Man in the mask, Death of Hi Fi’s Andy Hill, tells Tim Hughes that theduo's dance-fuelled hip hop comes from the dark side

MYSTERIOUS, dark and enigmatic, Death of Hi Fi make an impressive impact.

Hidden behind golden masks they look faceless and unemotional, but their music is anything but.

The West Oxfordshire production team create stirring melodies and wall-trembling beats overlain with slick hip hop vocals. It’s deep, dangerous and exhilarating. And we can’t get enough of it.

But who, or what, are the musicians behind the masks?

“We make a squall of noise,” says Andy Hill – otherwise known as DJ AH:Kane - who provides the vocals to bandmate Dan Clear’s instrumentation. “It’s got a hip hop feel and mentality, but we are equally at home throwing in bits of dance music or progressive rock. And it’s a very visual experience.

“We’ve got a huge range of influences ranging from electronica and hip hop to punk and reggae, while Dan comes from a rock and metal background. So we just throw everything in and see what comes out. “I know everyone says this, but we just make the music we want to make rather than a specific genre.”

Andy, a computer expert and former B-boy and breakdancer, started out as an MC. He also helps out at the Base 33 youth centre in Witney. He was introduced to Dan in the town’s Rapture record shop a couple of years ago.

They soon realised they had similar musical tastes and teamed up. “We were talking about our influences and realised we shared the same love for things outside music, such as old low-budget BBC science fiction programmes,” says Andy.

Dan who was formerly in a metal band, is a multi-instrumental wizard, playing guitar, bass and live loops.

“He had moved to the area and had some beats he wanted to share but didn’t know any rappers,” says Andy. “It has been really cool working together.”

With four EPs already under their belts, the lads have a new album, Anthropcene, already available as a download and set for physical release in the new year. And, with its combination of light and dark, it is typically Death of Hi Fi. “We marry some quite hard industrial sounds with quite nice melodies,” says Andy. “Though we can’t write happy songs; we’ve tried but they sound really cheesy and terrible.

“There’s a beauty in darkness in some ways and I get a lot of solace from it. I was probably the only person to read Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and find it uplifting.”

So where do the masks come from? “We wanted to be visual,” he says. “The music is not about us and the masks make us a faceless unit – like Daft Punk, Kratfwerk or Deadmau5.

“They look good, and they provide an element of theatre – but can be a nightmare to play in, because, when the lights go down, you can’t see anything out of them.

"And when I MC I do have to take the mask off!”

  • Anthropocene by Death of Hi Fi is out now on itunes. For more details go to deathofhifi.co.uk