Phra & Bot are two of the hottest bookings in house music right now. Over the past 18 months they've shot into the forefront of record boxes the world over, seducing clubbers with their untameable Hip-Hop infused fidget beats. If you want serious music that requires deep concentration and copious amounts of drugs before it makes sense, then you've come to the wrong place. However, if you want unpretentious club music that will make you smile, dance, bounce and generally act very silly (which lets face it, is the reason we go clubbing!), then these are the boys for you!
Moda caught up with Bot from the Crookers to find out just what fuels these turbo-charged Italian party starters!

For those who don't know the Crookers story, how did you and Phra become the Crookers?

"We met in a record shop, in the "alternative corner". Phra was one of the few people who bought that stuff!! We were both producing and we had almost the same tastes...so we got working together"

Your sound is pretty distinctive- how would you describe it to someone who'd never heard it?

"When we try to explain it, no one ever understands what the f**k we're talking about... So we just say take a listen and you'll get a better idea!"

There's a clear Hip Hop and Baile Funk influence in your music- who/what inspired that?

"Hip Hop is were both of us come from, me as a writer and Phra as an MC, while Baile Funk is a relative recent discover that blew us away! Big-ups to Daniel Haaksman who is doing a great work to promote Baile in Europe with Man Recordings,"

Your upcoming gig at Moda in Lincoln is only your fifth ever UK date- how have you found UK clubs so far?

"The cool thing we noticed is that the people come to hear you and not just to have a night at the club-they know your stuff and that's the reason that brought them there,"

For those who haven't seen you DJ before, what can they expect?

"FIRE!!"

Many DJ's are playing off laptops these days- is this a route you've considered?

"We tried Ableton Live but we felt kind of stupid, the tempo is matched automatically and seemed a bit fake to us. The only person we heard doing exciting stuff with that is Spiller! We use Serato when we travel, you don't have to carry all your vinyl's but have the same feeling of it!

You've ‘Crooked' some pretty big names over the previous months- who else is on your hit list?

"We're currently working for a remix of Manu Chao's "Politik Kills" and some Kitsunè artists...other new remixes are also going to be released very soon!"

If you could choose any artist in the world to collaborate with- who would it be?

"Timbaland!"

Talking of which, you and the Bloody Beetroots recently turned out some killer Timberland cut-ups as a cheeky little white label, entitled Crook 001- is there more to follow?

"Doing edits and bootlegs is something we do for fun and our sets, though we'd definitely like to release some more like that in the future,"

What upcoming projects should we be keeping an eye out for?

"We're doing some stuff for Diplo's Mad Decent and a brand new Crookers E.P. is coming out on Southern Fried soon!"

If you're not in the studio or DJ-ing- what are you doing?

"I take my bike out and Phra goes to the lake near his home,"

What's been your highlights for 2007 and what are you looking forward to in 2008?

"The Armand Van Helden and Chemical Brothers remixes are something we're very proud of. And for 2008 we'll finally finish our album, which won't be strictly for the dancefloor"

Crooking marvelous- tell us more!

"We don't have an exact plan of how it will be, we have already done some tracks and collabs and will just keep on going until we have enough material to feel the album is ready,"

What's the best and worst thing about being Crookers?

"The best thing is that our work is doing music... and that's also the reason why we can't complain much about the bad things!"

It's gonna be a long day in the studio- what 3 things can't you be without?

"When we're home almost every day is a long studio day, we don't need much during the work but after we've finished we need more than 3 'things'!!!"

Thanks guys- see you at Moda on November 16th!