Why did you choose ‘This Is Your Night’ for your first major release of 2024?
It has always been a favourite of ours and is a classic 90s club anthem for a reason! It’s a dancefloor filler, has a strong hook and a great energy and vibe. We knew we could bring something special to it and are excited to introduce this song to a new generation of listeners.
What inspired you to give ‘This Is Your Night’ a modern spin?
We’d been listening to a lot of dance and electronic music from some of the bigger international artists and liked how these producers were taking a classic track and flipping it on its head with new melodies and arrangements to create something edgy and modern for today’s audience. With that in mind, we felt ‘This Is Your Night’ would be the perfect track for us to rework, as it lends itself to that big room vocal which we love, as well as inspiring some new melody lines and vocal parts.
When planning a re-do of a classic, how do you decide which song to tackle next? Can you walk us through the process of selecting a classic song and transforming it into something fresh for today’s audience?
From the outset, you need a clear direction of where you’d like to take the track. We personally also need some sort of connection to the song we have selected, whether it’s the melody or lyrics or both. The beauty of music is that a song can be reimagined in various styles and genres and this is the exciting part for us and where the magic happens – taking the original melody in new directions, playing with tempo, adding new harmonies and vocal arrangements etc to make it your own.
How did you approach putting your own spin on the vocals for ‘This Is Your Night’?
When we listened over and over to the track, we could easily hear little chants, new harmonies, ways of delivering the vocals that came naturally to us – that added a different flavour, or that suited the vibe of the musical direction our producer James Ash was starting to take. Often the vocals inspire music but the music also inspires the vocal direction and this was a work in progress along the way which was so fun!
What are some vocal techniques or styles you incorporated to make the song distinctly Slinkee Minx?
People who know our sound will often hear very uplifting, powerful vocals – extra lyrical parts, chants and hooks that aren’t always words but are notes held or sounds we create using the voice, adding a really subtle effect. It can be very understated sometimes or obvious depending on the track! From a production point of view, we also enjoyed incorporating the use of vocoders to give the song that modern vibe.
What’s the studio process like for Slinkee Minx? Can you give us a behind-the-scenes look at what happens during a recording session?
Ha, how long have you got? Studio sessions for us are so much fun and where we get to be the most creative. There’ll not only be writing, recording, sitting around playing with sounds, beats and musical parts, but there could be dance offs, a LOT of laughter, cups of tea, glasses of champagne, filming, photos and more laughter. We love the studio process more than life itself!
How long does it usually take to get the vocals just right for a song like ‘This Is Your Night’?
Sometimes vocals come together so easily – the tone and the pitch just lands perfectly – the delivery comes as it should to suit the vibe of the music. Other times, we can get stuck on how we deliver a line because we are perfectionists and we listen back and think it isn’t quite right. ‘This Is Your Night’ came together pretty quickly because it suited us so much – so probably only 4-6 hours all up!
Were there any particular challenges you faced while reworking this song, and how did you overcome them?
There are a lot of words in the song so it was finding the balance of ensuring we could get everything sitting nicely in harmony with the beat. It meant we decided to drop a few lyrics here and there that we felt didn’t need to be included in order to really hit the mark of this track!
Given your history of creating dance hits, do you have plans for any remixes of ‘This Is Your Night’?
We sure do! There is one coming out soon by the talented Australian production duo Double Dipped who have created an amazing club mix for us. There may be one or two more – we get asked a lot about mixes (people approach us to remix our tracks) so you’ll have to watch this space!
How was it collaborating with James Ash from Rogue Traders on this project? What did he bring to the table?
James is incredible – his attention to detail, to take on our feedback and direction, to be on top of current sound trends and what is happening globally, is honestly extraordinary. He is amazing and we are so lucky to work with this world-class music producer, songwriter and performer. We consider him one of our best colleagues and friends!
What do you hope new and longtime fans will take away from your rendition of ‘This Is Your Night’?
We hope it’s a song they’ll have on repeat – that makes them happy and connects, and that they cannot help but find themselves singing along to… an earworm, if you will. We loved creating this track and we hope you all love it too. Thank you to everyone who supports us!
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