Oliver Portamento and Alex Powell have a passion for music pumping through their veins, from their roles as event organisers to their top level production and unforgettable DJ sets, these two fuse influences from Oldskool retro dance, Hip-Hop vocals and Rave with current genres like House, Electro and Dubstep and whatever else floats their boat. Add into that chopped vocals, colossal breakdowns and you have a true melting pot of anything that they know will lift the roof off!
Former Radio 1 host, Kissy Sell Out, has been a big supporter of The Squatter and other big names in the industry have not far behind in noticing these guys unique and outstanding talent. Tiesto snapped up their remix of “Kryder – K2” to release on his label “Musical Freedom”, they’ve had successful remix releases on Southern Fried, Dim Mak and Champion Records, support from Radio 1, Capital FM and Kiss FM along with a tally of supporters like Armand Van Helden, Judge Jules, Calvin Harris, Plump DJs, Laidback Luke, Kissy Sell Out, Doorly and Steve Aoki.
Their gig list fully cements them into the superstar status with a monthly residency at Judgement Sundays in Ibiza ticked off and Judgement in Mallorca to their names, appearances across the globe including events like The World DJ Festival in South Korea, Avalon in Hollywood, Taiwan, Switzerland, Poland, Sweden and not forgetting the home town crowds which have included supporting Fatboy Slim and Kissy Sell Out on tour, playing for Ministry of Sound in London and many other UK Festivals clubs, weekenders and warehouse parties.
The Squatters aren’t one to rest on their laurels either, having launched their label “What’s Your Status?” in 2012, which has already amassed a back catalogue of blinding tunes, they will continue to celebrate their success story which in 2013 will include a World Wide Tour ensuring no country is in the dark about The Squatters’ energy, talent, beats and kick ass production.
SUM: Hi guys, glad to have you here with us. Let’s begin with your age and where are you from?
Yo! Were both from the East Coast of England, a little town called Scarborough. I’m 26 & Oli is 32. The age gap seems to do something magical with our music tastes!
SUM: How is the support towards your music in your country, and how is the support from your country to Electro House in general?
We have had huge amounts of support in the UK. Especially from a few top names and now good pals such as Judge Jules, Kissy Sell Out, Utah Saints, Eats Everything, Doorly and more. Not to mention a great fan base of UK clubbers. Electro House has had a great following in general over the last few years in the UK but lately it has been split up people moving over to Dub Step, Drum & Bass & Deep House so the music scene over here is a little in Limbo at the moment.
SUM: “Squatter” by definition is a person who unlawfully occupies an uninhabited building or unused land. So, what’s the place you have occupied without permission? or why did you name yourselves “Squatters”? :)
Funnily enough I (Alex) Lived in york with a friend after his old house mate moved out. A few weeks in to this move the estate agents informed us they had no bond or signatures from either of us. So theoretically we were living as Squatters haha.
We got our name from DJing together before we actually got together as an act. People would book us for gigs and we would crash on peoples floors or afterparties just to get the gig. A few of our mates used to ask us. “Where are you squatting tonight?” or say “The Squatters are here tonight!” And it kinda just stuck with us.
SUM: How many hours a day do you see yourself doing your magic in your studio?
Ideally we would love to be in here every day, All day. But in-between the mixture of everything else we do with our lives we get about 3 days solid together to make Beats, Podcasts, And generally lots of noise!
SUM: When you play out, do you really mix live! or do you Steve Aoki it?
HOW DARE YOU!!… Of course we mix live. We never plan our sets we go in blind. Especially with the music scene in the UK being so mixed up and vague. But what ever we do or come up with it seems to work and the dance floor goes off like Stillton ;) Steve Aoki can keep his mix CD on, He gets paid enough to do it (Hint of Sarcasm there!).
SUM: If you had the opportunity to collaborate with one artist, who would it be and why?
There are so many people we would love to work with but thinking about this cleverly we would love to work with Nom De Strip or Chris Lake. They are both smashing it over in the states and we were pretty good pals with Nom (Chris) in the day when he was doing his Stupid Fresh alias. Great to see one of our pals doing so well!
