You know it had to happen, the song was far too dope not to have a video. Chromeo’s “Night By Night” released on Green Label Sound for free download is now accompanied by a video. The video was directed by Jeremie Rozan of Surface 2 Air (yes they have a design side in addition to the fashion line), Jeremie also worked on the “Tenderoni” video and the artwork for Fancy Footwork.

This video is ill. P-Thugg on the synth and vocoder, while ladies are lined up to pay to get a chance to get down with Dave 1…take your mind out the gutter folks, I’m talkin’ about dancing. Dave 1 shows off his fancy footwork and the man has skills. No doubt our very own Mona will wet her panties watching him gyrate. According to the group, all the female dancers in the video were all casted through Chromeo’s Facebook page, now that’s pretty damn cool.

A-Trak grew up with being labeled a child DJ prodigy by many, but despite that heavy label, he’s been able to deliver above and beyond anybody’s expectations. Constantly coming up dopness to give us eargasms on projects like Sunglasses is a Must, to Dirty South Dance and now Infinity + 1 and his Fabriclive mix. Expanding beyond his own music he co-founded record label Fool’s Gold Records with friend and fellow DJ, Nick Catchdubs and discovering KiD CuDi. He’s currently on his 10,000lb Hamburger Tour which features Fool’s Gold DJ, Treasure Fingers and Theophilus London, which is stopping throughout various cities in North America.

Killahbeez: A-Trak, thanks for taking the time to do this interview.

A-Trak: All good…

KB: Lets’ talk Infinity +1, how does this project differ from Dirty South Dance, which was a personal favorite on repeat for a straight year.

A-Trak: Thanks man. This mix CD is completely different. The whole concept of Dirty South Dance was based on bootlegs that I was making with rap acapellas and electro tracks. That was a new sound in 2007 but I can’t do that anymore. Infinity +1 is much more based on the montage of songs itself, rather than the individual songs. And musically it’s in another vein.

KB: It seems that this new release features more of an electro/disco/house vibe to it. Is that reflective of your personal taste has evolved over the years?

A-Trak: Yeah that’s correct , it’s got a sort of spacey vibe to it. Of course my taste and my selections evolve with time. Up until 5 years ago I was mostly playing hip hop. Around the time that I put out my DVD (Sunglasses Is A Must) and did that tour with The Rub I started playing more party sets. When I made the Dirty South Dance CD I was getting interested in electronic music. I’ve dug deeper into that since then and now I think I pick and choose from all those areas and pick my selections depending on the context.

KB: In an interview that our writer, AJK, did with your brother, Dave 1, they touched on how Chromeos’ sound and your sound are starting to fall in line. Growing up how much of an influence did your older brother play in the music that you listened to? Do you two still bounce material off of one another?

A-Trak: Dave played a huge influence on me when we were growing up, in terms of listening to music. Basically I would listen to whatever he and his friends were listening to. Now we share a lot of music. Yes he’s definitely the first person to hear my demos and give me feedback, and vice versa for Chromeo.

KB: Switching topics to fashion. It’s clear that you have an appreciation for fashion, you’ve modeled for Sixpack’s lookbook, what was that experience like and are you doing more stuff down the road?

A-Trak: Doing the Sixpack lookbook was fun, I’ve collaborated with that brand many times over the years so I’m always happy to do more stuff with them. I’ve been asked by more brands but I turn down a lot of things. I actually wear Sixpack tees so it made sense for me to do that shoot.

KB: Staying on the topic of fashion, you hit up Paris for fashion week. Which shows were you able to take in and were there any pieces that stood out in your mind?

A-Trak: Yeah I went to Paris fashion week with Kanye. It was women’s fashion week though I can’t really recall specific pieces, it was more about taking in all the creativity. I saw Givenchy, YSL, Hussein Chalayan, Viktor & Rolf and Sonia Rykiel.

KB: Going back to music, I’ve heard that you and Solange Knowles are working on some music and a record between yourself and Armand Van Helden. Are there any other collaborations or remixes that you have planned next?

A-Trak: Yes I worked on a track with Solange and I’m sure we’ll do more. She’s a great writer and has a very open mind. Sure there are more collaborations planned but I won’t tell you everything! I will tell you that I just completed an EP with Armand Van Helden which is coming out on Fool’s Gold.

KB: What else is on the agenda for A-Trak?

A-Trak: Wrapping up a few remixes and I’m going to start on an A-Trak record soon.

KB: Any departing words for the readers out there? Thanks again for taking the time.

A-Trak: Support Fool’s Gold! Kid Sister album coming soon. Thanks for the support.

Photo: Matt Barnes

After a year’s hiatus, I decided to head back down to sunny South Beach for WMC 2009.  As the days close in, the folks that run the Winter Music Conference publishes a master list of events.  First thing I noticed at a local bodega was this year’s publication was a pamphlet in comparison to previous years Frank151 mini mag style guides.  Although, having a game plan is to your advantage, you can wing it and still have a fun time.   Just watch out for the tourist-ready alcoholic beverages averaging in at 16 dollars, half priced lunches and breakfast but with a caveat of ridiculously expensive coffee, oj and iced tea.  This is to be expected as a trade off for the hotel poolside cabanas, people watching seats on Ocean Drive and of course the clear blue water/white sand combo in Miami.

As far as music goes, this was my outlet for lots and lots of deep house, broken beat and of course electro pop.  My friends and I planned on hitting up several parties throughout the day until we couldn’t stand anymore.  One piece of advice, if your hotel is in SOBE, stay in SOBE.  The taxis have no issue taking you on the “tourist” route to cross the MacArthur Causeway.  Some parties were a bust aka Tuesday Night at Laundry Bar and Friday Night at White Room.  However, there were some events that stood out and made WMC 09 memorable.

One such event was the Sander Kleinenberg yacht party.  Thoughts of waiting in long lines at Epcot or Universal Studios came to mind and gave me a chuckle.  First, my friends and I walked from 9th and Collins to the Shelborne Resort to redeem our tickets.  One line at the hotel lobby takes you upstairs to the Wanttickets.com suite.  From there, another line gets in contact with a customer service rep.  Next step, much like a reality tv show challenge was to hail a $40 dollar cab ride to the docks before 3:30.  Arrival yielded two more lines to get onto the Biscayne Lady.  But the wait was worthwhile as the food appeased my palate.  The all you can drink bar also came in handy to enjoy progressive house by Sander.  My group and I were definitely loving every aspect of the yacht party.  The rest of Thursday night was a mix between a blur and being woken up to head down to Heathrow Lounge for an event called Sonic Boom.

Friday was a free for all.  I had no game plan other than to hit the Scion Party at the Gansevoort South Resort featuring Annie Mac, A-Trak, Dj Medhi, Riton, Toddla T and Rusko.  However, during the daytime, I did notice Sephora had a line ready for j-pop songstress, Utada Hikaru.  Thanks to Japanator, this info was confirmed.  Half of me wishes I camped out like the nerd I am.

After a long day of exploring, I was able to catch the last leg of the Scion party with A-Trak ending his set and Dj Medhi beginning his.  Had we read the flyer, we would’ve avoided the dude playing top 40’s “hip pop” on the rooftop pool.  Thankfully, the friendliest security at the elevator guided us to the beach club where the Scion party was held. Guestlist, bah who needs it. Friendly foreign girl wanting photo op with me? Why the fuck not, all in good fun. $20 dollars for two Amstel lights gave a slight hiccup to the fun.

The rest of the night involved trying to hail a cab back down to 9th and Collins from 23rd ended in failure.  We walked roughly 16 blocks down only to return back to the Lincoln Road for Sushi Samba.  One hour wait stated the hostess.  Final destination: Sushi Siam where our eyes were hungrier than our bellies.  Afterwards, we made it out to The Shore Club where we finally caught Rusko’s set.  A cab ride to the White Room lead to a mediocre night.  Despite wanting to see Alan Braxe, Roy Davis Jr., and the Juan Maclean, I was just not feeling the venue.

Saturday – When I am looking for you, I call your number, but I can’t get through…
Spent most of the day at a nearby friend’s pool at the Marriott on 2nd and Ocean.  Then made it out to Taverna Opa for excellent Greek dining and entertainment.  This is where our nerd juices were overflowing with joy.  We actually asked the cab to get us to Rokbar right when doors opened at 10.  Who does that?  A fan of MODULAR mothafuckin Records does, thats who.  Our zealousness yielded a mini camp out as doors opened at 11, not 10.  But the venue is beautiful, Knightlife, Kim’s and Dan’s set was amazing.  Nothing could’ve gone wrong with this evening.  Well except overdoing it with jager shots.

The trip concluded with a super early shuttle ride to the airport Sunday Morning.  Lethargic days and affordable eating, here I come.  See below for some highlight photos taken collectively by my friends and myself.  On a side note, Dan Whitford of Cut Copy was nice enough to take a photo with my friend, SK.

First let’s start off with the video. Here’s the latest from Sébastien Tellier for his single “Kilometer”. The song, upbeat and sexual, the video doesn’t disappoint. With countless up close shots of women’s asses (in underwear, otherwise I would’ve labeled NSFW) and animated hot dogs acting playful and squirming around the women, yeah you read it. Seems like its just another day for our man Sébastien.

Now for the mini review of the Kilometer EP, so with this being an official single his PR folks were kind enough to send through his EP for us to listen to and review. One of the dubs is the A-Trak dub, which A-Trak himself has posted for downloading as well as us, that mp3 can be found here. There’s that dub version and there’s the remix version, the tracks are essentially the same but the dub has a lot more of the instrumental playing, while the remix itself has the vocals starting right at the beginning. The A-Trak remix is also co-produced by big brother and one half of Chromeo, Dave 1 (check out our interview with Dave 1).

The other two remixes on this EP include the Aeroplane ‘Italo 84′ and Arpanet remix. The Aeroplane remix is ridiciulously good. Right up there with A-Traks to be honest. Aeroplane does a great job of interpreting the song the way they felt it should be. The Arpanets remix is the complete opposite of both previous remixes. The Arpanet remix takes the track several bpms down and believe it or not makes it a little bit more nasty and sexual, I didn’t even think that was possible, it’s also much slower than the original. It’s a huge mind shift compared to the other two remixes, but stands on its own just as well.

Honestly this is one of the most solid EPs I’ve heard in a while, all the remixes and original tracks on it make it worth the purchase. Grab all 5 tracks from Amazon for only $4.45.

Be sure to catch Sébastien Tellier on tour now.

01/04/09 : LPR / New York City, USA
03/04/09 : 09:30 Club / Washington, USA
04/04/09 : Transit/ Philadelphia, USA
05/04/09 : Paradise / Boston, USA
07/04/09 : Cabaret Music Hall / Montreal, Canada
08/04/09 : The Mod Club / Toronto, Canada
09/04/09 : Empty Bottle / Chicago, USA
10/04/09 : Grinnell College Harris Center/ Grinnell, USA
13/04/09 : Chop Suey / Seattle, USA
14/04/09 : Richards on Richards / Vancouver, Canada
15/04/09 : Doug Fir Lounge / Portland, USA
17/04/09 : The Independent / San Francisco, USA
19/04/09 : Coachella Festival / Indio, USA

There’s something to be said about a musician who can almost effortlessly captivate you within just moments of their sounds gracing your ears. Whether you’re drawn in by the hypnotizing arpeggios, sweeping emotive strings or invigorating bass lines – the music of Laurent Heinrich aka Lifelike can simultaneously serve as the quintessential soundtrack to both a daydream and a night to remember.

With a discography of sonically impeccable original works and remixes drenched in unforgettable melody, its no mystery Lifelike’s approach to music has produced one of the most acclaimed sounds in recent memory – definitive yet timeless.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to interview him and inquire about his musical beginnings, process of production, inspirations and what the future holds for the France based producer.

Killahbeez: Let’s start with your name; Lifelike. What’s the significance behind it and/or how did you come up with it?

Lifelike: I wanted to do a little remix for myself of a track from Depeche Mode “Master And Servant”. I had sampled a short part in a break of the song where Dave Gahan was singing “Like life” I chopped it and swapped the words round to make “lifelike”, and thought that would be a cool name for my music project.

KB: From doing a bit of research I discovered that you have some classical training in piano and also played bass in high school – how and when did your relationship with samplers, drum machines, sequencers and of course synthesizers begin?

Lifelike: Yes I learned piano for 3 years and had a short career as a bass player in a band at school. It’s when I was playing in that band that I bought an Amiga computer and a sampling cartridge called “perfect sound”. I used music tracker and started to do my own music. It was quite simple at that time with only four tracks and a limited memory. Once you had sampled something in that computer it was never sounding like the source because you had to economise the memory to be able to have enough room to make enough samples to use. But I have good memories of this time. From there I went quite normally to buy a synthesizer to connect to the computer, and that is how I started to compose little tracks a bit more seriously.

KB: How influential would you say your early musical experiences were before you started producing electronic music?

Lifelike: It had and still has a huge impact in my way of seeing music. I still think in terms of doing a pop synth track more than doing something like “techno” if I can still use that word today. But at that time I wanted to do like my idols, the same music, I was sampling Cabaret Voltaire or Simple Minds, or whatever sounded great to use those loops and sound in my little tracks at home.

KB: Being a producer who uses plenty of vintage analog synthesizers, where do you stand on the seemingly endless Analog vs Virtual/VST debate?

Lifelike: Well I use both of them. I bought an Apple Macintosh computer for audio and plugins to open my music to new sounds. And I was amazed to discover that in between all those new software and vst instruments, they both have respective sounds of their own. I was thinking a computer cannot have a special kind of sound, not like an analog synth has, but in fact it has a specific sound, depending on how you use it and how you’re recording your sound. Both analog and digital are great.

KB: The melodies in your music are very distinct – however, in addition to melody and sequencing it’s clear that you put plenty of thought into processing the dynamics of the overall sound of your music – how important would say that aspect of production is in achieving the trademark Lifelike sound?

Lifelike: That’s a great question because you’re hitting a point here that is really important to me. The sound is what makes your production different from another producer, and could give a real value to your work. I take care of my sound in a very strong way.

If I listen to today’s productions, for example, in the Beatport global charts, most of those productions are done on a simple computer, I hear it, the sound is big but… it has no character and is hasn’t been worked in an interesting way. The sound is big because of the computer headroom in terms of computing power.

I think those producers aren’t working that much on composing great songs (many of those tracks in Beatport sounds like horrible 90’s one key one finger triggered), and they aren’t working on getting a great sound with character. They mostly use drum samples that you can find on a sample CD. It’s just bullshit music to me.

I worked on analog recordings in the past, and I learned there how to maximize the sound in order to adapt it to an analog recording, so it’s a completely different approach to producing and doing music. I don’t rely on my computer to do the job like most of today’s producers seem to do. And dynamics isn’t only created by a simple magical compressor connected to your mixdesk; it’s more than this. It’s where the sources come from and how you treat them individually. All those things are making, I guess, my way of processing a mixdown, and I still mix on analog desks, that’s maybe my trademark, in terms of sound I mean.

KB: If you had to narrow it down, what would you say are the centerpieces or favorite pieces of gear in your studio ?

Lifelike: Well I still use an old Emulator IV sampler just because it gives an amazing sound to whatever you sample.

KB: With quite the run of notable remixes in your discography, how do you approach remixes and how does that process differ from producing your on original songs?

Lifelike: I try to give the band or the artist I’m remixing my kind of sound on some ways. They will end up with my influences. The thing I love to do is to play around with those influences. Like with the band Chromeo, I wanted to send them back to 85 by using the same kind of technique in the mix that they were using at that time, like those handclaps with reverb. The main voice even has a reverb on it etc… it’s a lot of fun to do!

KB: On the topic of remixing, how important would you say your remix work has been in the almost exponential rise in your international profile over the last while? What are a few of the favorite ones you’ve produced?

Lifelike: Really important, as it’s the Needy Girl remix I did for Chromeo that really sent me all those new remix proposals right after it was played daytime on BBC Radio 1 in the UK. I think the ones I did for The Presets (This Boy’s In love), Does It Offend You, Yeah! (Epic Last Song) and Chromeo are my favorites.

KB: You’ve often cited much of the Manchester underground scene and many iconic Post Punk / New wave artists such as Cabaret Voltaire and New Order as major inspirations – however, you also mention 80’s Michael J. Fox and James Spader films as sources of inspiration and even released material under the alias Ferris Bueller – how do these particular sources of inspiration translate into your production?

Lifelike: Manchester or Sheffield’s 70’s/80s musical scene are really vital to me. For me it all came out of there, in terms of pop synth music as well as techno music in the late 80/early 90’s. Factory records, Mute and ZTT were THE labels of the 80’s and, they had so many hits in the charts. The best is that it was really good music, no commercial bullshit like today, real artists working hard for their music.

I love New Order. It’s amazing when you think that in ‘83 they were topping the charts with Blue Monday, a track totally produced with sampling and drum machines that sounds still amazing today; it’s a masterpiece. How many electronic records can you still play 25 years after in clubs?

KB: With regards to more contemporary sources of inspiration – who are some artists that you feel are making great music these days?

Lifelike: I’m thinking about that Australian label, Modular. They have that rock’n roll music approach, and damn they are filling the rooms when their bands are playing, and its nothing like PC computer music for geeks. Again we’re talking about real musicians with huge talents. Like Van She, The Presets, Metronomy on Virgin Rec, or MGMT (those are great too) or closer to me, Alan Braxe.

KB: You toured throughout 2008 with some dates in North America and seem to have some pretty busy months ahead with dates in Australia and throughout Europe. Initially coming from a producer background, how does it feel to play your own music during a DJ set and hear the crowd cheer in response?

Lifelike: In America the crowd is really amazing, I don’t wanna hurt any national sensibilities, but they were reacting like hell to our music, I was touring with Alan Braxe last summer for 5 dates and we were really amazed by the fact that they knew all our tracks by heart! They even sung on stuff like “so much love to give”. Next revolution of electronic music will be in the USA soon. You can feel that people have a real interested approach to our music, especially what they call French Touch. And it hasn’t to do with that kind of fashionista or hype, no they really came for having fun, not for showing themselves.

KB: Your upcoming release “Sunset” and “Sequencer” are being released on Alan Braxe’s Vulture Records sometime in February 2009, what can you tell us about these two songs beforehand?

Lifelike: I guess it’s quite a different EP from what you heard before from me, like Discopolis. “Sunset” wasn’t supposed to be on the A-side of the record but Alan loved the track so much that I decided to switch and put “Sequencer” on the B-side. “Sunset” was first an instrumental, and I was thinking why not put some vocals on it, so we contacted Yota. She already had a strong background and experience in our kind of music, and most important of all, a great voice that would suit the project. And it ended up being a vocal track, but still not like a full pop song, I think it’s still a not commercial track. “Sequencer” is more of a classic kind of Lifelike track in terms of style. I don’t have any clue on how people will react to this release. Only the future will tell.

KB: What else does this year hold for Lifelike? What about the future in general? What are some goals you aim to conquer as a producer as your career progresses?

Lifelike: I don’t see things at all in term of goals and a career plan you know… but this year I will have to tour a bit more just because we have quite a lot of requests for that and because it’s the way things seems to go on now for me. I’ll do less remixes because you can never do them all from one year to another. I had my time with that last year, so this year I will concentrate more on my music. I have a project with the band Chromeo as well, a co-production on one track and a maybe quite soon a new EP.

