Caturday with Blue Hawaii
October 23, 2019
Culture & Music
Words:
India Hendrikse
India Hendrikse
Ask for Blue Hawaii at any bad club and you’ll be presented with a fluorescent aqua cocktail, inspired by the 1961 Elvis Presley musical of the same name. But ask at any good club, and the DJ should immediately know you’re not asking for the sickly Curaçao and tinned pineapple concoction, but rather, the electronic pop bangers of Raphaelle “Ra” Standell-Preston and Alex “Agor” Kerby. The duo’s musical collab began back in 2010 with an EP, and has since burgeoned into three studio albums, the latest of which was released this month. Open Reduction Internal Fixation is an epitaph of the turbulent experiences both musicians have recently had. But there’s nothing melancholy about its sound – Ra and Agor love a boogie, and the music is a reflection of the high frequency cities they both reside in. Ra in Montreal, and Agor in Berlin. Here, the duo reflect on the remedial creation of a club-ready album on the back of life hurdles – Agor with surgery and Ra with a heart-wrenching breakup.

IH: You both live in different cities. Agor, what would you get up to on a typical Saturday in Berlin? And Ra, what would a Saturday in Montreal entail?
AK: A typical Saturday might not be so different that any other day of the week – one of the reasons doing this job keeps things interesting! Will probably be some combination of coffee, mixing music, gym, eating food, playing with synths, sometimes hitting the club. Though I guess here that might be more of a Sunday endeavour!
RA: I walk down the street to the corner to Café Olimpico or Social. I order a coffee and croissant. I run into friends and I pet the dogs but I always put out my hand and ask for permission in a gentle way – both to friends and dogs. I will often head into my studio for an extra day, especially if Agor is in town and we are banging out some hot new tracks.
IH: You share a lot of personal experiences in your music. Can you share those recent heartaches and trials with us?
RS: Gone through too many breakups and by the sounds of it i’m not the only one experiencing the trials and tribulations of love in 2019. I’m talking about Tinder and other dating apps at the moment. Having a sea of photos and options to choose from on your phone is just a strange thing, if you decide to occasionally dive into that bizarre side of the internet.
IH: And how do you balance being cathartic with maintaining a club banger, upbeat vibe?
RS: You get really sad then make sure you can keep moving to the sad, and then the song and rhythm kind of picks you up a bit. The thing that I love about dance music and incorporating more heartfelt lyrics to it is that instantly the lyrics are given a different lens form which the listener can look through; it ends up allowing those lyrics to take on a sassier, confidant and more playful personality.


