Chaos In The CBD

“Walked on the beach, went to a vineyard for lunch, smoked weed, drank too much and got to play my music all weekend: Etta James, ’80s stuff, Winans Brothers Louie Vega remix, The Orb and John Tejada’s Sweat On The Walls.” Ms Helliker-Hales When your mum sends you texts like the above it’s perhaps not surprising you find yourself with a musical career. For the Helliker-Hales brothers in Chaos In The CBD, it’s strictly a family thing. They may well be one of the hottest propositions in the current house firmament, but they’ve still managed to maintain the homespun vibe that comes from growing up in the idyllic suburbs of Auckland. These days the duo – Louis and Ben (aka Beans) – are part of the tight knit Peckham dance community, but the chill summers of New Zealand’s North Island still hold a place in their fertile imagination. Having been schooled in the wares of bands like The Cure and Joy Division from their music-mad parents, it’s now the boys turning them onto house music and, yes, John Tejada. Having built a reputation in the studio and followed it up with the constant rigours of the DJ touring life, they’re now ready to take stock, step back and examine where they want to be in ten years rather than the afterparty in three hours. They’ve taken the big step from having a laugh to building a career. “Plans?,” queries Louis. “We’ve got our own label and we invest a lot in that. It means we can release stuff at a rate which we want to. We also have a two tracker for Mule Musiq but then going forward, it's kind of open waters, though we do want to start working with outside labels again, it can be a bit of an echo chamber recording for yourself.” The label in question is their venture in tandem with fellow Kiwi Jon Sable, In Dust We Trust, which has so far yielded a sterling set of releases between the trio.