Premiering on Palm Recs, the newest label from Palm Artists, on 14 May is ‘Above’, their maiden release from UK dance act Girls Of The Internet. 

Inspired by Moloko’s “The Time Is Now", ‘Above’ is an emotive, feel-good five-minute offering of optimism and dreamy shoe-gaze. The track is instantly recognisably as a Girls Of The Internet signature with its bare breakbeats infused with squiggly basslines, groovy synths, and breathy vocals. 

In a sweet irony to their DJ name, Girls Of The Internet has a surprisingly low-profile social media presence. Their Instagram page @girlsoftheinternetmusic boasts a grand total of 5,609 followers and a confused feed peppered with memes and the occasional post about an upcoming track. Four years on their debut in 2017, the dance act has since established itself at the forefront of underground music with their brand of future house music, soul and disco in the heart of London.

Ahead of the track premiere, we spoke to the producer behind Girls Of The Internet, Tom Kerridge, to find out about what he’s been up to during the lockdown as London gradually opens their dancefloors, along with the deets of their first live show!

Electric Soul: Hi Girls Of The Internet, thanks for taking the time to answer our questions! Let’s kick things off with your latest single, Above. Tell us more about this release and how did you end up at Palm Recs?

Girls Of The Internet: We have been chatting to the Palm guys for a couple of years now. They messaged again a few months ago asking if we’d like to release with them, and things just felt right. I was working on what would become Above at the time, so I sent it over and they signed it straight away.

Electric Soul: You mentioned that all the best love songs have a shot of poison - which is the most classic love song?

GOTI: I’m not sure if it’s the most classic, but it gets me every time.

Electric Soul: The Girls Of The Internet Sound is associated mostly with a minimal yet eclectic disco-inspired. Where, or who, do you draw your inspirations from? 

GOTI: Musically, so many places; Larry Heard meets The Cure, Patrick Adams meets Basic Channel, Talking Heads meets Mood II Swing - take your pick.

Electric Soul: Instead of samples, you focus more on live instruments and vocals in your tracks. What was the decision behind this choice and what does this mean for you as an artist?

GOTI: I just think we’re done with samples. I play sample based tracks when I’m playing out, I have tons of records from the 90’s with samples, I even make my own edits of stuff, but artistically, I’m not sure if there is anything new that can be said with sampling other people’s music. We need to have artists who make their own music. I still love to reference things in our music, but there are so many more creative ways of doing that without sampling a disco record.

Electric Soul: With such a strong live element in your tracks, has not being able to perform affected the listening experience?

GOTI: Not at all - Girls of the Internet was born in the studio. It’s a love letter to recorded music. When you’re recording, music is only live for a few seconds, then it lives forever frozen in time. Our live shows have not happened yet thanks to Covid-19, so we don’t know what kind of effect performing that music live will have. Maybe the music will take on a new meaning.

Electric Soul: Talking about pandemic and the lockdown – has this affected how you produce or write your music?

GOTI: I can’t say it has really - I was making music in my house before, during, and after the pandemic. If anything, it’s made us rely less on recording studios, which has been freeing!

Electric Soul: London’s been hit pretty hard with the entertainment lockdown but it’s starting to come alive again - what’s the current state of the underground electronic music industry?

GOTI: For us, I have pushed things like streaming so hard, because I don’t want to rely on DJing or playing live. This is something I had in my mind from the start of the project, so we were more set up for the pandemic than most artists.

Maybe there could be some good to come from this - I hope that it levels the playing field a bit. The DJ’s at the top are just paid too much. It’s hard for the low and mid-level DJ’s to get to the point where they are making a living. You have to think, for years, those big DJ’s are making hundreds of thousands a year, by playing music made by people who have to work full time jobs to survive. I hope that this experience makes money a bit fairer on all levels of the music industry.

Electric Soul: Can we look forward to any collabs with upcoming Palm Recs artists?

GOTI: Who knows - never say never!

Electric Soul: And of course, can we expect to catch you live anytime soon?

GOTI: Yes, you can catch our debut live show on July 1st at Night Tales in London! We already have a few more shows booked later in the year, and we’re working on getting a mini tour together for Autumn/Winter.

‘Above’ by Girls Of The Internet will be released on 14 May via Palm Recs. You can pre-order it here!