Fresh from their recent success at the 2005 Breakspoll awards ceremony where they walked home with the Best Producer, Best Single (for Soul Vibrates/Bullet Train) and Best Remix (for their blistering take on the Freestylers' "Push Up") awards, the Plump DJs are proud to present a new product - a lotion designed to increase attraction to the opposite sex by releasing pheromones from a discreet (yet fashionable) wristband (don't believe me check the website. Plump DJ Lee Rous has been signed by Pherocom (creators of Saturday Night Lotion) to lead the campaign to help clubbers pull and together the Plump's have produced the soundtrack CD for the fragrance.
Spokesperson Lee Rous is here to give us the low-down on the new fragrance, the album and possibly some tips for clubbers on how to pull!

Is there a hidden meaning behind the name of the new album?
Not really, there’s not much of a meaning behind it. After 2 years of making dancefloor music we came up with Saturday Night Lotion, an imaginary cologne you put on before you go out. The soundtrack to your weekend.

Why have you decided to revisit the same formula as Plump Night Out?
When we were writing Eargasm in 2003 we had the prospect of doing an artist album for Fingerlickin’. Now that we had completed it there were no obligations to do another one. We just wanted to make dance music, something that didn’t have too much foresight but at the same time we’re constantly trying to better ourselves.

Saturday Night Lotion features music from other artists such as labelmates Soul Of Man, Drumattic Twins as well as Madox and Soleclaw. What was the selection process behind including tunes from these artists?
Initially we asked a lot of people to provide music but some of the tunes didn’t fit, so we amassed most of our own tunes that have sitting on the shelf – some were getting tired and aging so we thought it’d be better to include them. We had 12-13 tunes that were sitting on the shelf that needed to be revisited so we started working on them again.

Saturday Night Lotion shows a different side to the Plumps, where you sample an old 80s tune for Dr. Dub. What styles of music do you listen to for inspiration?
We listen to lots of music when we’re out on tour mostly the stuff that other DJs are playing. We tend to keep an open mind and listen to many forms as possible such as soul and funk from our youth as well as hip hop, techno and pop.

Is The Rub Off tune named with a cheeky reference to the album title?
A little bit, being rubbed off and rubbing off has so many connotations. We have a tongue-in-cheek attitude towards dance music!

Sonia from SOTO had said that breakbeat is becoming more musical. Would you say this is true? How would you compare the sound of breakbeat today compared to when you released Plump Night Out?
Nowadays, breaks not a fashion or fad sound - the scene has grown massively. DJs and producers have a lot of different styles – a good indication of a scene that’s healthy. It’s an exciting genre to be involved with. Groups like Evil Nine have a new sound which has a rock edge and breaks free of genres.

Would the Plumps have more song oriented (verse-chorus-verse style)tunes in the works?
We have plenty of stuff up our sleeve, perhaps not structured as verse-chorus-verse – we’d go for something a little more natural. We’re always going to keep experimenting

Your bootlegs seemed to get picked up by every breaks DJ and his dog. What inspires you to pick a certain tune to give it that Plump touch?
We’ve always enjoyed the bootlegging concept, Donna Kebab is our favourite to date and we made it and The Gate before coming out to Australia for the second Field Day in 2003. We’ve always enjoyed the song as kids, because our parents played it at parties.

The Fabric website has the Plump's scheduled to release another instalment of Fabriclive. Without saying too much, how different will it be compared to Saturday Night Lotion?
We’re one of the first artists to be asked to do a second FabricLive comp. We might go for a Plump Night In concept going for lounge and laidback music. Currently we’ve completed 6 dance albums and compilations over the last 5 years.

How much touring and DJing have you done to road test the tunes for the album?
All of the records were road tested. We’re not happy with a tune until the crowd are happy with the track- it’s nice to know that they will work on the dance floor. All in all it took around 2 years.

How did it feel to win the Breakspoll award for Best Single, Best Remix and Best Producer at the same time?
We were nominated for 6 out of 12 possible categories. It was very surprising to have won considering we only put out one 12 inch and 2 remixes in 2004, we didn’t think we’d win anything!

What impact do you think Breakspoll has on the breaks scene?
When it the first event took place we were all a bit sceptical. Slowly we realised that it’s important as it gives people (fans) encouragement and new artists encouragement to make new tunes. The last Breakspoll awards were absolutely packed out!

Fingerlickin’ are one of the most dominant breakbeat labels around. What should other label’s do to try and keep up with Fingerlickin’ hold on the scene?
Most importantly, concentrate on making good music and not look at what your next-door neighbours are doing, because then you’ll be restricted by your competitor’s achievements. Fingerlickin’ are doing very well simply because they love what they’re doing and there is a demand for them to be there.