Cleric (Jorden Hodgetts) and Reflec (Sean Dodd) come together to showcase each other’s strengths when it comes to techno production. The UK-based producers and DJs are working under the Works Unit moniker — also the name of the label they are starting — and are planning a series of 4 EPs, with Cleric handling the artwork. The duo took time out of their busy schedules to chat about this exciting project and give us a sneak peek behind the scenes.

Please speak on the project Works Unit, its origination, planning and now execution.

Sean: It just came about from hanging out together and having an interest in each other’s music, as well as sharing tastes in similar styles. It was very natural the way it happened.

Jorden: Yeah, it has took us a long time to actually get these tracks onto vinyl. This EP was ready about a year and a half ago. But I do feel that delaying sometimes can help. If you don’t like a track 4 months on then you probably won’t like it in 5 years time.

You’re releasing 4 EPs as part of an ongoing story so to speak – how did this concept come about, and what inspired this creative endeavor?

Jorden : The concept for the artwork actually came from a club night I started years ago,but with losing so much money we never went past the first event! I have been holding out for the right project to use this idea again ­ Hopefully we make it to the second release!

What is your average day in the studio looking like?

Jorden : I’m lucky to have my studio in the spare room in my house, it works really well for me as I can just roll out of bed everyday. It usually starts with Coffee and FIFA whilst listening to some different genres other than techno. Then around mid day I will open up Ableton and go from there.

Sean : Mine starts with me twiddling my thumbs waiting for my lazy younger brother to wake up as my studio is in his bedroom because it’s much bigger than mine and can fit in all the gear. Once he has risen I usually have a little scroll through my soundcloud feed to get in the mood and then after a short while I’m off, on a good day anyway!

What is your creative collaboration process like from the production stand point?

Jorden : Well the project wasn’t really planned as such, Sean would usually send me some ideas and I would hear something like a lead that would work well with some heavy drums. But once we have bounced ideas between ourselves we would meet up over a free weekend and finalise the creative process of a release ­ Then we follow with road testing and tweaking minor details to get the best mix down.

Sean: Testing stuff out a lot to get the mixes right and not just rushing to release it once the first or second mix has been finished has really helped.

Foundations One and Two (as well as the dub edit) radiate influences of Detroit and Chicago techno and house respectively, with groove, funk and beautiful melodies. If there is a statement this EP makes, what would that be?

Sean : The concept from the beginning was to always include musical aspects to the tracks over strong drums, so expect all the releases to follow suit.

Jorden : Yeah, it’s nice that you can hear the direction we have tried to follow. We basically wanted to create an alias that is a bit more musical but still has that hard drums that are solid enough for the clubs.