“Good music is its own genre. It doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that.” So
says Dejko, one half of Slovenian live-electronic outfit Blubird. Hailing from a part of the world perhaps best known for language barriers and border disputes, Blubird’s ethos is as unifying as possible: they’re looking to blur the final gaps between DJ set and live act.
It’s a format that appears to be working. The likes of Klingande and Bakermat rate their tunes, as, it seems, does YouTube. The duo’s debut Emotions track featuring a live Sax earned over 100,000 plays in a couple of weeks, whilst their follow up track Love Back received just shy of 10,000 plays in under 12 hours. and went on to net 70,000 plays within a month.
“We’re the kind of guys that’ll be playing tech house at a house party somewhere at Slovenia, then suddenly from the kitchen one of our dudes walks in with a trumpet and just starts going for it” explains other half of the pair Damjan.
The pair’s live sets in Slovenia, Croatia and Barcelona have already won them a cult following, all based on this unstructured, is-it-a-band, are-they-DJs approach which fluctuates between DJ set, live instruments, MCs, laid back tropical house or injections of tech house. ‘It’s not about being in a superclub, it’s about being at the best house party you’ve been at in your life..’
It’s not just about the music, either. Blubird have the next best thing to a dedicated film
studio making all their own music videos, featuring retro clips of road trips to Morocco, battered cars and grainy footage of days at the beach. Half of all the music they produce is released for free via their Social media. “I guess we’re trying to create a movement. Or, you know. Improve people’s playlists, anyway.” Their latest track sees the duo head down a stripped back retrospective house route with the instrument-heavy, shiny workout that is "Wake Up".
