This week i interviewed Ossian Moncreiffe from KING MINOS, a name that has been featured on the blog a few times with their tracks. KING MINOS will shortly be releasing their “Royal Family” EP on Eyes Of House records.
01. Hi KING MINOS! Would you mind introducing yourselves?
KING MINOS is Ossian Moncreiffe (19) and Eion Gibbs(18), we’re a pair of Scottish teenagers.
02. So how old is KING MINOS?
We started working together about half a year ago, Eion plays the saxophone and i play computer games so the whole thing came together pretty smoothly.
03. You’ve been rocking the Metalectro blog for a while now. Are you working on something and how is this going?
Glad to hear we have been rocking the blog. We have been in the studio working on our new EP, it’s kinda house but with a heavy edge and some dubstep inspiration.
04. You grabbed our attention with your “Weight Lifter” track. Was this the first Metalectro track you ever did? How did you come up with the idea?
“Weight Lifter” was a nightmare to make, we reworked the intro about 100 times and we’re still not happy with it, but we really like the drop, and that’s what the tune was all about. We came up with “Weight Lifter” when high on energy drinks, the main idea being that we were going to make a strong track to intro a set with.
05. What would you say is your biggest achievement/highlight so far?
Playing at Rockness or maybe the Pendulum remix.
06. What are your influences/music backgrounds? 
Eion sang in the school choir, until people realized where the noise was coming from. I don’t really have any band history, but i did learn the drums for a month. As for influences, we really have an electro background, the first dance band we really got into was Crystal Castles and then on to Justice and Boys Noize.
07. Have you ever played in a metal band?
Neither of us have played in a metal band cause we don’t suit the hair styles.
08. Do you prefer working only with computers/sequencers or do you get your hands dirty playing and recording instruments? Do you use samples and what’s your opinion on sampling and copyright?
We like unusual samples and we used to drop film sound-clips in our sets. I prefer the control of computers but for some sounds you really need to record and samplers can’t do everything. I like hearing sampling, we don’t really sample other people’s music but it’s cool when you hear someone use a sample cleverly, like Daft Punk using Barry Manilow’s “Who’s been sleeping in my bed” or Chiddy Bang using Mgmt’s “Kids.”
09. Do you use analogue equipment or do you prefer keeping everything in the box?
I like the box, because it’s safe and you always know how things will sound, however, you can get really nice and unexpected results through analogue gear, so i guess it’s really just a trade between precision and predictability.
10. So, what is music for you and what do you think about the way the music industry is changing? What do you think about popular/chart music?
Eion is a big fan of rock from the 60’s, so he’s pretty out of it. I like the way that mainstream has changed and music, like dubstep, has become popular. It bodes well for the stuff i produce. The music industry has changed drastically as a result of the internet. While it means that new bands get exposure that would not have been there before, there is no quality filter, so there is lots of rubbish floating around.
11. Are you signed with any record label? Any future plans? (live shows, release, remix etc)
We’re not signed to a label yet, just keeping our options open and trying to get the sound right before committing to a label. We don’t really get much of a chance to perform live because of other commitments but we will certainly be doing more shows later this year. We have one or two remix offers but we’re always looking for new track to put our spin on.
12. What are you listening to lately? Any tracks/artists you recommend?
Feed Me “Blood Red”, Digitalism “Magnets”, Hadouken “Mic Check”,
Flux Pavillion “Hold Me Close”, MSTRKRFT “Fist Of God”, Noisia “Stigma”
13. What is Arran Kraft and Sirian Bank?
Our side projects, both Eion and I make music independently of each other, and these are our aliases.
http://soundclou d.com/sirianbank
http://soundcloud.com/arran-kraft
14. What do you do when you are not working on music?
I’m studying at Exeter uni and Eion is still at school, so not very much really.
15. What do you think about the Metalectro blog and the music featured on it?
It’s a cool idea and we really like the blog because it stands out and does a good job of hunting down interesting music.
16. Anything else you’d like to mention and we forgot to ask?
Nahh, you covered all the bases.