What kind of music did you listen to when you were 11? While I was blasting Wilson Philips and George Michael on my parents stereo, Dimce (Dido) was skipping classes to find new music at this local record store and Miki was beginning to play with production software. From a very young age the Latenta boys knew their passion.
If you are as curious as I was to how this duo from Macedonia has come to gain an international audience that is continuing to grow please read on!
Lisa: This is a cool intro, what is it?
Dido: Its an old tune “Sound 5 – The Hacienda Must Be (Re-Bult),” its from 2000. It was really hard to find that intro, but it was out on junodownload earlier this year
Miki: It’s a pretty old school one
Dido: Then the new Danny Howells remix of “Stryke” is starting to play, brilliant tune
Lisa: Ah nice, I love Danny Howells, he has remained so consistent over the years
Miki: He’s my all time fave dj
Lisa: One of mine as well
Dido: Danny is a legend, one of the best out there
Lisa: How did you two meet?
Miki: On the internet,on the mIRC network about 6-7 years ago, which is like msn, it was very famous here back in the days.
Dido: I moved in Skopje about 7 years ago, then we met in person about 3 years ago
Lisa: How does it work with the two of you? Partnerships always have their different ways of working.
Miki: Well we have known each other for quite a while now and we share the same taste of house music, so we work well together. We live really close actually, so once or twice a week we meet in my home studio, have a couple of beers, share lots of ideas about the music, samples, loops and new tunes.
Lisa: So you started mixing together quite awhile ago then?
Dido: Well we started mixing together 2 years ago, we heard each other’s mixes and then decided to start working together.
Lisa: Who would you say is more technical and who is more creative?
Dido: Miki is more technical about the productions; he is one of the best I know. I learn a lot of tips and tricks from him.
Miki: I’ve been using audio software since the ninetees so I’m a bit more experienced than DiDo but he’s a great student.
Lisa: What are you best at Dimce?
Miki: He’s a real music addict. He can dig out a tune that even the producer doesn’t have yet. There are some crazy ideas in his head, both in mixing and in productions.
Dido: I love collecting tunes, been collecting vinyl’s since I was young, but mainly we share the same passion and ideas about music. Creativily it’s split 50/50 I think, but Miki has more technical experience then me. For every mix or tune we are perfectionists.
Miki: I also work in an global ideas company, called Saatchi & Saatchi so art is what I’m surrounded by 24/7.
Lisa: Ah cool, I know them, what do you do for them?
Miki: Well graphic designs, creative stuff, prints, posters, flyers, ads
Lisa: Cool, so do you do all the stuff for Latenta project?
Miki: yep.. I do the designs
Lisa: this is a nice track, with the French counting…
Dido: oh that one is great, I think it’s the new Kolombo
Lisa: How did you get into this music at such a young age?
Dido: Well I’ve been involved in electronic music since I was 11, I used to skip classes to go to the cd-store. The more new music I found the more inspired I got to find even more.
Lisa: What was the first CD that got you hooked?
Dido: I think it was “Underworld – Dubnobasswithmyheadman”
Miki: Mine was one of those good looking compilations “Points In Time”, compiled by LTJ Bukem, atmospheric drum and bass and trip hop. I really loved that kind of stuff in the beginning, actually I still do.
Lisa: How did you come up with the name Latenta Project?
Dido: Well the best way to describe it to you is from Wikipedia. Latent can mean “hidden”, “presently inactive” or “potentially existing but not yet realized”
Miki: It was a word we used a lot, latent, so we made a track under that name just for fun and a lot of people supported it. We were surprised when Ricky Ryan wanted to include it in his mixed album. So when we had to come up with a name for our project we named it Latenta Project. We are both lazy guys but together we make one unlazy unit!
Lisa: This is a really nice track coming in at 26 min, heard it before, what is it?
Dido: Oh its a track from Hideo Kobayashi called “Kaze” He’s one of the hottest producers of 2008. We play a lot of tracks of his.
Lisa: Funny he’s Japanese and I never heard of him while I was in Japan
Dido: There are some really nice producers coming from there, have u heard about Satoshi Fumi? He is a really great producer. He finished a remix for us, we received it today. it’s a really good one!
Lisa: What are some of the challenges of being in a partnership?
Miki: A lot of people think that partnerships are full of fighting and are doomed to be unsuccessful but what we do is really relaxed, without any hopes. Two years ago our dream was to release proper house music and play internationally, and now it’s finally becoming real, so we are really happy. But what’s most important is that we still love the same music…real house music!
Lisa: Some partnerships have lasted a long time, like WOW, Sasha & Digweed, SOS, but they all have their time apart. Do you think you will have your own projects at some point?
Miki: Well I release my own solo tracks from time to time but those are usually tracks I would not sign to the Latenta Project brand. It’s the more dark, techy stuff, you know Latenta is about the funk!
Lisa: Where do you play together regularly?
Dido: We play all over the Balkans and Dubai 
Lisa: What does the Balkans include?
Miki: Balkan = southeast Europe: Greece, Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia and Romania I think
Lisa: Where do you think is the best place to play?
Miki: Its the same everywhere, there are always party people that make the atmosphere. Bulgaria and Greece have very strong scenes.
Dido: Yeah its really nice there , but I think it was better couple years ago
Lisa: What’s the closing track? I like it!
Dido: It’s “Jaunt- Lipstick”, really good track
Lisa: What’s the scene like in Macedonia?
Dido: Well its nice, but more minimal techno, electro and commercial music like Roger Sanchez. But we have private parties sometimes for our friends here and we play the whole night, we love longer sets, then we can truly express ourselves.
Miki: Its easy to select 20 peak-time bombs and play a 2 hour set but in a 5 or 6 hour set you really need to program the timing. It’s not good to push too much at the beginning, you have to keep the crowd interested in your music.
Lisa: What is a Macedonian Christmas like?
Dido: Well we celebrate Christmas here on the 7th of January, I think the Russians celebrate on that day as well. All orthodox Christians do.
Lisa: So this week isnt holidays for you then?
Miki: Nope, its all in January
Lisa: What do you do on Jan 7th?
Dido: Mostly staying at home with our families
Miki: Probably mixing or creating some tune
Lisa: Well happy early Christmas and happy mixing!
