Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2010

Photo courtesy of Third Culture

What’s right and wrong with clubbing today? “Wow, that’s like a question you might hear us talk about in 40 years,” write James Rial and Richard Burkinshaw from Leeds. “The Nursing Home for Retired Ravers: old people sitting around discussing how ‘clubbing was better in my day.’ In our experience, the things that feel right are usually a bit wrong, and vice-versa. That’s part of the fun of it, isn’t it?!?”

Since winning a “Best British Single of 2006” nomination for their first production, “Robot,” Audiojack haven’t had the time to consider the pluses and minuses of the club scene. Japan, among the many other countries that the busy duo has visited, has welcomed them with open arms.

“We fell in love with Japan the first time we came here in 2007 to play the Fuji Rock Festival,” the pair continues. “We loved how fashionable Japanese people were, yet so polite and friendly. Since then, every time we’ve come to play, we’ve had amazing experiences, like touring with Tadanobu Asano, who we later collaborated with. The crowds are always really good fun to play for: some people at our last gig in Tokyo were wearing Audiojack masks with our faces on!”

Signed to Ralph Lawson’s influential 2020 Vision imprint, Audiojack create warm, accessible dance tracks that look to the great US and UK house and techno traditions. “The name Audiojack is meant to reflect the music we make,” they say, “with a firm focus on bass and groove, always made with the dancefloor in mind.”

It’s hands-in-the-air music rendered not stridently, but with a sense of humor and intelligence. In Tokyo, there will be plenty of chance to assess the duo’s sound, as they’ll be trying out their new live set of all-original tracks. “We’ll be using laptops and controllers to perform a showcase of all of our best music from the past few years,” they say. “There will be new edits, with tracks being layered over the top of each other and lots of crazy effects to wind up the crowd. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

With the wind at their backs and gigs scheduled in the next month from Japan to Romania, Audiojack are loving every minute. “We just appreciate the great opportunities that come our way and try not to dwell on anything that might be getting us down. To steal a quote from one of our favorite movies, Blow: ‘Sometimes you’re flush and sometimes you’re bust, and when you’re up, it’s never as good as it seems, and when you’re down, you never think you’ll be up again. But life goes on.’”

Warehouse702 Audiojack Japan Tour. Tech house, techno: DJs Audiojack, Lexy, etc. From 10pm, ¥3,500. Azabu-Juban. Tel: 03-6230-0343. www.warehouse702.com