SWITZERLAND – You never know when lightning is going to
strike.
For Kevin Christen and Benno Leuenberger, it struck at the
end of a two-day intensive DJ workshop at the Ministry of Sound Academy in
2013. The two musicians had enjoyed years of success working in the genre of
House music throughout Europe as Precious Kay and Sin Gin Smythe, respectively,
but something unexpected happened while they were at the DJ workshop. Two weeks
later the duo began work on the project now known as “Double Impact.” Two
singles from the album – “Looking for a Kiss” and “Elevate Me” – were released
earlier this year and both reached No. 1 in the U.S. House charts. They’re
hoping that their next single release, “Voodoo Girl,” will have similar
success.
“At night during one of the nights at the workshop, Kevin
started playing tracks and left it at a certain spot and I just kind of took
over,” Benno said. “We didn’t have to say anything to each other, there was
just kind of a blind understanding … and we just played for hours. There was
this understanding that we were friends in mind or brothers in arms.”
“The chemistry was absolutely great,” Kevin said. “Right
away we were able to mix our tracks and skills together. That was the start of
our joint career.”
What’s perhaps most intriguing about the duo is that Benno
is 28 years older than Kevin. They’re each residents at two clubs in
Switzerland where they headline shows a couple of times per month and perform
gigs upon request. They also perform regularly at festivals and national
events. And everywhere they go, fans comment as to the unique sound that comes
from such an unlikely pairing. The 28-year age gap is an unprecedented strong
point for the duo – bringing together the vast experience and deep
understanding of timeless musical movements of Benno with the hunger and modern
outlook on music of Kevin.
“House music has a big variety,” Kevin said. “There’s house,
deep house, tech house, funky house – and all of it is great music to make.
When you put in vocals, it makes it diversified but also deeper. Ultimately,
though, you can play a lot with house music. After our first meeting at the
workshop, we were both making great music within the electronic medium and we
thought that we should do something in this direction and try to make the best
music style for us.”
Toward that end, “Voodoo Girl” features vocals from a San
Diego-based artist known as Jessica. The song is a haunting tale of a girl from
New Orleans who is spurned by a lover and ends up using her voodoo magic on him
in retaliation.
“We visited New Orleans recently and we were very fascinated
by the southern comfort and Louisiana style,” Benno said. “We also loved
learning about the history of the area, and we quickly discovered that voodoo
is a part of that culture. Kevin actually has some South American origins and
roots, which also includes voodoo as a practice of its people, so we thought it
was appropriate to explore that idea through our music.”
As their popularity has continued to grow throughout Europe
– headlining at some of Switzerland’s top events, clubs and festivals, such as
Kaufleuten, Club Diagonal and Wake the Lake Festival – they’re hoping that it
will grow even more by expanding across the pond into the U.S. with this new
single.
Fans who want to get a taste of Double Impact’s music can do
so by checking them out on Reverb
Nation, Soundcloud or
YouTube. Fans can also
follow them on social media on Facebook, LinkedIn or Flickr, or download
their music on sites such as iTunes, Spotify and Beatport.