KB: Thanks for the interview and all the best in 2009 & beyond – the success is well deserved.

Lifelike: Thank you

Lifelike website: www.lifelike-music.com
Lifelike MySpace: www.myspace.com/lifelikevulture

Lifelike has also decided to exclusively share his new track “Sunset” featuring Yota with all our Killahbeez readers. Make sure to support Lifelike and buy Sunset / Sequencer coming out on Monday February 9th.

Treasure Fingers, the name has been synonymous with great dance music in 07/08. From dropping his own gems, “Its Your Turn” and possibly electro track of the year, well for me anyways, “Cross the Dancefloor” and not to mention the numerous banging remixes that he continually drops. My personal favorites being Chromeo’s “100%”, Empire of The Sun’s “Walking On A Dream” and even making Fergie’s “Glamorous” palatable. The man consistently keeps people shaking their asses whether its on the dancefloor or in the privacy of their own home. With that kind of resume we can definitely expect more hotness coming out in 2009 and it’s already started with Treasure Fingers remix of Miike Snows‘ “Animal”, heard here. In anticipation of him coming to Vancouver on January 23rd to Celebrities (tickets at www.blueprintevents.ca), we caught up with the man known as Treasure Fingers to talk about his remixes, plans for an album and for the gear heads, we touch on what equipment he uses in the lab.

KB: First off, thanks for taking the time to do this interview with us. So tell us a bit about yourself and how you got started in producing and DJing electronic dance music?

Treasure Fingers: I started with hip hop and experimental stuff when I was really young, 14 or so, on my dad’s drum machine and 4track. Around 16, I lost interest and started playing in punk/hardcore bands. I didn’t really get serious with dance music production & DJing until I was 17 or 18 and my band had broken up. I liked that I could fill the creative musical void by writing, producing, & DJing solo.

KB: You have an interesting name, Treasure Fingers, and before that you were know as The Enemy, tell us about those names, what was the inspiration behind them?

TF: Some friends of mine and I just kicked around some names and Treasure Fingers seemed to be the most popular. I still wasn’t completely sold on it at first but I really like it now. It’s taken over me. ‘The Enemy’ actually started out as NME-5, my first DJ name. I quickly grew out of that and changed it. I still use the The Enemy moniker for some hip-hop/extra production.

KB: Which musical genres as well as artists do you find gives you inspiration? And what kind of influence has coming from the south, Atlanta, had on your style of music if any?

TF: I listen to almost everything and it all influences me at least a little bit. For Treasure Fingers, 80’s funk and disco is the biggest point of influence. I think a lot of the r&b and rap I listen to comes through a little also. I love southern rap, and the vibe of the Atlanta club music scene and (I) hope a little of that comes across through my music.

KB: How did you meet up with the folks at Fools’ Gold and A-Trak and eventually getting signed to the label?

TF: I had quite a few mutual friends but what actually brought it all together was A-Trak sending me a MySpace message saying something like “hey! I like your music and run a label, are you interested (in) releasing some records with us?”. Since then, I’ve become good friend with A-Trak, Nick Catchdubs and the rest of the Fool’s Gold family; they’re all really good people.

KB: Ok so straight up I have to say I love your track “Cross the Dancefloor”, when I first heard it I was quite blown away. The melodies and production work are ridiculous. What was the process of making that track?

TF: Thanks! It started out as just an instrumental filter disco house type track. Then one day I decided to try to put vocals on it. The next day I thought it might be cool to have some girl vocals responding back to my male vocals. The overall production is pretty simple, just a clean kind of poppy track. There’s a sample in there (the filtered disco part during the first breakdown), but I played the rest of the synths, bass, drums and built the track up around the sample just in case we couldn’t get it cleared. Luckily, it got cleared and I’m blown away at how well the song as done thus far.

KB: Recently you remixed Chromeo’s track “100%” and they remixed your track “Cross the Dancefloor”, how did that partnership come about? Were you always into Chromeos’ stuff prior to Fool’s Gold?

TF: Yeah, for sure. I first heard of Chromeo from some DJ mix they had released years ago. Lots of old classic 80s funk, I didn’t know they were writing or producing their own stuff until I heard “Needy Girl”. I love their work, great guys too. I didn’t meet or get in touch with them until Fool’s Gold signed “Cross the Dancefloor”. A-Trak hit me up one day and said his brother and P-Thugg loved it and he wanted to get them to remix it. My remix for them came through some Bacardi promotion they were coordinating with Vice Records, I got asked if I wanted to remix “100%” and of course agreed to it. “100%” is one of my favorites off that album.

KB: As is mine, and that remix of yours is also bananas.

KB: For all the gear heads out there, what do you use to create tracks / remixes?

TF: I use a PC running Cubase SX 3, I know I need to upgrade to 4, as my main sequencer. As far as instruments, I use a lot of VSTs, some hardware synths (Roland JX3P, Roland Alpha Juno-1, Yamaha DX100, Korg MS10), a couple guitars (Gibson SG, Fender Strat), Heil Talk Box, MPC 2000xl, Fender Rhodes mark V, and a lot of other smaller fun things.

