There is something to be said for knowing when to switch it up. For , the London-based duo of Joe and Warren, that instinct has become an important part of their creative identity. Having spent much of their recent output exploring the darker, more heads-down corners of electronic music, their latest EP, ‘Gradients’, sees the pair reaching for something considerably brighter. Released through !K7 Records, it’s a record that feels less concerned with the darker recesses of the club and more interested in the possibilities of collective euphoria.
The title itself offers a useful starting point. Suggesting a gradual movement between different states, ‘Gradients’ captures a duo seemingly comfortable with the idea that their sound needn’t remain fixed. Following their debut album on !K7, alongside a series of more stripped-back releases for , the EP represents something of a return to the dancefloor.
“We wanted it to invoke more colour and brightness,” they explain. “There’s a lot of quite dark bass music in the world, and we just wanted to push back against that a little bit and make something lighter, with more joy in it. A bit more euphoric. We still have the basslines and all the sounds that we like, but it’s a nod to that, just a bit less heads-down and more lifting up.”
It’s a subtle distinction, but one that speaks to a wider shift in their approach. Rather than abandoning the textural foundations that have informed their productions, Kassian are interested in finding new ways to arrange those familiar ingredients. Where their previous album deliberately explored darker territory, ‘Gradients’ offers a more immediate relationship with the dancefloor. It’s a reminder that club music doesn’t necessarily need to be relentlessly intense to be effective.
Much of that looseness can be attributed to the way the pair approach the studio. Their productions have increasingly revolved around hardware, with ‘Gradients’ emerging from a series of collaborative sessions that prioritised experimentation over meticulous programming. It’s a process that seems particularly suited to a duo who have spent years developing an almost instinctive understanding of one another.
“We’re not purists about it. We still use stuff in Ableton, stock plugins and samples, but the hardware was just more fun,” they explain. “When there’s two of you, sharing a mouse and a keyboard isn’t super inspiring. A lot of the hardware gets us through that.”
The appeal is as much about interaction as it is about equipment. With both producers able to manipulate different elements simultaneously, the studio becomes a space for spontaneous exchanges rather than a process of taking turns. Sounds emerge unexpectedly, ideas develop in directions neither had anticipated, and the occasional happy accident becomes an essential part of the finished record.
They point towards the lead pad on one of the EP’s tracks as an example of this approach, describing how an unexpected contribution helped loosen the arrangement and ultimately informed the direction of the music. It’s a way of working that actively resists the increasingly familiar laptop-centric production process, where ideas can become overworked through endless refinement.
For Kassian, the attraction lies in keeping things moving. “Sometimes we don’t know what each person is doing. We’re both doing stuff at the same time, and then you experience much more happy accidents that way.”
That philosophy is now beginning to extend beyond the studio. The duo are currently developing a live show built around a fairly straightforward principle: no laptops on stage. Instead, they want an entirely hardware-based setup that allows them to reshape their productions in real time, responding to the energy and demands of whichever room they’re playing.
It’s not quite an improvised performance, nor is it an attempt to recreate their records note for note. Rather, they’re building a flexible framework through which existing material can take on different forms. An earlier set might lean towards something lighter and more spacious, while a later performance could become considerably heavier or faster.
“We want the ability to tailor it into the room, based on what’s happening, without having to do a load of pre-planning,” they explain. “It’ll be versions of our tracks, but they’ll probably take a different shape. They’re not going to sound exactly as they are.”
There’s an interesting longer-term ambition behind the project, too. With another album planned for !K7, the pair see the development of their live show as something that will eventually feed directly into their studio practice. Rather than treating touring and recording as separate disciplines, they want the hardware setup to become a shared creative environment, allowing new music to emerge organically from their performances. In many ways, they’re approaching the project more like a band than a conventional electronic production duo.
It’s an idea that makes sense when considering how Kassian first came together. Their partnership dates back to around 2015, when both were orbiting a particularly fertile period of underground dance music. Joe was involved with the broken-beat collective Co-Op, alongside releases for What Not, while Warren was exploring a slower, more soul-influenced strain of dance music. Despite their different starting points, there was a shared appreciation for texture, swing and a certain willingness to take risks with sound design.
London provided the meeting point. Through nights at , radio connections and a network of producers working across the city’s underground, their respective musical worlds began to overlap.
“It was a really specific era of music that we met around,” they recall. “There was that golden era of UK underground stuff, but then also this Berlin underground sound, with people like Frits Wentink and the Wolf Music sound. We were approaching music quite similarly, aesthetically. The spaces and the risks that we would take.”
For Joe, becoming involved with Co-Op was particularly formative. Arriving in London without a full appreciation of the collective’s history, he found himself immersed in a scene that was opening up new possibilities for how dance music could sound and function. Warren, meanwhile, was already becoming acquainted with the city’s musical community through his work with Gilles Peterson at Worldwide FM. Their eventual collaboration felt like a natural meeting of two parallel worlds.
That sense of community remains central to their work today, particularly through their own label, Faux Poly. Now approaching its fifth birthday, the imprint provides another avenue for the pair to explore the sounds and producers that continue to excite them. With a distinctly London sensibility running through its output, the label draws on elements of UK garage, UK funky, dub and techno, while offering a platform for artists operating within the city’s constantly shifting musical landscape.
Their experience in radio has undoubtedly played a role in maintaining that curiosity. Between Rinse FM, Balamii, Worldwide FM and Radar, both have spent considerable time broadcasting the music that informs their productions. At one point, Kassian were hosting a weekly Friday show on Rinse for an entire year, following several years of broadcasting on Balamii.
They’ve recently taken their first proper break from radio, but the influence remains considerable. When asked how much of the music they play finds its way into their productions, the answer is immediate: “Probably 90% of it.”
It’s perhaps unsurprising, then, that their creative relationship has remained so fluid. Working together for the best part of a decade, the pair have developed an understanding that requires surprisingly little explanation. They’ve established what they describe as an unspoken framework for Kassian, allowing each to introduce different influences without losing sight of the project’s identity.
More importantly, they’ve learned when to leave their egos at the door. If one of them doesn’t like an idea, there’s little point trying to convince the other otherwise. The music has to satisfy both of them.
“Someone might view what we do as more difficult, because there’s two of us. How do you please two people instead of just one? But actually, producing on your own creates fear sometimes, and your ego is on the line a little bit. Whereas when there’s two of you, it’s like a safety net. I only really care what he thinks.”
It’s a relationship that has developed well beyond the confines of the studio, too. When asked how their friendship has changed over the years, their response is characteristically understated: “Our girlfriends say that we’re married. We’ve shared so many hotel rooms together. They’re the mistresses on the side.”
There’s a certain comfort in that familiarity, but also an obvious creative advantage. After years of working together, Kassian have reached a point where the process itself has become as important as the music they’re making. Their next chapter will likely be shaped by the live setup they’re currently developing, with another EP on !K7 already planned for early next year, continuing their exploration of UK garage, breakbeat and electro influences.
They’re also preparing their first label stage takeover at Wales’ , coinciding with the imprint’s fifth birthday. It’s another indication of how the project has expanded beyond two producers making records together, becoming something more connected to the wider community that first brought them together.
For now, though, ‘Gradients’ feels like a useful snapshot of where Kassian find themselves. Not quite a departure from their established sound, but a willingness to loosen its boundaries and embrace a little more colour along the way. In an electronic music landscape that can sometimes feel overly concerned with defining its own parameters, there’s something refreshing about a duo more interested in seeing where the equipment, the room and their shared instincts might take them next.
‘Gradients’ is out now.