SUM: What is coming next by The Squatters?
Theres a few tracks that we currently haven’t got any plans for yet and are currently getting them out to labels. Our latest release’s are Merkin & Rights which are both out now on our label “Whats Your Status?”
SUM: What are your favorite three tracks at the moment?
Again there are so many tracks out there but i STILL can’t get enough of (In no perticular order)
Axwell – Centre Of The Universe
Martin Garixx – Animals
TJR – Whats Up Suckas
SUM: How do you see Electro House evolving the coming 5 years?
It could go anywhere. It seems to be doing its round through the genres. This year it has moved from one extreme to the other. We saw the hard style stuff coming but it can be a bit too aggressive for a dance floor. Were all about keeping the party faces on rather than a ridged stomp fest. Hard style nights are for that!
SUM: What is your biggest passion apart from music, tell us a bit more about you as a person.
Well I’m actually a qualified Chef and i still love cooking now! Oli is a qualified hairdresser believe it or not. Its a bit ironic that he is bald too haha.
SUM:LOL! If you had a million dollars…..
I would go to the bank and get it changed to Pounds first so i would have about £600,000. Hmmmm first port of call would be to buy oil a decent toupee! Maybe some chinese food then sit in my pants looking at Studio gear and a new house!
SUM: Which cartoon did you like the most when you were kids and why?
I was a big fan of rock’s modern life and still love Spongebob Square Pants today! Im not too sure about Oli though. I Don’t think TV’s were invented when he was little. Old git!
SUM: Haha! Let’s be fair with Oliver, I’m sure this one was!
Marvel or DC Comics? We have already seen the Avengers in the big screen, Justice League is in the way, what are your speculations? who is gonna win the super-hero franchise?
Marvel every time for me! Iron man is the coolest mother fucker around. EVERYONE Would love to be Tony Stark! Except for drinking plant juice all the time. I guess that kinda sucks but who cares. He is Tony Stark the Badass!
SUM: If God (or an alien if you are atheists) you gave you one super power of your choice, what would each of you choose, and to what purpose would you use it?
I bet everyone says it but for me it would have to be Xray vision. Either that or the ability to just silence people! Oli would probably have some kind of power that would make everyone laugh when he tells a joke!
SUM: There are outgoing people, there are shy people, there are explosive and calm people, there are goofy and logical people. Personality wise, who is who between you two?
I’m pretty explosive as in I go nuts at parties and get carried away sometimes but I’m calm and switched on in the Studio. Oli’s better at talking to people and getting the work done. I have a memory like a Siv!
SUM: Do you have a girlfriend or spouse? Do you think it’s better to get married when you’re young or better to wait a while?
Yeah we are both spoken for (Sorry Ladies) no plans to get married on the cards yet though. Why attach a ball and chain to your ankles at a young age. Get out there, have fun and get your dreams underway before you screw em up! Its bad enough having Oli as my ball and chain! People do ask us all the time when they see us in the street solo, “Where is ya other half?” Meaning Oli or I!
SUM: What is the more risky and fun thing you have done in your life?
Well Oli is currently in Thailand back packing at the moment and he didn’t have a clue what was gonna hit him so I suppose that’s gonna be a bit risky for him! I lived with a friend in Faliraki for a summer with a pal to DJ out there years ago. The first thing I did was get a scooter and i nearly got hit by a double decker bus. Was still fun though! So i guess that was pretty mental.
SUM: Do you think morals are universal or relative to the beliefs, traditions, and practices of individuals or groups?
Where we are from… There is no Morals!
SUM: What’s something you wish everyone knew about each of you?
That we’re both really clever guys and not actually 2 idiots that make lots of horrible noise 99% of the time!
SUM: Thanks for the interview again, I’m sure Oli will get you back for the comical facts you exposed about him in this interview, good luck with that and keep on rockin’! Free Downloads here AND here. As always, click on the images to know more about The Squatters. See ya!