KB: In an interview that I checked out between you and Kill The Noise you mentioned that you wanted to move towards more of a live show by the end of the year, is that something that’s still in the works?

TF: Definitely! The live show won’t be ready for a while though. I’m concentrating on finishing the album now, but once it’s done I’m going to focus on putting the band together and hitting the road.

KB: So staying on topic with the album, when can fans expect it? Or has touring been taking up a lot of your time?

TF: Touring and remixing has been taking up all my time lately. Next year will be the time for a full-length album. I have a lot of tracks half finished & demo tracks already, I just need to pick out the best and finish them.

KB: What are some of your upcoming projects and collaborations that you can talk about?

TF: Not too much I can talk about right now really. I just finished a bunch of new remixes that should be coming out over the next several months. You can check my MySpace (www.myspace.com/treasurefingers) or website and see the full list of remixes I’ve done to date. I’m currently finishing one for Miami Horror “Don’t Be On With Her” for Virgin/EMI in Australia.

KB: So with your busy schedule are you still involved with or plan to work with Evol Intent?

TF: Yes, we have a live show we’ve been doing at bigger events and festivals. We’re working on new material now, and also doing a couple new remixes. One is for Shiny Toy Guns “Ghost town” and the other is a dubstep remix of Tech Itch & Kemal “The Calling”.

KB: Dope. So changing course, what are Treasure Fingers current top 5 tracks that you can’t stop listening to?

TF: Drop Out Orchestra “Gibbon”, D’Stephanie “Rock the Disco”, Van She “Kelly (Breakbot remix)”, JR Disco “What Cha Going To Do”, Matt Hughes “Can’t Talk Now”

KB: Thanks again for taking the time to do this interview.

TF: No Problem, Thank you!

Treasure Fingers website: www.treasurefingers.com
Treasure Fingers MySpace:www.myspace.com/treasurefingers

Treasure Fingers “Cross The Dancefloor”

Chromeo “100%” Treasure Fingers B-Live Pemberton Mix

A Peace Treaty just released new scarves from the 2008 holiday collection.  All scarves are hand made in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Africa.  All proceeds are donated to Counterpart International to provide supplies to Darfur.

The scarves start at $89.00 and goes up from there.  I bought a scarf from A Peace Treaty last year.  It’s a pricey tag but worth every dollar due to the attention to detail and craftsmanship, not to mention the charitable giving to Darfur.

I just noticed that Dave 1 from Chromeo modeling some of the scarves from their website.

Source: A Peace Treaty

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to link up for lunch with Dave 1 whom I’m sure many of you know is 1/2 of Chromeo, the beloved and infectiously dope electro-funk duo pictured above.

I ordered the grilled chicken panini and a diet Coke, he ordered the smoked turkey wrap and an orange juice – Then I pressed record and the following conversation spanning everything from the beginnings of the band to the current state of hip-hop is what transpired…

You used to be a part of the Audio Research record label back in the early/mid ‘90s – When and how did the expansion from hip-hop focused production to the variety of elements we currently see in Chromeo begin?

Um I kinda felt like… it was weird, like different things at once. The audio research thing was a vehicle for some of the stuff I was producing and my brother was cutting on. I guess like maybe in 2000, I kinda wasn’t as prolific in my hip-hop production as much. It was the beginning of keyboard beats and I didn’t know how to make them – and I didn’t really like them…haha. I remember like Jay-Z’s Blueprint coming out and those tracks had samples in them, but they also had tonnes of keyboards and I was like, “Man, should I buy a [Korg] Triton and try and do a Just Blaze kinda thing?” I wasn’t really into it ‘cause my shit was always from the more hip-hop production school of the Pete Rock’s and SP1200’s. Even if you look at the last obscure disorder single, which was our marquis group at Audio Research – I didn’t even produce it. My brother produced it, I was doing less and less and you know, right at that same time the Chromeo deal came about and P-Thugg and I were working on that and I just felt more fulfilled working on that.

It sort of just happened – I moved here [New York], I was getting into different kinds of music. I wasn’t as stimulated by the idea of producing hip-hop as much as the Chromeo stuff. We did one show here that went really crazy and got offered record deals and stuff – so it kinda naturally transitioned. The Chromeo stuff was just more stimulating for me at that point. I mean, at first I had no idea it was going to become my main thing but now I can’t even see myself producing a hip-hop track – even though I still listen to it as much as before. It’s just that the style of production that I know how to do is way too throwback and I wouldn’t really want to try any of the new stuff.

The two of you have been friends since childhood, but when did you start working together musically? What are your particular musical backgrounds?

Our friendship was built around music. We became friends because we played in the same high school band. Ours has been a musically bred friendship. We’ve always been doing stuff. When I was producing hip-hop, P taught me how to use the [Akai] S-950. He taught me how to use a sequencer. He taught me how to use all my samplers. He’d come to all the mixes and stuff too. I mean, even though he didn’t really co-produce anything with me, he was always there in the background and behind the scenes getting involved. So when we started doing Chromeo, it was my idea of like, “Let’s co-produce music together.” It was that simple.

