The Mix 058: Steffi x Virginia

As far as electronic music duos go, Steffi & Virginia are among a small percentage who navigate the challenges of a creative relationship parallel to their personal relationship. Having such an intimate connection provides the ideal setting for their music to embody their shared vision and ideals, while also giving them the opportunity to deepen their bond. Across more than 15 years they have produced a number of definitive pieces of electronic music together, with ‘Yours’ being one of their most iconic. Though they have been together for a long time, their collaborative projects are intermittent, channeling their creative energy into joint projects when the mood suits them rather than forcing themselves to be a consistent musical partnership.

Their last release was 'Work A Change', which dropped in 2019. Six years later, they’ve just released a new LP entitled 'Patterns Of Vibration' via Dekmantel. The eight-tracker epitomises the duo’s love for funk, groove and soul - leaning heavily into the house side of the musical spectrum. Combining Steffi’s production prowess with Virginia’s emotive vocals, 'Patterns Of Vibration' is a collection of positive dancefloor creations, designed to uplift and move people.

At their Portuguese studio, Candy Mountain, Steffi and Virginia have established a physical space where they can create freely, at will. This home base is where 'Patterns Of Vibration' was made, over a few short months in 2024. Here the duo go in-depth about the album’s process and how their working relationship overlaps with their personal relationship. Check it out belong alongside a house-driven mix.

How's it all going with Candy Mountain? Have you had any external visitors, any friends or any local artists pass through recently?

Steffi: Yeah, having a good time. It's a happy place for us. There's always people passing through, and locals. Most of the time, when somebody plays in Lisbon or Porto, they just come down and visit. But, because we've been writing this album, we were actually occupying the space.

Virginia: Finally.

How's that whole process been for you - finally occupying the studio, writing the album and ingraining yourselves into that space?

S: I produce stuff on a regular basis, so, after my last solo album, it was like, “What's the next thing that I, or we, are going to do?” We spoke to our PR, Rosalie, about it, because she's very involved in plan-making. She suggested that we both jump on a project, because it's been a while. When she said that, we both realised it’s been a long time since we've done something together and thought it was a great idea. Instantly, we were both like, “Okay, we should do another house thing, because it's been 15 years.”

It's interesting because everything was naturally coming together.. Dekmantel had a new A&R Manager, and I know him. He approached me and asked, “What are you guys doing?” I said, “We're just starting to record a little bit.” And he was really interested in working with us. Sometimes it just lines up for you. I had my 50th birthday in the summer, and we had a small gathering here for two weeks in the studio. Lots of people stayed at the studio, had a party, it was such a festive vibe, only close friends gathering. The energy that they all left was a perfect kickstarter to continue. So then we started writing and writing and writing in a really short period of time. We took three months or so. It was really tight, and it has that energy of a short timeframe. If we’d have just made and collected some house over the years and worked without a deadline, it wouldn't make sense. The energy of the album, it's in one flow. That's always something that I really like.

That’s inspiring. I've got a couple of projects that I want to execute, and I'm floating around a little bit, and I haven't given myself a firm deadline. I feel so energised by what you're saying, now I’m thinking, “I need to give myself a deadline!”

S: A famous producer once said, “Without a deadline, your work is never over”. If you work with a deadline and a low budget, those limits push you to get things done. If you've got too much money to spend, you keep repeating yourself and redoing stuff. When everything needs to fit in, you're going to make it happen. I thought that was really interesting. It really resonates with how I feel about production - how we both feel about production. Like, when Interstellar Funk, who does the A&R for Dekmantel, flew from Italy to listen to the album. The night before he was supposed to arrive, we were still squeezing in some of the vocals. We just had to push through. Sometimes you have to push through these walls and these things only happen because you're on a really tight schedule. It doesn't happen when you're like, “Oh yeah, he'll be here next week”, You would put it aside. Whereas, when you know you have to have it done the next day, it's like, “Come on, let's do it!”. It's stressful, but it gives you the best results at the end of the day.

A lot of artists have minimal equipment, but they make amazing music because that's all they have to work with. Having limits can definitely be a catalyst behind creativity, and the same with timeframes.

