You know, there aren't too many dance records that really catch my attention these days, but "Why Don't You" by Serbian DJs Gramophonedzie has to be one of the most original and enjoyable dance songs I've heard in a long time. With a throwback to old school 1930's swing and an incredible music video, I couldn't quite ignore this track. DJ Adamix has been playing it out at EQ Live nights and throughout the London club scene – adding to the frenzy which has made it a major dancefloor hit across Europe.
I recently met Marko from Gramophonedzie for a brief chat about the song and video as I was dying to get some commentary around this crazy dance song…
EQ: I really love your new video – it's really cool. What was it like to film that.
Marko: To be honest, I wasn't present at the filming. I was involved in the whole procedure and the concept of it of making and storyboarding it. The guys who made it really made a point for me to have input. What I really didn't want to do is make another dance video with girls in bikinis. That's been done too many times if you ask me in the last few years. I wanted something original.
Was it an actual live girl in the video or old footage like it looks like? I couldn't quite tell…
It was a living girl! The main point about the video was to make the new and old styles blend together. She is supposed to look old in the video!
I think it worked! How did you come up with the idea of using that old style 1930's Charelston sound in the song.
I was really always into jazz, swing and Benny Goodman music – Nat King Cole y'know. Swing music was the dance music of the 1930's. When you put the arrangement of a 1930's swing song in your sequencer, you'll find that it's the same arrangement as some of the current dance records. My girlfriend is really the one to blame for this track because she is really a fan of Peggy Lee who sings the vocal on this one. The track was made in 1931 and it was originally called "With Smokers Dream". My girlfriend was really into this song and begged me to make a club track out of this song. It was a challenge - I was trying hard to make a groove out of it and it took a good two weeks. Then one day I sat down and did the breaks and it just happened. I really wanted to keep the original track too so that it would be playable in clubs. I didn't quite anticipate it would be this popular or get this big.
It definitely gets a reaction – we've spinned it at our EQ Live nights…
It's very catchy. The people at the Detroit Music Conference really liked it because of the vocal that says "give me some money" which is fitting with the current economic crisis – [laughs]. It's the right words for the right time.
What sort of music are you working on now.
Disco stuff – not lame disco, but funky disco from the 1970s and some Latin tracks – all generally house music but I'm trying to do more old jazz and swings tracks. There are a lot of nice songs from that period that a lot of people never heard of. People are re-discovering old music again in modern times. I don't want to be cheesy and do the same stuff over again.
Let's watch the video again shall we…
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