Walker & Royce

Sam Walker & Gavin Royce have truly hit the ground running. In just under two years the duo, known familiarly as Walker & Royce, have released tracks on a slue of labels including Crosstown Rebels, OFF Recordings, Glasgow Underground and Nervous/Nurvous Records. Most recently, the pair have released their stellar Drive EP, adding Resonance Records to their already lengthy release catalog. Acts like Treasure Fingers, Sasha, and Solumun have leant their support, the pair are touring internationally and have impressive collaborations in the works; yet Walker & Royce manage to accept all of this impromptu success with grace and modesty.  Their attitude is a refreshing rarity that demonstrates a true passion for their craft. Perhaps most intriguing, though, are the two’s back-stories, with both Walker and Royce having deep-seated associations with music in two very different ways.

Royce, who grew up in Vienna, VA, had always had a passion for music and spent his earlier years going to raves and hitting up classic spots like Lemur Lounge, Club Red and Buzz.  He even became involved in promotions, helping to throw parties and working for labels. In actuality, though, he always wanted to be up in the booth.  It wasn’t until he began producing with Walker that his dream became a tangible reality.  In an interview with Pulse Radio, Royce reminisced on the moment: “I was finally creating the music that had been in my head for years.”

Walker, who once worked for Ableton and is a formally trained trombone player, dreamed of becoming a member of an orchestra in his earlier life. While away at music school, Walker found a way to combine both his passion for gaming and for music by swapping out the music and sound effects on games he played.  He explains, “When games started using audio straight from CDs, I could just put in a different CD of whatever I wanted and played along to that. My favorite by far was playing Quake to Bartok “Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celeste” and “Concerto for Orchestra”. It just fit so well. And then later it was Quake II, but this time the classical vibe didn’t work, so instead Prodigy “Fat Of The Land” was more appropriate.”

It was actually this quirky way of making gaming more interesting that led Walker to discover electronic music.  He explains, “After that, I got into The Chemical Brothers and then there was a Sasha remix on a Chemical Brothers CD…and then Sasha was playing in New York City right around when I had a falling out with my main trombone teacher…and the rest is history.”

Walker and Royce’s friendship traces back over the course of a decade, but it wasn’t until late 2011 that the pair decided to try and produce some tracks together.  Their individual inspirations culminated in a terrific pairing. Though they once regarded their differing musical tastes as something of a clash, this difference inevitably allowed them to create a signature sound, combining traces of both House and Disco.

With such a quick rise to popularity, they’ve both been mindful of maintaining their momentum.  Walker explains, “Staying inspired is probably the toughest thing to do; it definitely comes in waves.”  However, the good thing about those “waves” is the diversity they bring.  With each new inspiration and each new project, Walker & Royce never recycle any ideas from before. Royce elaborates, “Part of what makes it hard – at least for us – is that every time we complete a project, that particular sound has now been done; we’re not going to write another record like it and I think it’s obvious from the diversity in our projects that that’s our attitude. So when we do the next track, we start over with a new vision. But the flipside of that is that we’re never bored of our sounds; they’re always new.”

As Walker & Royce describe their creative process, they seem to be particularly keen on diversity as definitive of their sound, even to the point of embracing mistakes.  “We’re okay with a certain amount of failure; this allows us to experiment and keep things fresh.. Some of our biggest successes are things we thought were strange at first, and vice-versa with tracks that wind up missing the mark.”

Being based in New York City gives Walker & Royce much more to work with in terms of being exposed to new sounds and new sources of inspiration, though at first, the duo admits, it was a bit of a challenge.  For some time, the electronic music scene in New York felt a bit deflated, but in the last few years and with the opening of new venues along the Williamsburg waterfront, the city is “becoming one of the best club cities in the world again and doing [so] at a rapid pace,” according to the two’s experiences.

When it comes to playing to the varying crowds one finds in NYC, the duo says they try to just stay focused on the music and what they love.  “I’m sure we could analyze the crowds in a very specific way for hours but at the end of the day that would be besides the point.  The crowds are opening up to a more eclectic sound and that’s creating a really cool vibe. We do what we do and have fun with it and I think in turn the crowd enjoys themselves too, no matter what. To us that’s sort of the idea; we want people to lose themselves.”

As for how the scene in the District compares to that of NYC, Royce has only good things to say.  As someone who can compare the scene that exists in D.C. now to what thrived back in the day, Royce claims that “It seems to be back in full force in D.C., especially with a ton of talented DJs and producers living in the area.” When asked how it feels to play a hometown show at U Street Music Hall, Royce adds that “With U Hall, it’s like all of those elements are wrapped up into one amazing club, it supports the locals and brings amazing forward thinking talent as well.  It’s amazing to come back and experience that as well as be able to play, always an honor.”

Check out Walker & Royce’s latest mix for Thump, the new electronic music and culture channel from VICE.

You can also catch Walker & Royce this Saturday at U Street Music Hall for the Blisspop Summer Extravaganza.  All proceeds go to the U Street Music Foundation so grab your tickets here!