UK dance duo Sigma find success on their own terms

Sigma’s Joe Lenzie talks about the positive new single Forever

UK dance duo Sigma was formed when Cameron Edwards and Joe Lenzie (L-R) met at Leeds University in 2006. Courtesy Zero Gravity

Sigma is set to ring in 2018 on an uplifting note. The UK duo, made up of DJs and producers Joe Lenzie and Cameron Edwards, will headline Zero Gravity’s New Year’s Eve beachside bash in Dubai on Sunday and they have just the anthem for the occasion.

Recently released, Forever is a sublimely catchy dance and hip-hop mash up featuring Quavo from the in-vogue rap trio Migos.

Over building synths and sky-high chorus, the song is rallying call to let go of past mistakes and embrace new opportunities.

While creating a New Year hit wasn’t on their minds when penning the song, Lenzie says the duo was aiming for a positive vibe with the new tune.

“The song, for us anyway, is about looking forward and giving it your best no matter what” he says. “Also, a lot of times rappers can say quite negative things. But if you hear what Quavo is saying on this song, he is talking about going out there, make money and smashing it as an entrepreneur and we live by that ethos every day.”

And it is clearly working for the lads. Ever since forming in 2006 - after Lenzie and Edwards met at Leeds University - Sigma steadily built a following with a series of innovative remixes of tracks by Ellie Goulding, Skepta and Groove Amada. The break through arrived with the 2013 single Rudeboy which garnered a buzz big enough for the follow up release, Nobody to Love topping the singles chart upon release.

The most satisfying aspect of it all, Lenzie states, is that it was all done through their own label Life Recordings. With Sigma coming up in a time before dance music became a cultural juggernaut, the initiative provided them with a creative life-line.

“The reality was, at that time, nobody was interesting in putting our music out,” he says.

“We believed in what we were doing and that’s why we did the label. We wanted people to enjoy the music as much as we did creating it and that eventually came into fruition.”

Lenzie is aware that we are in the heady midst of a dance music explosion, a time that has Sigma’s brand of ebullient beats sell out stately venues such as the Royal Albert Hall earlier this year.

With music trends arriving in cycles, he doesn’t fear the upcoming time where dance music loses its popular appeal.

“If you are a good record producer you need to adapt to a lot of different styles. Once you can do then you will never really find yourself out of work,” he says.

“Ultimately if you have a good ear and knows what’s popular at the time then you are always going to be okay.”

Sigma will join Jax Jones in performing on Sunday at the New Year's Eve Beach Festival at Zero Gravity at Dubai Marina. Doors open at 7pm. Tickets begin from Dh295 from dubai.platinumlist.net

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