My musical background was more growing up listening to rock and learning guitar and then discovering funk and soul music with P with our high school band. At the same time, we were getting heavy into hip-hop and producing hip-hop. P was more into hip-hop back in the Kid N Play days. He stopped fuckin’ with it around 92 and he got into funk then. Contrary to what people think, P doesn’t really listen to hip-hop.

Yeah, image-wise everyone would probably assume…

Yeah, I’m the hip-hop dude!!…He doesn’t listen to hip-hop.

Alright, so that being said, who usually does what in terms of the production and songwriting process, programming the drums, synths, bass etc?

We both do a lot of that, but it really varies from track to track ‘cause we both can program drums, we both can play synths and bass. We can pretty much play any instrument in our studio. The only thing that stays the same is that I’m more of the songwriting, melody, chorus, song structure kinda guy and he’s more the sound engineer kinda guy.

Like I could play a line, but I don’t really know how to get a good sound on any keyboard so that’s really what he does. All the keyboards are at his house and I’ll be like, “Alright, give me a bass sound like ‘Billy Jean,’” and he’ll do it. And whether he plays the bass or I do, it doesn’t matter. He’s the sound crafter and I’m more of the song writing, lyrics, melody – but everything else we split. It really depends from song to song. Some songs he does almost all the music, some songs I’ll do almost all the music – it really depends.

This is somewhat of a tangent, but I guess since we’re having lunch out here by Columbia University Campus, maybe you can inform those that don’t know why you’re somewhat of a modern day renaissance man?

I’m finishing a PhD here at Columbia – and yeah…haha…you know, studying to become a professor – so hopefully that’ll happen. For the first time, just this year, music has become something that say, if I wanted to not go to school, I could probably just do – but I’ve never wanted to just do music, so school is still my main thing.

Do you lecture at all and have students recognize you or anything like that?

Yeah, I mean, they’re discrete enough to not make a big deal out of it. After class they’ll be like, “Hey! I like this, I like that.” You know, it happens, but it’s never really awkward. Students have always been very discrete and very delicate about it, and so am I.

With you and P living in different cities (P-Thugg resides in Montreal), does it get difficult staying sharp for shows and being in creation mode? Do you go back to Montreal to work on stuff?

Yeah, that’s what I do. Montreal is good ‘cause there are no distractions – you can kinda get into the vortex and just work on music all the time. But yeah, I go up there; we email stuff to each other. It’s been working. It’s a little bit slow, but at the same time it’s kinda become our way of working. So as long as I can go up there and we can block off a couple of weeks to bang out some stuff, we’ll be fine – and that’s what we’ve done.

One of my best memories in music… in my entire life, was December 2006, January 2007. I came up to Montreal and P and I basically were on deadline to finish the Fancy Footwork record. I was living in France at the time and you know everyone around me in France was doing music… really good music. I came home hungry and we just blocked off two weeks and did the Feist remix, “Momma’s Boy,” “Bonafied Lovin’,” “Outta Sight,” “Call Me Up” and the intro. It was wonderful and we were getting along great! I mean, we always do, but we were just really in a great creative state. I’d come home and play the stuff for my brother, play the stuff for my girl – we had no idea what to expect of the record cause we were just anxious. We were like, “Man, we don’t have another ‘Needy Girl!’” But if you look at now when we play shows, “Needy Girl” isn’t even the biggest song anymore!

So with initially being behind the boards for hip-hop production, how big of a leap was it to go from that to singing and performing live? Do you still remember your guys’ first show?

Yeah, I do. Our first show was Labour Day weekend in Montreal at a big rave in 2002… haha. It was pretty awkward. My brother went up and did the cuts on ”Needy Girl.” It was a big transition; I never really wanted to sing. I never considered myself a singer. I mean, we thought other people were gonna sing. We thought it [Chromeo] was gonna be more of a project, like we’d get other vocalists. We got a couple of vocalists and I wrote the songs, but it was never quite right and then we did “Mercury Tears” and I sang that on the vocoder and P was like, “That’s perfect!” Then we did ”Needy Girl” and that was really the first time I sang… in my life. And we just kept it like that, ya know? But it was a big transition – like the first shows you know, they were awkward and we’re still a little bit… no we’re not haha… but I mean, I don’t know, it was a big transition. For years, I hated touring; I’ve only started to kinda enjoy it now. For the first few years I hated it.

You mean it was physically draining or you just weren’t into it?

Well ya, we just weren’t into playing the same songs over and over. Keep in mind, this is at first – we’re playing mostly crowds who weren’t so into us – things only started changing with this one [Fancy Footwork]. It was always a bit of a struggle at first, like a long uphill climb.

The first show we did in New York was one of my craziest memories.

It went off really well?

