admin(X & Ivy / Image Credit:Dusty Heger)
After years of honing their craft across three continents, X & Ivy are bursting onto the scene with their debut EP, What Is This Sound, out June 13 on the independent label Life and Death. This duo’s sound—a gritty fusion of early Chicago house, Detroit techno, and 90s UK rave, spiced with breakbeats, acid lines, and garage textures—delivers raw, groove-driven tracks like ‘Bust It’ and ‘What Is This Sound’, tailor-made for the dancefloor. Their journey has already notched up major wins, including a collaboration with Todd Edwards on ‘Keep Me’, which scored airtime on BBC Radio 1 and Capital Dance, while their tunes have lit up iconic spots like Miscellania via Jennifer Loveless and Let Them Eat Cake with Roza Terenzi—even earning a shoutout from DJ Tennis as an “instant sign.” With past releases on Nervous and Big Trouble showcasing their knack for blending classic club vibes with a modern twist, this EP cements their obsession with timeless dance music.
Below, X & Ivy unpack their creative process, influences, and what’s next in this exclusive chat.
Congratulations on the release of your debut EP What Is This Sound! Can you tell us a bit about the creative process behind it, and what were some of the challenges in creating it?
X: Thank you so much! For Track 1, ‘What Is This Sound’, we were inspired by a classic Peace Division tune and wanted to reimagine it in our own way. Ivy started the idea in late December and bounced it to me while I was back in Australia. From there, we kept adding layers and tweaking it and by about revision four, it felt ready to send out to our favorite DJs.’
‘Bust It’ was more of a straight-up dancefloor tool. That one came together fast when we were both back in LA in early January. Simple, fun, no overthinking.
Ivy: Creating this EP was honestly pretty seamless, and we surprisingly didn’t face any challenges whatsoever. We banged out both of these records in the same week, and every idea we had during the production process was working in our favor. It sounds so cliche to say, but this EP truly wrote itself.
You’ve mentioned that you try to stop working on a track “before the soul gets over-polished.” Can you talk more about that balance between rawness and refinement in your work?
X & Ivy: This is a hard one to answer, because the line between raw and refined is going to be different for every record. Sometimes a track needs to be a bit more technical on a production level, and sometimes a track needs to be kept raw and rough around the edges. Our sound is oriented around the “gritty/street feel” of the 90’s rave scene, so a lot of the soul within our tracks are going to be in the imperfections. There is always going to be something you could have changed or done “better” in a record, but knowing when to stop adding to the production is where the real line between raw and refined lives. I’m not sure if that makes any sense at all hahahaha.
The EP blends early Chicago house, Detroit techno, and 90s UK rave with acid and breakbeat textures. Was that fusion intentional from the start, or did it evolve organically during the production process?
X & Ivy: It came together pretty organically. We’ve always loved Chicago house, Detroit techno, and ’90s rave, but between 2016 and 2022, it didn’t feel like there was much of an audience for that sound (especially in the US at the time) so we stuck to more contemporary tech house and minimal. Once we gave ourselves permission to make what we actually love, those influences naturally came through.
How did the physical distance while producing influence the final sound of the record?
X & Ivy: We have this weird connection of always being on the same page, and that goes beyond our music production. If we send each other a project we’re working on it always develops in a way that makes us say, “yuuuuuup that’s exactly what I was thinking”. It doesn’t matter if one of us is on Earth and the other is on the Moon, we’re always going to have the same synergy as if we’re attached at the hip.
You met in California in 2016 – how has your collaboration evolved over the years, and what makes your creative partnership work?
X & Ivy: From the start of our journey our relationship has been seamless. As soon as we met, it felt like we had been brothers separated at birth. Even in the early days of our collaboration we knew that this was what we were going to do for the rest of our lives. We tell everyone this, but what makes our project so special is the fact that it is built on the foundation of our brotherly bond. We always have each other’s backs no matter what, and we are always willing to fully explore all the crazy manic ideas we have lol.
Before the EP’s official release, DJ’s like Jennifer Loveless and Roza Terenzi were playing tracks in their sets. How did it feel to see that kind of almost immediate support?
X & Ivy: It was the most heart warming feeling. We both have so much love and respect for Jennifer and Roza, and everything they have done for the scene, so for them to show the love that early was truly so special for us. As a little time went on, and we started to receive more and more support across all boundaries, that’s when we thought, wow we might actually have something pretty cool on our hands here.
You describe the EP as “made with the club in mind.” How do you envision it being received on the dancefloor, and how much do you think about the crowd when you’re producing?
X & Ivy: We try not to overthink how a track will be received, the goal is to make something we genuinely like. Whenever we’ve chased a specific reaction, it feels a bit forced. Ironically, the tunes we make just for ourselves often connect the most on the dancefloor. But honestly, you never really know until you play it out.
Is there a dream collaboration or label you’re hoping to work with next?
X & Ivy: We’ve been lucky to already work with some of our dream collaborators and have some exciting releases coming up, including Forever Days and Rhythm Section, plus a few we can’t announce just yet. So right now, we’re just feeling grateful and staying focused on the process.
You clearly have a deep love for digging and scene-hopping. What’s one moment from your travels or DJ sets that you think deeply shaped your sound?
X & Ivy: We’ve said it many times and we’ll say it again… Dekmantel. We heard so many different sounds out there being blended within sets, and it really made us take a step back and put that ethos into our production.
Where do you see the X & Ivy sound going next? Are there any genres or directions you’re eager to explore further?
X: We’ve never wanted to box ourselves into one sound. We pull a lot from “field research” – festivals, raves, digging for old records. Lately, we’ve been leaning deeper into ’90s-inspired rave, tracks that could’ve gone off at The Haçienda but still feel fresh and current.
Ivy: The one direction we have for the project’s sound is “let’s make whatever the hell we want, when we want” hahahaha. Like X said, everything will have the 90’s-inspired foundation living within it, but y’all are gonna have to wait and see what we got in the works. We have a ton of sweet stuff at the moment, and we are beyond excited to share it with you all 😉
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