S: Yeah, totally 100% and for you [Virginia] it was the same. Candy Mountain has two levels: the studio is upstairs, and we have a little DJ/living room set up downstairs. I would be prepping all the stuff, and it would be like, “Run upstairs, sing it again!” And you would go upstairs. “Okay, let me give it another go.” It was almost like a little marathon. This is part of the creative process. It's too loose when it's just long. When artists who constantly write bring out an album, it is a different concept. I'm not saying it's better or worse. It's a different concept. Whereas, when you block off a period of time, it's like, “This is the theme, this is the moment. This is what came out in this short period of time.” So it's just a different approach.

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V: This is actually bringing me to the whole Steffi and Virginia production history so far. We've never done the same thing most of the time. We always took a little bit of time in between the projects and we would only really start writing something new when we really had an idea about what it was going to be. So for the last EP, that came out on Ostgut Ton, we were both so into the broken beat, electro vibe at that time that it was pretty clear for us to do something that didn’t necessarily have to work on the dancefloor, or be four-to-the-floor. Then, with this project, there was such a long period of time when you did your thing, a lot of different collaborations and releases on your labels, and I did other creative things. Then it just felt like, “It's time for new banging house music” - stuff that we would love to hear on the dancefloor ourselves. So there was such a strong vision of what we were going to do for this one again, same with the last one and the one before.

How is it for you working together for such a long time now? How has that creative relationship developed parallel to being together on a personal level as well?

V: It just becomes more and more clear where each one of us has their strengths. We work mostly separately, on two different levels of the house. In the beginning. Steffi was coming up with a lot of sketches and a lot of instrumentals, and she would bounce them to me.

S: Sorry to interrupt, but, with this one, we spoke about and planned it. We were like, “Okay, the window is very small. How are we going to do it? Shall we jam together?” Because, for the last project, 'Work A Change', we really jammed together. This time, we're like, “Let's separate it. I'll write the instrumentals and you write the vocals.” That's more on the technical side of things, but we also went through a lot of psychological processes too, because we are, on a private level, partners. And with music, we are partners.

V: Our knowledge of where the strength of the other one lies is so much better now. It’s really amazing to be able to rely on that. How you talk to each other in the studio, the whole working process, of course. The whole workflow has been so much easier for us these days. We've learned so much from past mistakes.

S: We’ve explored it. 15 years of working together, 15 years on a personal level, so you have times where you have rough patches, where you just have to work through emotional stuff, and also work through work stuff. You have to keep recharging the battery. And I think the only way to do it is by talking and, more than anything, recognising patterns, growing up together, and then analysing the difficulties. If you only work together and you don't have a personal relationship, the distance is much easier. But if you also have a personal relationship, you go through similar stuff, and it also starts to get intertwined. You're like, “Yeah, but I did this, and you did this”, and then, “Oh, hang on, what's work? What's private life?” It can mirror each other a lot.

We are very analytical about it, “How can we optimise this?”, or “What went wrong?”, or “If this is okay, let's reset and move on”. There’s a duality. The strength lies within the weakness. The strength is that you have such a tight commitment, and then that's also your weakness. Because if I, for example, say, “I don't think it's good enough”, then you don't want to offend anybody. I'm the critical one, I'm super anal about certain things. So I have to really switch from being on my own to being in the “duo mode”. It's an ongoing process and it's for life, at the end of the day,

Even just our relationship with ourselves is an ongoing process, let alone with somebody else.

S: We had a lot of interesting talks about it, and we did bump into some difficulties because of time pressure. We had times where we got nervous, and that's normal, and then you remember, like, “Oh, it's normal that we bump into this phase where it's a little bit stuck.” I remember there was a moment where you sent something to me that you sang in the hotel room.

V: Yeah, since we were both on the road when we started the writing process, I had this little tour in Colombia, and I'm like, “Okay, I have a decent microphone I can bring with me just to at least record some ideas”. We were at a moment where we had a couple of really good things, but then we were a bit stuck and we needed something to bring it to the next level. At the hotel in Colombia, I had this idea, but I thought, “This might be very poppy, too much vocals.” I was super happy with it. I'm like, “Oh my god, yeah, I love it, it sticks in my head.”

