Introducing: Chaos in the CBD & their FABRICLIVE x Lean Left Mix

Hailing from New Zealand, Chaos in the CBD (aka brothers Ben and Louis Helliker-Hales) will be performing in the Lean Left hosted Room Three takeover on Friday 20th September. Appearing alongside Drums of Death, Mia Dora (Live) and the Lean Left residents, Tayo and Ben Martin, they'll be bringing their distinctly influenced melange of club music that draws from classic house music, R&B and pop. Ahead of their set we caught up with the duo who've released on labels like Clekclekboom and Needwant to learn a little bit about their history; as brothers, musicians and DJs. They also helped introduce the way they play with a 40 minute mix that features tracks from Floorplan, Clouds, Roman Flügel and more... Download: Chaos in the CBD & their FABRICLIVE x Lean Left Mix Hi guys. What you doing? Trying to make the most of this amazing weather while it's still around. Other than that, I've just started a new position at a primary school in South East London, working with children with autism. Ben has been putting in the hours working on music. First thing I thought; how does the production partnership work? You two are brothers so I'm guessing you work quite instinctually together but when it comes down to it, who does what? I suppose it's still a misconception that we actually both produce music. Ben is the one that produces the music, and it has always been that way. I'm always around to keep tabs on his progress and I weigh in heavily on creative direction and such. I'm Ben's biggest fan, and also his biggest critic. If I don't like something, I'll let it be known. This has obviously led to many squabbles in the past, but I think we have a great synergistic relationship. We're brothers and best friends so we've always been able to stay on the same page. What was it that made you want to devote hours of computer time to producing? How did you get hooked in the first place? We were in a band together in high school. Both Ben and I had started showing a keen interest in electronic music and wanted to try and incorporate that in our music. We started bringing his desktop computer to band practice but it never really worked out. Around the same time Ben was spending a lot of time experimenting with Fruity Loops and other production software. He went on to further his skills and completed his diploma in Audio Engineering. It was then that we started taking things a lot more seriously, releasing music, and playing out around Auckland. Do you think coming from New Zealand gives you a different angle to other DJs and or producers you've met? Do you feel like you come from a different background at all? Personally I don't believe being from New Zealand has had a big impact on our sound or our DJ sets. We have always looked elsewhere for inspiration, whether it be Paris, London, Detroit, and as a result we decided to relocate to London late last year. I like to think that our laid back approach to music - and life in general - is a result of where we grew up though. What were the sorts of things you grew up listening to? We owe a lot of our musical taste to our parents. They introduced us to aIot of stuff when we were younger, which I still cherish today. Stuff ranging from The Cure to St. Germain to The Smashing Pumpkins. Mum and dad were always cool with whatever we listened to and have always been very supportive of our music endeavours. I still remember the day my dad brought me home Eminem's Marshall Mathers LP when I was 12 and I would take it to school with me so all my friends could listen to it on these shitty little speakers. I'm sure their parents wouldn't have been too keen on the idea... What's the story behind your name, Chaos in the CBD? What does it all mean? It stands for 'Chaos In The Central Business District' and it's just a little joke really. We're from a pretty quiet peninsula in Auckland and when we would go to town in the weekends we would cause chaos... basic teenage delinquent stuff really. You've had releases on a bunch of labels already but what else is coming up for you this year? We have a 12" coming out on Urulu's Amadeus imprint in October and have also been putting the finishing touches on a couple other EPs. We've also just finished two new remixes. Please tell us about the mix you've made? The mix is basically a reflection of what we've been feeling lately. There are a couple new ones in there from us and also tracks from Innershades, Aethority, Robert Hood, Psyk and more. Chaos in the CBD - FABRICLIVE x Lean Left Mix Tracklist: Chaos In The CBD - 816 to Nunhead Roman Flügel - Even More Adesse - Untitled Love Steven Tang - Heat Burst Innershades - Nina At The Boiler Room Clouds - Modular Scarf Floorplan - Let's Ride Chaos In The CBD - Sole Flug - 1k (Truncate Ghetto Jack Remix) Psyk - Somewhere The Oliverwho Factory - Mind Free Vedomir - Dreams (Marcel Dettmann Remix) Aethority - Niceness