With tracks reaching over 12 million combined plays on Spotify and certified gold in Denmark such as “Trouble” and “Too Young to Die”, duo TooManyLeftHands or TMLH, made up of Anders K and Martin Nick, have taken the European market by storm with their start on the party filled island of Ibiza. While their start began there they quickly rose to perform in venues and clubs all over the world including Summerburst, Ministry of Sound, T4keover, and Ibiza’s famous Club Mambo alongside names such as Avicci and David Guetta.
Today this duo brings us a brand new track “Can’t Get To You” featuring vocalist Layth from Nordic label Disco:wax. Premiering on This Song Is Sick’s Soundcloud and MrRevillz Youtube Channel, this indie fused and melodic track begins right away with Layth’s smooth sultry vocals and soon picks up tempo into what could end up being another perfect festival anthem. Though the track is filled with heavy emotion the overall vibe manages to stay light and perky. Martin and Anders interest in deep house and techno sounds surfaces a bit through out the track while still keeping a club vibe.
We had the pleasure of speaking with TMLH as they gave us insight on why they chose their name and what it was like working with Layth.
TooManyLeftHands is a unique name, what’s the meaning behind it?
In Danish there is a saying, about having only left hands, it’s a lot like the english “all thumbs” and all thumbs, pretty much describes our first experience DJ-ing together. Everybody has their own moves and routines in a DJ booth, especially Anders who has played for 16 years, so playing together the first time, was a fun (but not so successful) experience; since then, we have played more than 400 gigs, and now know exactly what the other one is doing.
How did you two meet?
Martin: Anders was working as a DJ at my club, where we met, and the idea about doing a music project together came along.
Anders: I was resident DJ at a Club in Copenhagen about 10 years ago, a job that I got from a DJ friend, and there was always this young guy (who turned out to me Martin) coming up to me and interfering with the choice of music and the lights. I knew that he was working at the club, but didn’t know his position. In the beginning it was quite annoying, but after some gigs there I realized that he certainly knew what he was talking about because what he did always had a positive impact on the party. I later found out that he was my boss and the owner of the club that I just hadn’t met at that time.
Can you give a bit of insight on your creative process when working on new tracks?
Martin: It’s very different from track to track, sometimes we start with a great vocal, if we are doing collaboration, but most often we just start new tracks without any idea of where we are going. We have a ton of very different, but unfinished tracks sitting around.
Anders: As Martin says it is very different from time to time. But we always sit down and talk about what direction we want the specific track to go, if we want the track to be a catchy track that would do great on the radio, or if we feel like doing a track for the club. Sometimes we have a demo vocal that we build a track around, and other times we make an instrumental that’s ready for a topline and hand it out to some of the amazing songwriters we work with.
What are some of the challenges you face when working together? And what’s the best part about being a duo?
Martin: There are pros and cons about working together. We are very different in the way we work, and in the way we approach a task. Sometimes that can be a bit frustrating but it’s also a very big plus, in that we have different approaches and different ideas.
The best part about being a duo is that we both have very different skills and ideas; we have different tastes, and different ways to work. It’s also a big relief when touring, you know not being by yourself.
We used to do everything together, but now that it has gotten busier, we have divided a lot of work between us.
Anders: There are definitely some challenges about being a duo, especially when we have both worked alone before. But there is no doubt that it is more fun touring as a duo – we can also get more work done, which is great. As Martin says, sometimes we divide the tasks up between us so we can be more efficient.
You’re very popular in Europe, how do you feel about breaking into the US market?
Martin: For some, the market in the US is the goal, but we have always looked a bit more towards Ibiza, UK etc., the market in the US is very interesting, but also very new.
Anders: We love Europe, and we love the house scene here, but personally I would love to go on a US and South American tour some day!
Layth was an excellent choice for vocals, how did that come about?
Martin: Yes, we worked with Layth on our single Trouble, and we had him with us touring all last summer. He has an amazing voice, and we had so much fun, so it was a no brainer to do another track with him.
Anders: Yeah, Layth has an amazing voice and is an amazing artist live. We’ve been talking about doing another collaboration for quite some time and a few months after we ended the summer tour, he came to us with this song he had written and we loved it right away! We took his demo vocal to the studio and started making the track that ended up being “Can’t Get To You.”
Producing new music definitely takes a lot of work, but what’s the most fun aspect of it?
Martin: The creative process is one thing, I prefer the first part of creating a track, all the mixing and mastering is the less fun part. But also the whole part of releasing it, and seeing how the track evolves is a lot of fun, and exiting every time.
Anders: Actually it’s the opposite for me. I love whole process of producing a track, but the most fun part for me is when you know that you’ve found the right melody, the right groove and you start the mix process and make all the parts sound nice together and go down to those little details that makes the difference in the end.
If you were to produce something under a completely different sub genre of electronic music which one would you choose?
Martin: Balearic house, tech house and techno. – We already do that, just in another alias.
Anders: We definitely both have a love for tech and deep house, so that’s an easy one.
What can we look forward to from you guys after this release?
“We have a lot of new music ready; we are just waiting to get it out! Hopefully before the summer ends! Actually we are thinking about doing an EP the next time, so we can get some more tracks out.”
All streaming and for purchase links can be found here
Connect with TooManyLeftHands:
https://www.facebook.com/toomanylefthands
https://twitter.com/TooManyLeftHand
https://soundcloud.com/toomanylefthands
Connect with Disco:wax:
https://www.facebook.com/discowax
https://twitter.com/discowax
https://soundcloud.com/discowax
Share On
