After 10 years of DJing experience, childhood friends, Karina and Denise, or Anek became the first female duo to be welcomed onto the exclusive VIVa MUSiC roster.

Their first release on the celebrated label came as part of VIVa MUSiC's 100th EP and featured their stanout track, "Girltalk". Since then Anek have been holding a residency at the VIVa Warriors parties at Sankeys Ibiza since 2013 and are due to support house legend David Morales at Ministry Of Sound on 27th December, so we got them in for an hour long exclusive, Spotlight mix.

 

 

First of all thanks for doing an exclusive mix for us, what did you go for in the mix? Is this a representation of what you play out now or more what you listen to at home?

You're welcome, it was our pleasure! This is definitely more a representation of what we would play out at the moment.

 

For those who may be new to your music, how would you describe your sound?

When people ask us what style of music we play or produce, we always say “house music”. Our sound always have roots in house, but there are so many sub genres in house music today, so it can be difficult to explain, as different sub genres have different meanings to different people. In our minds our sound is probably best described as tech house & deep house. We are always fans of nice groovy bass lines.

 

How did you first get into music, when did you know you wanted to be a DJ?

We are childhood friends and kind of discovered house music together when we were teenagers. On a trip to Ibiza in 2001 we bought our first couple of vinyls and when we came back home we borrowed some turntables to listen to them and ended up playing around with them and started to learn how to mix. We had some friends in the music scene in Copenhagen and because we had these hot records straight from Ibiza we got asked to play them in a bar. Everything quickly evolved, we got asked to play several places and then we began buying more records and practising mixing. We never really wanted to be DJs, it just came completely like a natural development from a love of music!

 

What have you got coming up on the horizon?

We have some new releases coming out at the beginning of the year, both originals and remixes. We have been very busy in the studio this winter. We are looking forward to all the VIVa Warriors shows that are coming up in 2015, not least a new VIVa Warriors season in Ibiza next summer.

 

What can the Ministry of Sound crowd expect from your set on Saturday 27th December?

Saturday the 27th December we will start the evening off playing at a VIVa Warriors party in Birmingham, then we will come straight to London and close the party at Ministry Of Sound, so you can expect us to be warmed up and ready to play! We are always excited to play and of course we're looking forward to this one.

 

You’re supporting legendary DJ David Morales, who is your ultimate House hero?

Yes and we can’t wait! We have had the honour to be on same lineup as David Morales before. He is such a nice guy, and its an honour to play with someone who has been such a big part of house music history. Our house hero might be a bit different than what you would expect. When we got into house music in Copenhagen back in the late 90’s, the French DJ’s & producers had a big influence on the nightlife in Copenhagen. We fell in love with house music when we bought our first house compilation called Super Discount by Etienne De Crecy. Its from 1996, but still an album worth listening to.

 

Where did the name Anek come from?

Anek doesn’t actually mean anything, but its a word made up by letters from both our names.

 

What do you think of the state of dance music at the minute?

We think its really good. People seem to have a big interest in electronic music at the moment. Especially in the UK where we experience some of the best crowds in the world right now. Maybe we particularly like the scene right now because it seems to us that house music has definitely not disappeared but is only getting stronger and stronger, and evolving constantly, which is exciting.

 

Who are the most exciting underground artists that our readers might not have heard of but who you think will be big names to come?

Maybe it seems obvious but we really would like to mention some of our fellow VIVa artists, as we honestly think that there are some very talented ones. Maybe you already know them, but we love Detlef, Denney, System2 and Zohki & Roozlee. Steve Lawler has a great eye/ear for discovering talents, so keep a look out for them!

 

Who are your biggest influences?

It can be difficult to say. We get inspired and influenced every single day. But its worth mentioned Steve Lawler as he has kind of been our mentor the last few years.

 

What do you like to do on your day off, what’s a typical Sunday like for you?

Well, normally we are travelling back home Sundays, so Monday is our Sunday. We try to recover from the weekend, probably by sleeping a little bit later, but theres always loads to do in the beginning of the week. A “real” day off is usually spend with friends and family.

 

How do you prepare for a gig?

We prepare our music during the week and listen to lots of new tracks and demos. We will also find out our set time in that particular club so we can play accordingly, and maybe find tracks we think would suit. Maybe find those few gems that will really make the crowd wild. We always play one record each, and we don't plan our sets beforehand. We think its more fun like this and always makes our sets different to each night

 

Who are your dream collaborators, past or present?

Uh we never know what to answer on this one haha There are too many great producers to mention!

 

Tell us something nobody knows about each other?

We cant tell something nobody knows about us, as that's our secrets!