We went backstage at the Deaf Institute in Manchester to interview Robby & Freddy, aka Louis The Child to chat about new music, touring, fashion and much more.
How did you guys meet?
Robby: We found each other through the internet making electronic music and we also went to the same high school so we had a lot of mutual friends so we knew each other a little bit, but also Facebook so we found each other online I guess.
When did you realise you could make a career in music?
Robby: It was kind of like gradual build from then to now. It was very much something we wanted to do for fun and something that we really enjoyed doing, we kept doing it and kept doing it and kept trying to push our music and slowly turned into a career. We feel like we definitely always wanted it to be a career but we never went out and thought we wanted to be these massive people. We were just really into our music and loved putting out there for people to hear.
Who came up with the name Louis the Child and why that name?
Freddy: Me and my buddy Will, we took me out on a ski trip and urm while we were out there, he fell of the ski lift, he didn’t fall from like too high up but there wasn’t a lot of snow and he landed and I was still up there like fuck what do I do so when I got to the top I had to go down and look for him and I heard this voice in the distance going “Louis the child” and I was like hmm what the fuck was that, so then I finally found Will, he was ok, and he asked if I heard some guy shouting “Louis the child” and I was like yeah what was that… It would be a really cool band name. So when it finally came to making a name I just remembered that from skiing.
Three artists you had on your playlist when you were younger?
Freddy: Kanye, Modest Mouth & more Kanye
Robby: Jimi Hendrix, Kanye & Fish
Where and when was your first live set?
We played the basement of like a local community house and played to probably about 10 people. We put the show on ourselves thinking the room was going to be packed out, you know we sold to the show to the community house saying it was going to be full and you might need to make more space and pretty much like nobody showed haha. A lot of our first shows were kinda like that but you need to have those moments of playing to almost nobody to really appreciate playing to huge crowds.
What’s the best part of being duo DJs?
Freddy: Having your best friend up there doing it with you and everywhere we go pretty much.
Why not ride solo?
Robby: We’ve been doing this together from the start and it works so why change it. We like it this way, it’s fun to share and have this experience with someone else.
Describe your sound?
Freddy: Synthy hip-hop.
Robby: The best music in the world
You’ve finished the US leg of your tour and you have the UK, Amsterdam and Spain left. What’s the best part about being on tour?
Robby: Interacting with fans and feeling different levels of energy at each show. It’s a totally different thing every night, venue, sound, emotions and it’s cool to experience.
The worst part?
Freddy: Being away from the studio and sleep deprivation.
You recently released Right To It with ASHE, how did the collaboration happen?
Robby: We were up in Malibu for about a week just writing stuff up there and ASHE came in for a couple of days to write with us. We love her voice, energy and her as a person. We were writing another song and all of a sudden we were trying to come up with a line for a second and then Freddy sort of came out with this little “boom boom boom, boom boom boom” and we looked around and was like wait that sounds cool, let’s put whatever we are doing now on hold and start doing something with that because it sounds cool!
Freddy: We’ve also put out Diddy Bop with Jacob Banks & Last to Leave with Caroline Ailin.
Can you describe the tracks?
Islandy, funky, poppy, indie delicious, groovy, vibbey tracks.
You’ve released a mix-tape Honey with Whethan, how did that start?
Robby: We’ve been working with him for a while now. You know, we’ve made a lot of music together and we’re really good friends with him. He lives like 5 minutes away from us in LA so we are always hanging out and making music. SO we were like why not put out some stuff together, we are going on tour together so it would be fun to release some tracks we can play live.
How happy are you with the mixtape?
Freddy: Yeah we totally love it and we’re more excited about our new music but we love the mixtape.
Favourite song to play live from the mixtape?
Robby: Happy birthday
Freddy: Me too, happy birthday.
How do you get pumped up before a show?
Freddy: I take a nap.
Robby: I punch Freddy in the balls… To wake him up from the nap haha.
What song have you got on repeat at the moment?
Freddy: Hottie by Brockhamptoon.
Robby: I like the Tyler the Creator Album. I didn’t listen to it properly when it came out but I gave it a full listen front to back the other day and it’s fucking awesome.
If you could collaborate with one other artists who would it be?
Both: Kanye.
How do you spend your down time?
Both: We’re constantly making music. We don’t have any down time.
If you weren’t a DJ, what would you be?
Freddy: I’d always be making music, there’s no plan B.
Robby: Completely agree.
Favourite film or TV series?
Freddy: Game of thrones
Robby: I’m a big I Carly fan, season 2 is my favourite. That’s going on the interview, I don’t give a shit haha.
Describe your style/fashion?
Freddy: We both like colours a lot, it’s mostly like street wear, kind of hard to describe past street wear. I like high tops and like super simple shoes with bright colours. You know, I like a good red shoe or yellow shoe.
Robby: I’d say kind of like baggy things, retro looks, cool colours and patches. You know like colour block and tie dye with interesting colours.
What are you both looking forward to this year?
Robby: You know, we’re excited to play Coachella, we’re also doing two weekends at electric forest which is probably our favourite festival in the world. We’ve got a bunch of new music that we’re dying to get out soon.
Words of wisdom for those wanting to make a career as a DJ?
Freddy: I’d say for production I’d say keep experimenting and trying to emulate things you enjoy. Just work at getting better every single day because you love doing it. Do it for fun and for no other reason than to be inspired.
Robby: I agree, just do it for fun and just work work work work. Work fucking hard, that’s been our moto since day… probably three.
Thanks for chatting to us guys. You put on one hell of a show! Make sure you check these guys out if they are playing any festivals you’re heading to this year.
Check out some of their music below:
