Since forming in 2012, Leftwing : Kody (AKA Jon and Chris)have made it look so easy. Boasting props Radio 1 DJs as well as some of the biggest names in tech-house, the duo have maintained a foothold in the underground with their production and crossing of genres.With the most pivotal track of their career, I Feel It racking up over 10 million streams as well as Paul Woolford and Boston Bun remixes, 2019 welcomed a signing from Columbia Records. Leftwing : Kody’s latest track Missing is out now!
Where does the name Leftwing : Kody come from?
Kody is a combination of our surnames and Leftwing was something that Jon liked the sound of. The name looks great on a flyer but does get some strange looks when checking in to hotels ?
You’ve had a really exciting year with the release of I Feel It! Tell me how life has changed since you got signed to Columbia Records?
This year certainly has been exciting! Since signing to Columbia it has opened up a lot of doors with regards to working with established song writers and singers and it’s been a great experience so far
Did you think you’d become this successful when you first started?
I don’t think we ever thought it would get this far when we started the project. It’s strange how things work out we certainly didnt have any idea we would be signed to a major label 10 years after we wrote our first track together
You guys must have a great relationship as artists. Can you tell me a bit more about your relationship and who looks after what side of the duo?
We do have a great relationship in business but also on a personal level too. We’re more like brothers now and we are weirdly in sync when it comes to the music side of things. For the last 2 years the dynamic changed a little between us as Jon decided to take a step back from the touring side of things but it’s meant that we can get twice the work done with me being out in the road and Jon back home in the studio smashing out the bangers. It’s really working well as I have brand new tracks to test all the time.
For those who haven’t heard music from you both, how would you describe it?
Energetic bass laden fun
You’ve been touring for the past couple of months. Where has been your favourite city to perform?
There’s been so many on this tour. Warehouse Project was amazing as always the new venue is unbelievable. Made a debut at Motion in Bristol which was a lot of fun and abroad shows at Analog in New York and Exchange in LA have been next level
Is there anywhere you’d love to perform but haven’t yet?
Bali sounds and looks like it could be fun!
Have you got any DJs you look up to?
Too many to mention them all but I’d have to give a special shout out to Mark Knight we have been fans of his for years and to be working so closely with him now really means a lot
Chris, do you have a go-to DJ outfit?
I’m a creature of habit so it will always be a New Era SnapBack on my head a wasted heros or a record label t shirt g star jeans and air max 90’s
Who is the most famous person to DM you?
Camelphat & Craig David
Best DJ you’ve worked with?
Haha no favorites here they are all special in their own way
Favourite film?
Chris Drive / Jon The Shawshank Redemption
Favourite TV series?
Chris The sopranos / Jon The Office
What your best moment of the year so far?
This year has been a game changer there have been so many amazing moments and a lot of them come from releasing I Feel It we will be forever grateful to everyone involved in releasing this record all the huge support we have received from the dj’s and promoters and the love we get back from the fans from this record will be hard to beat
What has been your career highlight so far?
Singing to a major record label is such a huge achievement for us and not something we ever intended to do so we are so lucky and grateful to be given the opportunity to work with Columbia
Can you tell us about your upcoming single?
Yes it’s called Missing (Should’ve Known It) it was written at the beginning of this year with Lewis from Just Kidding and the vocalist is the very talented Harlee and it is out now!
Who is your inspiration when it comes to making music?
We have so many people we look up to from Portishead to Grant Nelson to Dr Dre to Pharrell hopefully we’ll get to work with some of them in the future
2019 has been a crazy year for you. What’s next for Leftwing : Kody in 2020?
We have so many amazing things lined up for next year the bookings are coming in fast and will see us playing at a lot of festivals. We have another release lined up with Toolroom early 2020 plus our 2nd Columbia single. And a couple of big radio bucket list moments that we can’t really say much about at the moment as it’s top secret but keep your ears out for more info
