for different reasons, but one of the best gigs ever was the last 4th of February at Gian Bass (Tunnel, Milan), ’cause it brought us back to the old times, when we used to play with our Sidechain Massacre Bros. Unfortunately now, it’s getting harder and harder, ’cause each one of us always has gigs in different places at the same time.

What DJ equip do you use?
2 CDJs, mixer, laptop, a Korg Nano Kontrol, and a ‘Guitar Hero’ Guitar.

Do the two of of you do an equal amount of producing and DJing?
Oh yes, we’re ‘partners in crime’ both on stage and in real life. As it is between good lovers, everything is shared 50/50.

Do you split up your work?
If I cook, he washes the dishes.

Is your sound well received in Milan, where you’re from? Or do you feel other places are more receptive towards your style of music?
Milan is quite overcharged now, we think that the future is abroad. Malaysia for example!!

Will you ever come play in Malaysia?
We hope so! We can’t wait to smash you on the (dance) floor!!

For more Mexican fighting masks, and some amazingly hard music, head on over to www.myspace.com/pelussje and www.soundcloud.com/pelussje.