S: Sometimes you need a breakthrough moment. As much as we evolved in the relationship, you always bump into the same stuff when you're writing together. There's always tough parts where you get frustrated, and then you're like, “Oh my god!” It's so normal. I've recognised it from previous processes, so it's quite interesting.

V: We've really come a long way with that, or maybe I did. Because now, when you're saying, “I don't like this line, or I don't like the vocal line or something”... In the beginning, I was maybe a bit more upset about it and I would take it more personally. Now it's just like, “Okay, we don't have the time. Okay, next! You don't like it. Oh, really. Well, I actually do like it. No, no, you can do better. Okay, boom, next!”

S: It happens the other way too, because sometimes you're like, “Oh God, I had an awful day, nothing sits.” And then I'm like, “Actually, just cut this little line out of it, and that's going to be the chorus of the song”. There's a lot of post-production in the album, of using her voice and processing it, and it becomes a synthesiser sound or something. There were times where you didn’t like something and I would just slice little things out of it. You don't throw anything away. That's also what we learned from ‘Yours’ - you can't throw anything out, because I threw that out and you took it out of the bin and you were like, “Oh my god, what is this?” I thought it was just shit, but you sang a line on it, and it became a big thing. So we always bounce things up and down and, when it's a shit day for you, I can actually cut something out that becomes a main line because I'm processing it in a different way.

Sometimes you sing something, I'm like, “Oh my god, are you on Love Island?” This is really funny, because I think one of the things that I like to do is create a boundary by getting you out of your comfort zone. You're singing these beautiful lines and it's like you're on Love Island. It's too romantic. I’ll say it has no edge. And you’ll be like, “How can you say that? I really love this vocal.” So there are these two zones of where you would say it's shit and I would actually get something out of it. Or you would go like, “I love this” and I’m saying it sounds like you’ve been on Love Island.

V: There's also the third option, which is that it’s really on point. I'm the queen of phonetic vocals, and I think there is one particular word that I use, or reuse, and whenever this word comes up, you're like, “Oh my God, you're using it again.” So it's actually quite funny.

That's the beauty of knowing each other so well - picking up on those subtle things that you perhaps don't even notice yourself because you're not aware. Have you found that you've learned much from each other in the process of creating music as partners?

S: Even though I don't use my voice, we like singing together, and there's no, “You're a singer, so I just don't sing, because you're better than me”, kind of thing. We are now at a point where mentoring each other becomes much more soft. What I've learned from you is just to sing, and not to give a shit about the fact that you are a fantastic singer. I've sung once, but it's not very serious for me. I learn how to use my voice and also learn how you use your voice. So if we're working it's like, “Okay, this is what you can do with your voice.” There's a lot of exchange when it comes to inspiring each other.

V: You really motivated me with my own drafts or sketches. You were always like, “Why don't you just finish it yourself. You have these really good ideas, and just have more trust in yourself. Don't wait on someone to finish it.” With the first couple of singles, you were much more involved, and I'm really grateful for that. And now more and more, as you just mentioned, you give me tips and guidance. It’s on much more of an equal level. Not like, “Oh, this is your thing, and this is my thing.”

S: There was a point in the studio where we were finding a hook, and then we were both singing. The confidence that you gave me, by understanding how to use my own voice. I was like, “Why don't you sing it like this?” The difficulty I have is, I hear it in my head but I can't really sing it straight away because that tool is just not developed enough. It's there but I need to find a way to sing it and I don't feel weird about singing it for you and it being out of key. We were both actually in the living room and we were both singing along with the playback and trying to find the right hook.

V: I really like what you just said because you said that your instrument or your tool is maybe not developed enough and I think that that works for both of us. You walked so many miles with the production and arrangements and all of that kind of stuff, and processing of whatever instruments you use, drums, vocals.. With vocals and singing, I'm much more developed, but it doesn’t mean that there's not an equal source of potential or exchange.

