Bonar Bradberry and Tom Thorpe have joined forces and together they go by PBR Streetgang, much like the Patrol Boat in the Vietnam war, they possess great speed and manoeuvrability when playing alongside. Bonar and Tom originally met through the infamous Leeds nightlife. The duo earned great respect across the musical spectrum which lead to their residency in the world renowned party We Love at Space with Ibiza now being their second home. The two have shared a booth with some fine acts, from Jazzy Jeff to Ricardo Villalobos as well as gaining fans such as Greg Wilson, Ralph Lawson, Crazy P and Clive Henry. PBR Streetgang have released productions on labels such as Futureboogie, 2020 Vision, Red Music, E.A.R, Wolf Music and ISM. Over the latest years their DJ partnership has acquired a larger audience, their ever so effortless flow and versatile approach enables them to easily adapt from big Festival stages to main-rooms as well as smaller basements and backrooms.
Set the scene for us if you would: where are you answering these questions from and where are you headed next?
Right now we’re in Mayhofen Austria for Snowbombing. We’ve currently sat in the restaurant of our hotel drinking a cold beer… it’s big… they like large beers over here!
What has been your focus over winter, and how is that changing as summer arrives?
I guess like a lot of acts we knuckle down in the studio over the winter months. We’ve tried to do as much as possible, original work along with remixes and cheeky one off edits, we’ve been productive. The summer is always fun which normally means a lot of travelling due to extra parties, festivals, and the likes of Ibiza. Things in the studio can slow down as making music on the road can be complicated.
You held a residency at We Love Space, which has now changed management. Will you still have a close relationship with the party and do you think it will be very different this year?
We Love has a very family vibe to it which we’ve been lucky enough to be a part of for the last six years, our relationship with them will continue this season and hopefully for many more to come. The management has changed, things evolve, that’s normal. We’ve been chatting closely with them and by the sounds of it this year could be huge if everything goes to plan. We’re grateful to be included in their programming again, it’s an amazing club to play in.
You usually played the closing slot at these parties what are the pros and cons of playing last?
It’s a massive win win really. Been asked to close the terrace is one of the biggest honours we could be asked, especially when the line ups are so big and in a club with a global reputation. It does mean we miss out on watching other acts as we normally don’t arrive at the club till very late but that’s a small price to pay to finish off Space terrace.
Ibiza gets a lot of bad press these days but the island is still an incredible place. What did you love about living there?
It’s unfortunate that Ibiza gets some bad press, it’s mainly the politics surrounding the clubs, promoters, and parties. There are so many great sides to Ibiza that get over looked and special places which you will only discover from being there a while or asking the locals. We particularly like swimming at Atlantis if you can find it 😉 and then catching sunsets over Es Vedra afterwards.
Would you consider PBR a well-oiled machine during a set, or do you still cross wires sometimes?
We’ve both been playing for over fifteen years now, over ten of those together, it’s definitely a well oiled machine. We’re very in tune with one another every time we play.
How does the production process work between you two, is it a free-for-all of ideas or do you keep things quite structured?
It definitely has structure, we both bring different elements to the table. One of us will get a basic idea, some loops or interesting part before coming into the studio, that way there is something to work with straight away. Once we get into a flow things can move quickly. We try to vary which kit we use depending on the sound and style we are trying to achieve. The process tends normally to be a lot of fun.
Do you have more fun when you’re touring together as opposed to as solo acts? Do you get the chance to go site-seeing holding hands, or is it from hotel room to booth and back again?
Haha, holding hands! I don’t know about other acts but we have a lot of fun. We always make a conscious effort to check out everywhere we visit. Tom’s a bit of a ‘Japanese tourist’, always taking photos.
How is PBR Streetgang music different from your individual projects?
Weather it’s PBR or solo projects they both have a certain direction, a vision of where they sit musically. Each of the PBR Streetgnag and Bonar Bradberry has it’s own style and signature sounds within the tracks that give each it’s own individual stamp….we worked that out from the beginning.
Your funky, disco influenced deep house sound is hugely popular and a lot of younger listeners are discovering funk and disco through this revival. What artists from decades past could you recommend to them, to begin a discovery of the music which has inspired your own?
There is an amazing documentary called ‘Maestro’ which tells the story of New Yorks underground disco scene from the seventies, it’s pretty much like a bible to us.
We both respect the old US disco jocks… Danny Krivit, Joe Claussell, Nicky Siano and Theo Parrish. They don’t come over to the UK that much any more but we recommend you got check them out if you get the chance. Also you could never go wrong with reading a couple of books like “Love Saves The Day” by Tim Lawrence, “The Disco Files” by Vince Alietti and of course the most famous “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life” by Bill Brewster. these are great on giving you perspective on the whole thing.
You’re playing Gottwood Festival in the woods this year. What stands out for you about this event?
We’ve always wanted play Gottwood, the line ups are spot on year on year, normally a really good mix of quality underground acts from different genres, It’s great to be included on the 5th birthday. We have no idea what to expect but we know it’s going to be a lot of fun.
More PBR? Check them out on
Or catch them play at Gottwood on the 19th of June in Wales.
More info about Gottwood HERE
