MAX GRAEF & GLENN ASTRO

Max and Glenn are music lovers first and foremost – playing it, making it, digging for it, talking about it – music is their lifeblood. Less concerned with the world of online hype, you could describe their vibe as “old school”. Put them behind the turntables and they’ll smash out a proper 100% vinyl back-to-back set skipping between jazz, funk, hip-hop, soul and disco – the heart and the backbone of their sound – and have the whole room freaking out to Polish jazz-funk oddities. It’s this commitment to the art and culture of DJing that has earned them props from us and the dance scene. Lock them in the studio together and it’s the swing that grabs you when one of their productions stumbles and nearly trips out of the speakers. The duo revel in the exploration of the space in between beats, and the resulting loose-knit, roly-poly grooves that they coax from the MPC nestle comfortably amidst the deep-dug vinyl treasures that populate their DJ sets. Drawing comparisons with South London’s scruffy beat crew 22a and label/club night Rhythm Section – similarly close-knit collectives fostering voracious vinyl appetites and a healthy attitude to eclecticism, the Money $ex gang are in full flow with 12”s by IMYRMND, Hodini, Alex Seidel and the first full length (a fully live band project led by Max titled “Max Graef Band”) under their belts. Sonically and ideologically off to the left of the pristine, highly-polished dance music underground, Max and Glenn have built their reputation on short-run vinyl-only 12”s, real grass roots independent record store excitement/support, turning dancefloors on their head week in week out, and pure word of mouth. It has been solely about the music from the beginning and with The Yard Work Simulator the duo are set to spread their message even further.