S: It’s got a lot to do with ego. If you're interested in what's going on in the process in general then there's so much you can learn and the fun increases. I think the biggest mistake is for anybody to be harsh. For example, if you would say to me, “Oh sorry but you're singing out of key”, that would just be off. Instead of saying something like that it's like, “Hey, when you're singing a high note, try to do this with your jaw, try to do this with your stomach.” We make fun of it when I'm singing a high note, like, look at my face. Or, when I'm actually listening to one of your arrangements, after so many years of guiding other artists I would implement the same softness. I've done a lot of learning about leaning into the background as I do when I’m guiding so many people on my label. I can give this back to you as an adult, where I see where you're holding yourself back.

We've seen many interviews with Annie Lenox and Dave Stewart from Eurythmics, and they used to be a couple, but they separated relatively early in the process. Dave said it was very clear that her voice needs to be on his music, but they couldn't be together as a couple. They went in and out of that, “Okay, I can't stand you at the moment”, versus, “I really need to work with you.” It was funny how we saw a lot of these interviews as a reference point for us. We realised it was very natural, what we were experiencing.

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There’s a lot of funk and groove on the album, where's that coming from?

S: That’s how we roll. I don't think I've ever made something that isn't funky, even if it's really heady, it still has that.

V: We're both obsessed with rhythm, and, for us, it really doesn't matter what kind of genre of music it is, as long as it's funky, groovy and sexy. I don't care about BPM - slow, fast, super hard, soft, whatever - as long as there is a soul, a vibe, and it's funky somehow. There’s also a lot of funk and soul in the music that we've been collecting over the years.

S: It really represents what we play as DJs as well, what we like. Even if you're playing really dark shit, it can still have a lot of funk.

You've been together for a while now, what are some of the key aspects to longevity?

S: Positivity, possibility, quality, and the motivation to go places and to work through your mistakes more than anything. That is regarding a personal relationship and a creative relationship, too. Because we're connected both on a musical level and a personal level, we really know what we like. It's very rare that I’ll play something to you and you would just go, “It's awful.” That could be my music, or any music in general. And if you're not feeling it most of the time, means that I have to go back to the drawing board. So, yeah, a willingness to move to the next level, through communication, positivity and possibility. Integrity as well, and no bullshit mentality.

V: The pillar of it all for me is communication. Learning to be better and better at getting my needs across in a way that is not hurtful to the other person, but also being able to set my boundaries in a way where I feel comfortable and learning how to communicate in the best possible way that works for us. We're constantly evolving and constantly learning, because we're also willing to look in the mirror and look at ourselves and reflect.

S: We've got the same end goal. That makes it easier when you're drifting apart, you still have the same end goal. So it will always unite at some point, whether that is through creativity or the same mentality or the relatively same opinion. If I could wrap it up in one sentence, we're on the same frequency, and that makes stuff a hell of a lot easier, because we're really on the same vibe, the same 'Pattern Of Vibration'! That's also what you hear in the music. I think that lies in the funk, that lies in the melody, that lies in everything. It really vibrates, with that feeling of positivity and possibility. You can hear it in the whole album as well. It's written from the perspective of, “We don't have to do anything, but we really want to bring this to the people, regardless of what the outcome is.” This is positive work from us.

Can you tell us about your mix?

S x V: We hope you will enjoy the journey and the selection of amazing tracks we both love playing in our house sets lately.

'Patterns Of Vibration' is out now, get it here here

Marcus Barnes is a freelance writer, follow him on Instagram

Tracklist:
Steffi x Virginia - Under This World
Shi-Take – Perfect Virtue (Full Moon Over Maduri Club Mix)
Arbilla - Virtual Reality (Scan 7 Remix)
Nacho Marco - Himmel (Loudeast Dub Mix)
Presence - Party Boy
DJ Headshot & Matris - Space Bells
Lee Burton - VOT
Datar - B (Alex Neri Remix)
Helmet - Purple Edge
Lee Burton - Party Crusher
Steffi x Virginia - 4-Hit
Steffi x Virginia - Stab Stealer