Kassian on their Faux Poly return, the evolution of their sound, and the club energy driving their new EP | Faux Poly Interviews

Three years since their last appearance on Faux Poly, Joe & Warren return to their label with a renewed focus on hardware, simplicity, and the dancefloor. Their new EP marks a homecoming – a stripped-back, club-ready statement that channels everything they’ve learned from their recent album work and touring.

Born from live jams and late-night sessions at their studio 38East, the EP captures the physicality and tension that define their sound. We spoke with them about the spark behind Faux Poly, how their process has evolved, the role of hardware in shaping their music, and how their time touring across India reignited their connection to the immediacy of club energy.

Hi Joe & Warren, to start off - can you take us back to when you set up Faux Poly? What was the initial spark behind creating the label, and what did you want it to stand for?

For us, the idea behind launching Faux Poly in early 2022 was really about creating a home for the kind of hardware-driven, club-first music we’ve been exploring. The label concept was born naturally from our desire to explore more bass led music with techno-oriented arrangements and a broader sonic palette, giving ourselves greater creative freedom than in our earlier releases. Once we started building our tracks from freely experimenting with hardware there was no turning back. The label is named after one of our first records, Faux Polynesia, and represents the natural evolution of our sound and vision.

This is your first release on Faux Poly in three years - how does it feel to return with this EP?

It’s pretty crazy that this is the label’s 20th release, it feels great to see all the artists we’ve signed flourishing and developing its identity. Returning to the label after three years is like returning home with new tools, new insights, and a renewed energy. Now that we’ve wrapped up our album with !K7 Records we’re ready to get back to club focussed music, and we’ve learned a lot as producers in the process. We’re approaching club production with a renewed sense of simplicity now; our album was heavily textured and detailed and we’re ready to try something more stripped back.

Both Ghost Dub and Locked were born from hardware. Can you walk us through the machines or processes that shaped these tracks?

We’ll often start with a kick loop, a break, or rough beat on a drum-machine to start a sketch and use a mix of hardware and new soft synths we have found since the last EP that balance the more rowdy hardware sounds. Historically we’ve referenced gear like the Roland System 1 as we know it the best and so it features pretty heavily in quite a lot of our music but for this EP we married that with a fresh new palette of audio effects available in Ableton 12.

Has your approach to using hardware changed since your last release on Faux Poly three years ago?

The approach has evolved, though the core principle remains the same (hardware + process + discovery). We’ve tightened our process chains and workflows. What used to be “let’s experiment” has become more refined: we know which gear inspires us, which routings unlock a mood, so we’re more efficient.

After our tour of Australia and New Zealand we found a second wind of creating sketches that leaned towards really tight breaks and simple bass or melodies. Often it’s about playing the machines live, capturing improvisation, then editing later. The recent Ableton stock update opened new options in shaping and designing the sounds aligned more to tracks we were actually DJing. We’re really pushing towards paying homage to the 2011 era of forward thinking UK dance music that we’re both inspired by.

When a track idea clicks on hardware, how do you know it’s one to finish, rather than just a jam?

For us, there are a few indicators that tell us when it's worth finishing. Usually it's just a feeling when we’re jamming in our studio 38East. If one of us stops and says “that’s it” – that’s a strong sign, that might be a groove, a bassline, a filter sweep or even a small adjustment to the melody – something that makes the tension drop and a feeling emerges. Tension plays a big part in our music so when that release feels right we usually know how to finish it and build the track around those moments.

If you were to play these tracks as part of a hardware live set, what kind of space do you think they’d work best in?

Since the tracks were created with the club in mind, the ideal setting is one where you can really feel the low end – where the room moves with the groove and the crowd is tuned in to the energy. For this EP, we envisioned them in spaces like warehouses or underground clubs with strong sound systems and deep bass response. During our recent tour of India, we instinctively closed our set with Ghost Dub in a festival warehouse which sounded incredible. Earlier in the tour we played Locked at a small club called Juna; a low-lit venue in Goa that reminded us of Corsica Studios, the crowd was right up close to the booth creating a really intimate dancefloor. Ideally both tracks should feel at home in either as we actively tried to smooth them out as much as possible so that the breaks weren't too harsh or fatiguing on a big system.

After putting out an album that leaned more towards home listening, what pulled you back into making raw, club-focused tracks with this EP?

Our last major project ‘Channels’ for !K7 was more about home listening – so more introspective, using field recordings, sample-based textures, live instrumentation and tons of complex automation and delicate movements. With the album taking the best part of a year to finish we spent a lot of time revisiting old projects and our older processes, so by the time the album came out we really missed that visceral element of club music. The immediacy, the physical vibration, the crowd reaction to a big drop or moment. The label and our DJ lives remind us of that and we wanted to return to it in a new way.

You’ve recently returned from your India tour. How was the experience, and were there any highlights that really stood out?

Touring India was an amazing experience for us. It brought a number of musical, cultural and career affirming moments. The audiences were really receptive and friendly. Hearing how local clubbers respond to very UK sounding sets in a different context was super inspiring. We had lots of time between shows also to connect with local artists, promoters and use studios, and shout to OX7GEN who we worked with who opened our minds to some incredible native percussive instruments.