Medicine 8- Derrick May's Long Lost Brothers-

London brothers Luke and Liam not only share Derrick May's surname but have also announced their arrival on the scene with one monster track (Capital Rocka being every bit as anthemic as Derrick's original masterpiece Strings Of Life). Though there the similarity ends and the three Mays have never actually met.

"I saw him on a TV programme, a history of acid house programme and he seemed like a pissed off bloke," Luke told Skrufff's Jonty Adderley this week. "I love his music though, both of us do."

Luke was chatting as he prepared for the release of his and his brother's debut album Iron Styling, released under the band name Medicine 8. Coming out on EMI's most credible sublabel Regal, the pair's brand of funky, filthy house has already found support from the likes of Darren Emerson and X Press 2 and sees them tipped as a major new act of 2002.


Skrufff (Jonty Adderley): Your website mentions you like old rockers such as The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix, do you see Medicine 8 as a proper band-

Medicine 8: "Yeah, definitely, we consider Medicine 8 to be about making music first and DJing second; we also make all kinds of music that's not just meant for the dance floor. Though one of the things we like about dance music is its club side, and we prefer going out to clubs more than gigs. I'm not interested in the whole rock superstar side of things either, I like rock music but not the stuff that comes with it."

Skrufff: Some of the tracks on the album have been around for a while, how long has the record been ready to go-

Medicine 8: "We finished it once, a while ago, then because there was a mix-up over who it was going to be released with, it took a little longer than we'd originally hoped. Half of it is old and half new music, the oldest track being Capital Rocka which is two years old. But we recorded that on its own which later prompted somebody to say 'Why don't you write an album-'"

Skrufff: Is it true your brother is techno-phobic (frightened of machines)-

Medicine 8: "Not really, but it confuses him. He just can't get his head around electronic equipment, he can't set the video to record a TV programme, for example. I usually end up dealing with that side."

Skrufff: The best-known brother duo in music right now is the Gallagher brothers from Oasis, are you two similarly competitive-

Medicine 8: "We've got such set areas that we're good at, that there's no competition between us; I do my thing, he does his and it works really well. We have the odd argument in the studio but it's forgotten in minutes. I look after the computers and samplers and Liam does the mix down."

Skrufff: When did Medicine 8 get going-

Medicine 8: "Liam went up to college in the early 90s and started making music when he left, then I joined in when I finished school. We started our own label in 1996 putting out twelve inches which was when everything really started, though that wasn't as Medicine. It just so happened that one of the 12"s people picked up on was Capital Rocka, for which we had just happened to use the name Medicine, so we stuck with it. We weren't really a band as such before that."

Skrufff: Was Capital Rocka a track that you created quickly or painstakingly-

Medicine 8: "It was very quick, we did it with a gay called Daniel Peppe, who played the bass on it and we knocked it out. It's never actually been released yet."

Skrufff: You're nowadays signed to Regal, EMI's alternative dance sublabel, do you see yourselves as part of the EMI family now-

Medicine 8: "Yeah, it's great, we can't believe our luck that we're working with such people. They seem incredibly open minded and prepared to leave us to get on with what we do."

Skrufff: I understand your first studio had a terrible fire some years ago how serious was it-

Medicine 8: "It could have been a lot worse. Basically, I emptied an ashtray into a bag before I left and a lit cigarette sat in the bag smouldering, getting hotter Tags

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