Unmissable Festival Acts

The techno duo are rested and ready for festival season

There's great news for the thousands clamouring to see Italian dark house masters Tale Of Us this summer: they've just had two months off. "We're very, very happy about what's emerged from those weeks," they tell us. "We're now fully ready for another intense spring and summer season."

Last year, the duo clocked up more than 160 gigs, playing just about every major club and festival on every continent on the globe. That's a remarkable achievement by anyone's standards, but when you consider that they have released little more than one EP a year since they emerged in 2011, it's even more impressive.

The 20-something Milanese duo were friends for years before then. Carmine was studying law, Matteo was reading economics; both left university and headed to Berlin on a whim. That was after they had tried their hand at various forms of tech and electro before hooking up and honing in on the deep and shadowy, soundtrack-influenced sound they're known for today.

It was actually Seth Troxler, after hanging with the pair at a gig in Italy and listening to some of their music via Skype, who gave Tale Of Us the confidence to embrace their new, collaborative sound. He released the now modern classic 'Dark Song' on his Visionquest label and, since then, the pair has focused on quality not quantity. Further EPs have come on Life & Death, Visionquest and Minus, and they also turned out an edition of Renaissance's 'The Mix Collection' back in 2013. Last year, they remixed both Caribou and Plastikman to stunning effect.

"Our tastes are always evolving but we remain faithful to those dark and emotional sounds that made us create Tale Of Us in the first place," they say.

This summer the pair will travel the globe once more, playing headline slots everywhere from the States to Ibiza, across the UK and many places in Europe. With such a non-stop schedule and little time for respite, you might wonder if Tale Of Us prepare their sets ahead of time. The answer is, sort of. "On the very few occasions we've actually prepared something, we've always failed to follow our own plan," they explain. "We have key elements that make up our set, but we always adapt depending on the vibe, size of the crowd and our own mood." What you can be assured of is a set that is carefully constructed, deeply emotional and is unafraid to take you to places many other headliners wouldn't dare.

Catch Tale of Us at: NDSM Vrijhaven (Netherlands, April 27), Nuits Sonores (France May 13), Extrema XO (Belgium May 22), Love Saves The Day (UK (May 23) Lost Village Festival (UK , May 23), Berlin Festival (Germany, May 29) We Are Fstvl (UK, May 30), Parklife 2015 (UK June 6, Heaton Park), Life & Death Open Air (Spain, June 20), Awakenings (Netherlands, June 28), Kappa Futur (Italy, July 11), Groove Parade (Spain, July 18), The Bay Festival (France July 24), Dekmantel (Netherlands, July 30), Into The Valley Festival (Sweden July 31), B My Lake Festival (Hungary, August 19), Bestival (UK September 10)

[Words: Kristan Caryl/ Photo: Kris Cowley]