Roi Turbo

Roi Turbo — the new project of South African-born, London-based electronic duo of brothers Benjamin & Conor McCarthy — present their new single, “Super Hands.” In contrast to the ‘80s South African Bubblegum disco-inspired “Bazooka,” released late last year and named a “Song You Need to Know” by Rolling Stone, “Super Hands” is an immersive ‘90s progressive house-inspired track with hypnotic synth riffs and a thick underlying groove. In the band’s words, “‘Super Hands’ is the warehouse industrial side of Roi Turbo with its modular sequencing and hard hitting drum machines. We were keen to experiment and mix warehouse dance with guitars and live percussion. We’ve always loved that progressive ‘90’s sound and had fun trying to make it fit into the Turbo world.”

Roi Turbo was formed in their home city of Cape Town in 2020. Ben came from an electronic background as a producer and DJ, and became a mainstay in the club circuit in and around their hometown. Conor, meanwhile, came from a band background, playing in alt-rock and alt-pop outfits. The two had always wanted to start a dance project together, dating back to when they were in high school. During COVID lockdown, the chance presented itself. The brothers moved back in together and wrote music with no real agenda, just the two of them with time on their hands, having fun writing music that felt the most natural to them. “We were listening to ‘70s and ‘80s African disco and funk records at the time, and the contrast between the synths and raw live elements of these records really inspired us,” say Ben & Conor, who are also quick to note the likes of Larry Levan, William Onyeabor, Air and Pino D’Angiò as musical inspiration. “Over the years we bought as many synths, drums, guitars and microphones as we could get our hands on and would experiment for weeks on end until we got the sound we were going for. This combination of analog gear has now become a staple in the Roi Turbo sound.”