Crystal Fighters, from East London, are one of the many acts playing at Stealth on the Nottingham leg of the Mixmag Tour. They blend Basque folk music with modern ideas in the form of heavy dance rhythms and synthesisers, and have released on chic labels like Kitsune. Read about what makes them special, then grab yourself a free track...

Where do you get your name?

Our name is a translation of the title of the opera our singer Laure's grandad wrote in the Basque Country, which is also the book that inspired us to start making the music that we make. Lately people have been calling us FIGHTERS, which you can do as well if the Crystal thing doesn't interest you.

How did you all meet?

Gilbert and Basti have known each other since before they can remember. Gilbert met Graham in 2007 during a time of great celebration and great change, and introduced him to Basti. We started making all sorts of stuff together, then Laure showed us the opera and we started making music as Crystal Fighters.

Which track changed your life?

This may be self-indulgent, but our song I Love London probably changed our life the most in that it was the song that started getting us gigs round the UK before we had an album or a full live show or anything. It was one of the first songs we wrote and one that put us on the path to what we are doing now.

As a real live act, what do you make of laptop DJs who bill themselves as live?

For us the lines are so blurry as to what is perceived as live and we've certainly seen some dubious examples of 'live music' on our travels, but it's all good with us as long as the music that's coming out of the speakers is good and the show is in some way fun to watch. In terms of our band, we are striving for an onstage energy that is rarely done in dance music. Watch out for us next year because the show is going to be like nothing before.

As you’re playing a few, how will you tailor your sets to each date you play?

We are finishing off our album at the moment and we try to incorporate new songs into the set as soon as they are finished. As far as the Mixmag tour goes, we are really excited to be playing on such fresh and forward-thinking bills with some of our favourite DJs and producers, and so naturally we raise our game for every date on the tour so we can show the people we're up there with the club dudes in terms of smashing up the dance!

Your music is a strange mix of sounds... what influences you?

Our overriding influence is Basque music, instrumentation and mythology, and we incorporate these elements into all our music. We try to invite the listener (or the raver) into this unfamiliar world and for them to be completely lost in the rapture of it, and we use all the dance music tricks we have learnt over the years to make this happen.

What do you aim to achieve with your music? What are your values?

In terms of our values, we have developed a huge amount as people since we all started living together and making music together, and the revelations we have made about the world and in ourselves will be revealed in full on the modern opera that will be our first album. So buy it and find out!

How would you describe one of your sets for someone who hasn’t heard?

We would describe our set as a journey of sound and light that is halfway between the best punk show you never went to and that elusive first-time euphoria you knew you would find again.

Here's an exclusive remix for you to download:

Crystal Fighters "I Love London" (Chambouche Remix)

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Chambouche is a new producer from Nottingham with many skills in the nu-disco / Kompakt regions of electronica. Enjoy!