Dazed on How 2manydjs made their mash-up masterpiece

In 2002, the New York Times reported on the rise of the ‘mash-up’, a track that takes the isolated vocal from one song and matches it with the instrumental of another. Today, you can type ‘mash-up’ followed by any two artist names into YouTube’s search bar and be met with all sorts of abominable creations: from off-beat and alarmingly out-of-tune blends, to functional-yet-artless mixes of two chart-topping hits. But 20 years ago, mash-ups were a genuine DIY phenomenon, put together by amateur enthusiasts with little respect for intellectual property laws or the wishes of the original artists, and shared over the growing world wide web. Mash-ups, or ‘bootlegs’ as they were sometimes called at the time, “may represent the first significant new musical genre to be lifted out of the underground, developed and then spread, mostly via the web,” the Times wrote.

As the landmark DJ mix compilation arrives on streaming platforms to mark its 20th anniversary, Dazed speaks to 2manydjs’ David and Stephen Dewaele, Erol Alkan, Peaches, and more.

Despite everything, the Dewaeles say they’re not prone to nostalgia, and are so busy with their current projects that they wouldn’t have even realised that the anniversary was approaching if their management hadn’t told them. “It’s not in our nature to look back,” says David. “There’s a lot of stuff we’ve done where to look back we’d say, ‘I’m not sure about that…’ But this record has had a unique and extraordinary length of shelf life. After a while, we looked at it like it wasn’t even us anymore. But looking at it now, this one is still cool. It’s still exciting.”

2manydjs celebrate 20 years of As Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt. 2 with Erol Alkan, Kittin, Mixhell, and Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul at London’s Brixton Academy on December 17, 2022

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