Dirty Sole is a dynamic indie electronic group formed in 2001. Hailing from the musical epicenter of Chicago, the duo has been heavily influenced by the underground house movement that was born in the Windy City. Since their inception, the duo has seen multiple chart placements alongside Basement Jazz & Roni Size, in addition to leveraging their forward-thinking sound with major commercial brands like Toyota & Nike.
Dirty Sole’s most recent ten-track album, “Future Looks Good,” is the definition of a sonic excursion. In an escalating transition that sets unforgettable tendencies, you swiftly find yourself slipping into an embrace of charismatic tenors. The fluent buoyancy that is transmitted has you vividly floating through the echoes of talent in an animated manner. Even when Dirty Sole reduces the tempo to get more intimate vibrations with their audience, “Future Looks Good,” hones in on various themes that portray the dynamic duo's sound, and a variety of emotions.
Commencing the album with an energetic barricade, “Feelin’ This,” dips into the charming buoyancy of the euphonious vocals conjured up. As they set the pace with sparkling imaginings in an Electro Pop quintessence, Dirty Sole knows that this is the lively appeal sitting promptly in the ears of their audience. Urging you to get up and dance to the soundwaves transmitted, “Feelin This,” takes you under a spell and spits you back into the world of the nostalgic and vibrant atmospheric realm crafted in, “Future Looks Good.”
We get to feel this intoxicating buoyancy spring back into the speakers numerous times throughout the album. “All Night Alright,” “Can We Go,” “Lift Me Up,” and “Let It Ride,” are prime examples of the musical contrast lighting up a room with powerful instrumentations setting the fortified tone.
The vocal ranges that are produced by Dirty Sole emit a smooth and buttery luxury as you take in each note hit. You’re eased into a path of musical anticipation in the kingdom of melodic dynamism. We’re more than fond of the female vocals introduced on, “Animal Instinct (Gotta Be),” “Elevated,” and the harmonic accompaniment in ”Your Imagination.” Formatting a musical development that sits in an era of nostalgia and modern wave Electronic components, the Pop influence weighs heavily as they sprinkle their own unique flavor on each song while maintaining a united front that is dedicated to their unique sound.
Flexing their ability to switch a mood in the blink of an eye, Dirty Sole takes you into the hollows of smooth ballads, “Breathless,” has you emotionally gripping the realism of Dirty Sole in place. Tapping you into a sedated state of profound realization, the effects released sweep you into a fragile ether lingering on your consciousness long after the song has ended.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Dirty Sole album without their final and title track, “Future Looks Good.” Bringing it home with the bubbly and rhythmic timbres to finalize this journey in a fashion that pays homage to the manner in which it commenced with, “Feelin’ This.” As we approach a depiction of vivid imagery that flutters upon their artistic journey thus far, you can’t help but feel overcome with a solidified spirit in the victorious sounds heard.
The consistency of this project has us raving over the methods that Dirty Sole uses in order to connect with their fan base. They know themselves as individuals and artists as much as they know who they are creating music for. In a world that rotates around Dirty Sole, they set a triumphantly exhilarating soundscape that meticulously trickles into the speakers. The portrayal of the vocals has a confident swagger that is timed in a fluently transmittable sound. With a variety of tracks ranging from slow-paced to up-beat, Dirty Sole knows what they want and where they’re going. Let us tell you, the “Future Looks Good.”
Congratulations on the release of your album, “Future Looks Good.” What was your main inspiration behind the collection of songs placed on the tracklist?
Thank you! Great to visit with you again. “Future Looks Good” is our third studio album, and it came about much like the other two; we reached a new high in our creativity, production skill, and songwriting ability. It’s hard to pinpoint an exact inspiration, but it would be dishonest not to credit Daft Punk as a role model, haha. Not to say we’re trying to sound like those guys, even if we tried, let's face it, nobody sounds like those guys. I’d say it’s more about the evolution and maturity in our style. Things like incorporating a bunch of live instruments, working with amazing songwriters/vocalists, and not settling for anything less than perfection in the mixing and mastering phase.
Being the dynamic duo that you are, how did this project known as Dirty Sole come to life?
Dirty Sole came together over 20 years ago during the underground dance music explosion of the 1990s. Back in those days, we both spent most of our time DJing and promoting clubs and raves, both domestically and internationally. We were inspired by the golden age of Chicago House Music, listening to WBMX, B96, and the HotMix 5 on the radio, and wearing out every mixtape and piece of vinyl we could get our hands-on. We quickly bonded over a similar interest in music and complimentary production styles. Also, the thoroughly debauched lifestyle of that era, haha, but that’s another conversation;) When we started, we really enjoyed making fun track house records for some of the cult-classic house music labels, such as Classic Music and Robsoul Recordings. Over time, we continued to mature as artists and enjoyed exploring a more expansive vision for dance music, yet always remaining true to our roots. Today, we continue our focus by using those roots within a fresh new production landscape to deliver a fun (but mature) “Future Disco” sound, that blends with pop, dance, hip hop, and the retro French Touché vibe that we love.
Is there a specific song on the album that you resonate with more than the others? If so, what’s your reasoning?
We are definitely partial toward the title track, “Future Looks Good”. Given the challenging environment we all live in today, we think that the song has a pure feel-good vibe that delivers the "Future Disco” sound while highlighting our foundational aesthetic. It also falls right into the niche of a “dirty, yet soulful (or clean)” approach, which has always been a trademark of the Dirty Sole sound.
How do you feel that “Future Looks Good,” holds up to previous bodies of work that you have released?
The Future Looks Good LP is by far our best work to date. Even though music/art is always subjective, we think that each song has been crafted with much higher quality and integrity than anything we have written before. Additionally, as technology continues to evolve, we’ve also been fortunate to continue expanding our arsenal of equipment and collaborative resources. On this album, we collaborated with two extremely talented singers/songwriters, Denny White and Kristal “Tytewriter” Oliver. There’s no hiding the fact that it takes an army to move a mountain, and we truly owe our collaborative partners, in addition, to mix engineer (Jeff Ryon @ Studio City) and mastering engineer (Damian @ Connected) an equal amount of credit! We couldn’t be more proud of the teamwork and final product :)
Since starting your journey, how have you found yourself growing as an individual and as a duo?
Yea, I think we kind of touched on this a bit and feel that we’re always trying to be better while growing musically, collaboratively, and individually. We pride ourselves on being close friends before musical counterparts, so we’re thankful for that hope that it comes out in our music.
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