Luke Enderle and Duke Specht (better known as Jkyl & Hyde) are bass music’s most prominent up and coming duo. Over the last few years, the duo has been blending both riddim and wonky bass into their own unique sound. Their production skill-set has allowed them to produce and put out music on some of bass music’s heaviest labels including Disciple, Never Say Die, Subsidia, DPMO UK and Bassrush. Recently, the duo put out their latest single, ‘Little Off,’ as well as ‘Transmission’ which was featured on DPMO UK’s first EP release. The duo were able to perform on FuntCase’s DPMO UK label takeover live stream which was broadcasted exclusively on Insomniac TV.
In January of this year, Jkyl & Hyde dropped ‘Distortion’ on Bassrush Records and now they are making their way back over to that imprint with their latest single on Bassrush Records with ‘Shell Tha Place’ featuring Shiverz. The track incorporates both Jkyl & Hyde’s grim, wonky sounds as well as Shiverz’s diverse UK riddim sounds. Ultimately, this newly released Jkyl & Hyde track is a ballistic new Bassrush Records single that will surely be rinsed by bass artists this summer.
We had the chance to sit down with Luke and Duke from Jkyl & Hyde and were able to talk to them about their new single as well as life, their career, and any new projects that are in the works. Check out Jkyl and Hyde’s SoundCloud and Spotify, and stay connected to them and up-to-date on new releases through their Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Pre-save Jkyl & Hyde and Shiverz’ new release here.
EDM Maniac: Your name seems to be a clear reference to the novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. How did that kind of come into your choice of a stage name?
Luke: It came pretty naturally and actually from our graphic designer currently who we live with. His name is Grant, he goes by Meditut. He’s been doing basically everything from the beginning for us visual wise, as well as Monxx and Shiverz, HOL!, and a few other artists. But he really was the one who, when Duke and I had the idea of doing a project together, we initially had been kind of doing our own thing and then decided to go to ICON Collective in California and then through that, led us to want to pursue doing a duo project and we were just looking for names that could contrast all types of music, and not lock us to one specific thing. Then Grant suggested that based off the story, and we really looked deeper at that point.
Duke: Originally it was “Jekyll” and we had so many problems with Google searches and relations to the actual book and movie that people might be searching for that we changed it to “Jkyl” and it also just works a little bit better with four letters in each word. Originally it was Grant’s idea, he had a solid idea too, for what the artwork would look like and the logo itself, and then just took everything from there logistically with how we wanted everything to look.
EDM Maniac: When you first started making music together, how did that begin? What challenges did you face along the way?
Duke: When you say the word challenges, I think of just money. We were living in California, which is arguably one of the more expensive places to live. We were both working side jobs at the time, or even just side hustles, doing music lessons with people, and we stayed in California another year. When we initially started, we were both new to living with each other, even though we had been hanging out in high school for years. But I would say when it comes to the actual challenges with music, it’s just different for everyone. I think everyone has strengths and weaknesses and even those fluctuate. For us, it was always just trying to do as much as we could on a personal level. But then also sitting down with one another and sharing ideas.
EDM Maniac: You’ve had tracks released with artists such as FuntCase, SVDDEN DEATH, Monxx, as well as a few releases on Subsidia. What has it been like to work with other artists in the industry, and how have they influenced you as an artist?
Luke: I don’t think it’s influenced anything as much, but has been more a nod of confirmation to show us that we are actually doing something right. All those names are people that we always wanted to work with and are huge inspirations, but when we started the project it seemed far fetched for us. A lot of stuff, especially with FuntCase and Monxx, has happened so naturally and with no pressure from either party. There’s definitely some times when collabs just don’t go as smooth or the song doesn’t come out. Even with our first collab with FuntCase, ‘Bounce‘, it took four or five different tries of writing multiple songs, and probably a year or so in the process. So, it’s kind of given us an in into how other people work, I would say. And then just really shows us personally, that we are doing something right when we get to work with the legends that inspired us to start producing.
EDM Maniac: What’s your creative process when making music, and what’s going through your head when you get into the mode of creating music?
Luke: I would say it can vary depending even on the time and what we’re going through at the moment. For me personally, one thing I’ve really been focusing on lately is just my melodic, and really putting emphasis on building up the full song rather than just making a build up to a drop; really focusing on bringing the musicality to the project. I would say that it can definitely vary at all points of time. Sometimes different things will spark creativity, and there’s never really been, at least for me, one surefire method that’s just “this is how we’re going to be inspired.’ One thing that is sometimes challenging with being in a duo is both Duke and I are obviously different people and get inspired in different ways, and sometimes Duke will be very inspired one day when I’m not, and sometimes I’ll be really inspired one day, and I feel like that is something that we’re still learning to this day to play to our advantage and to utilize in the best way possible. But there’s never really been, at least for me, a definite creative process.
Duke: I feel like the theme always kind of changes. I feel like there was a point in time, when we first started where it was like, “Okay, I’m going to do this, and then you’re going to do this, and it’s going to happen this way and we’re going to do this” and then you slowly realize you could do it anyways. I feel like lately, though, we’ve been trying to just get into the same room more, to reduce the process of making music to just being able to work off of the same laptop and work on a song together. But obviously, like Luke was saying, everything is always a process and we’re still learning new things every day and trying to learn from each other in a way too. Things are just going to change in terms of how we’re going to go about making a song. We don’t share a phone, so if someone wants to start a song then we inform the other person and try to sit down and talk about it. We realize now too that we actually do have fans, and the music that comes out should be important to every party and every person involved.
EDM Maniac: When you’re going through the process of making music, what kind of influence or inspiration do you hope it has on your fans?
Luke: One thing that has always stood out to me was looking back and thinking about some of my first memories of live shows, and with everything slowing down in the past year, it was quite the change in inspiration. It was very rewarding to have shows every weekend, and be able to make new music to know that we’re going to be able to play at a show and give people that experience. Just thinking back for me, those times when I first went to electronic concerts and really experienced the almost overwhelming sense of being part of something, and feeling the music on a very loud scale, and totally immersing myself in that is something that I have wanted to give people the whole time we’ve started. It’s overall a very natural process because we love it so much and we both actually, Duke even more so, started DJing prior to producing back in the day. So, I think there is a love in both of us for the live part of it, and there is just another, almost unexplainable feeling of inspiration that comes from sharing music with the crowd and being in that moment, knowing that anyone who’s not in that role is not hearing some of these songs. Just giving that mystery feeling to the audience, wanting more and wanting to be part of the world of Jkyl and Hyde is the inspiring part behind wanting to do it.
Duke: Sometimes I feel like really trying to stick to our particular vibe for a song, whether it’s scrapping an idea that goes off the beaten path too far, or really just trying to make sure that everything that we make sounds “on brand”, which is a cheesy term but I think it’s important for being able to compartmentalize the different ideas that you have. I feel like we both make lots of different stuff other than dubstep, so it’s important to have that in mind when you’re making a Jkyl and Hyde song or not, you know?
EDM Maniac: What are your favorite hobbies or interests that are completely separate from your musical career?
Duke: Hobbies that are way out there are mostly a lot of random sports. I like to cook, I know Luke likes to as well. I really like to golf randomly, or when I was living in California, I was surfing a lot. I’ve always loved to cook though, since I was like a little kid basically.
Luke: I would also say just through the whole process of doing this and pursuing music, it has led me to focus more on almost smaller things. Not necessarily a hobby, but we recently moved back to Colorado, where both of our parents are so we’re just spending more time with family. Even within the last year I’m just focusing on where I’m at mental health wise and making sure I’m in a good spot and feeling as good as I can. So then the music that I’m making is going to be as good as it can be. I grew up playing sports as well, I like watching sports, and I love video games; just your average hobbies. I did get a set of golf clubs, so I’m learning and hoping to catch up soon.
EDM Maniac: The past year has been confusing for everyone. What has it been like to be an artist duo in quarantine, and how has it influenced your music making?
Luke: At the beginning, it was honestly really tough, because we had a lot lined up for the summer of 2020. There were even some shows that got canceled so last minute. Miami Music Week show with FuntCase and a few different overseas things that we were looking into. Having everything stop to a complete standstill was not even demotivating, but just made us check where we were at, in a sense. It was everyone going through together at the end of the day. It’s not like it was just us who couldn’t play shows, it was the whole industry, and I think through that there’s definitely been a lot of positives. I feel like we’ve really leveled up musically in that time. There’s been a few releases that have come about that will definitely help propel things when shows do come back. There was definitely an adjustment period and like I mentioned, we moved from California, so that was a bit of a transition as well.
Duke: We used the advantage of having time to work on stuff that maybe we didn’t have as much time to do. I feel we did a lot more releases this year that we probably wouldn’t have been able to do if we were also throwing shows in the mix every weekend. So, I feel like we kind of just tried to use it to our advantage, but it also sucked at the same time.
EDM Maniac: Now that we’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel in this pandemic, with vaccines rolling out and things starting to look a little better, what are you most excited to do? Musically or otherwise?
Duke: I would say we both agree that playing shows has got to be top three on that list. But also, seeing artists that live overseas. We used to see Shiverz a lot because we have the same manager, so it’d be cool to see him again. We have a song coming out with him this week also. Doing that simple stuff, safely seeing family again, going out to eat at a restaurant, collaborating on a song in person with someone.
Luke: Obviously the shows, but I think just the normality in itself we’re really excited for and all the small things that come with it. Being able to travel or being able to see family and not worry about COVID. We are looking positive. I think we’re in the homestretch.
EDM Maniac: Looking into the future, what are your long-term goals as an artist duo?
Luke: Overall, we want to just keep building the Jkyl and Hyde brand and be able to immerse more people into that. I think focusing on really driving home and rewarding our core fan base through smaller things as well as bigger things. We’re looking to start a Patreon in the next coming months to try and be able to give back with a few different ways than we normally would with sample packs. A private discord with the ability to contact us for production help, and little stuff like that. But then also just going big picture, really immersing everyone in that Jkyl and Hyde world, and when Duke and I chatted about it, he mentioned Zeds Dead and Travis Scott with Astro World or just how some of these brands and artists can really make the project come to life and make it such an immersive experience. I think that’s a goal in the long term for us, that we just want to strive to go that route with the project and be able to encapsulate fans and bring them to this world of Jkyl and Hyde, where they feel like they can escape. Whether it be for the three minutes listening to our song or for an hour at a live show.
EDM Maniac: You mentioned your track coming out this week with Shiverz. Is there anything else that your fans can expect from you in the near future that you’re excited about?
Luke: Yeah, the release with Shiverz is coming this Friday on Bassrush. A little different tune which is exciting, and Shiverz is on the vocals, which we’ve been wanting to do forever. We have an EP coming out on DPMO pretty soon and a collab with HOL! coming on a new project of his producer soon, as well as a VIP of a tune with Monxx that is going to come out on a little project he is doing that’s like a VIP album. That’s pretty much it on the release radar. We have some plans for the next couple months to be able to have an email membership called the Hydeout where we send monthly or bi-weekly updates on what’s going on with us, as well as discounts on merch, early access to music, that type of thing. We’re working on some new ideas for merch as well. I would just say it’s going to be a good next six months. Expect some stuff.