Yeah, it was crazy – like no one knew us, but they got all the references. It was at the Bowery Ballroom. We weren’t the headliner or anything. We were opening for that guy, The Streets. It was crazy.

You guys played Coachella this year and it seems like you guys have quite a few other large festival performances locked down. Compared to the more intimate shows full of solidified fans, how different is it playing to a crowd that could consist of some people who may not be completely familiar with your stuff?

It’s like that at festivals. You come and you play to people who are there sometimes to see you, sometimes not. Its good, ‘cause you know, we don’t want to get spoiled by hard-ticket shows like the Commodore in Vancouver, where everybody is there to see us already. But at a festival it’s like some of them just stepped in and some are there for us. You can’t really tell in the whole tent who’s really a hater or not – but its good. It keeps you on your toes and forces you to really step your game up. At a festival, you never get to sound check and there are other bands, so it’s competitive. It’s good. It’s a healthy way to put what you have to the test.

Coachella went really amazing. What’s crazy is that we had huge sound problems for three songs and people didn’t notice! The next day, we kept getting comments and comments on how amazing it was. But like, the first three songs, I fuckin’ had a hernia cause the sound problems! Luckily, it got fixed!

When it comes to your guys’ music videos, along with a lot of other electronic-ish artists, you seem to constantly set the bar in terms of creativity – How active are you in the actual creative direction and production of them?

I stay very active, I mean, in the band we split duties. P does all the accounting, business managing and tour managing himself!

Wow!

Yeah, he’s very hands-on like that. He’s got formal training as an accountant, so I trust him more than anyone. I’ll take care of a lot of meetings with the record labels and being my manager’s sidekick a little bit. The videos are a lot of what I do as well. I stay involved, but I also know how to delegate to directors and trust them. The problem is, we always have such small budgets…

Well, from a completely objective perspective, they’re all done really well, regardless of budget constraints.

Yeah, but it’s always a struggle. It’s always a fuckin struggle. And looking back, it’s really… they’re always a nightmare. It’s hard, man! There are not that many videos I see from other bands that are, you know, phenomenal. So it’s hard to kinda fight for that spot all the time.

I don’t know… there are some, but they’re few and far between, ya know? We should be getting the “Momma’s Boy” video next week. It’s all hand drawn animation, black and white -very different for us.

So you have the “Needy Girl,” “Tenderoni,” “Bonafied Lovin’,” “Fancy Footwork” and now “Momma’s Boy,” but there are quite a few amateur ones on YouTube that fans have done too.

Yeah, but we’re really into that.

People interpreting your music?

Yeah, whenever we get emails like, “Can we use a song for a school project or video?” we always say yes. Another thing we do is, we gave out a bunch of acapellas, and that’s why there’s like hundreds of remixes, unofficial ones. But some of them are great! Some of them are better than ones we paid money for.

I remember as a hip-hop producer, how happy I was when I’d buy a 12-inch and there’d be an acapella cause I could put it over my beats, ya know? And I wish things were as interactive back when I was producing hip-hop like they are now. So I just try to encourage any kid that’s on the come up. We’ll give ‘em our parts and be like, “Have fun, go crazy.”

How did the relationship with Surface to Air come about?

Well, the relationship with them came about when I lived in Paris. When I moved to Paris last year, I was going to help them launch Vice [magazine] in France ‘cause, you know, I’ve been working for Vice… Well, I stopped this year, but I was working for Vice for like 10 years almost. So I was gonna help them launch it and the publisher for Vice France at the time was the boss/owner over at Surface to Air. On top of that, he was also an old friend of my boy Willo who used to be my art director and business partner at Audio Research. So I kinda knew him and we clicked and I was like, “I’d love for you to do the album artwork.” He was really into the idea and it was a phenomenal thing. He’s one of the only guys whom I’ll let dictate a concept. It’s the first time we weren’t really hands on for a project with that cover [Fancy Footwork] and we were thrilled with how it came out. It actually felt great to be able to delegate and get results that we love. Then we did the “Tenderoni” video, and now, we’re actually doing a clothing project with them.

Other than the “Tenderoni” video and Fancy Footwork album artwork, what else is in the works?

I don’t know if you saw, but they just did the leather jackets for Justice…

Yeah, those turned out dope.

Yeah, we’re doing the same.

Your younger brother A-Trak (who is also Kanye’s Dj) is now quite heavily into production and really building a following for himself and the Fool’s Gold camp in that aspect. How much overlap do you see in your fans now that you’re a bit closer in terms of the style of music you guys are both producing?

That’s a good question. A lot now, I feel like… man… It’s hard to evaluate, but I feel like most of his fans now are into us as well. I mean, my brother is constantly switching and constantly building.

It kinda reflects back to his ability to go from playing a show with Kanye and then the next night rocking a big ass electro crowd.

He does both! Real talk, my brother is the only guy in the world that Kool Herc is gonna see and give props to, and the next week, he’ll be chilling with Steve Angello in Ibiza, or the Ed Banger dudes and then the following week, he’ll be with Jay-Z. That’s his life. The pictures on his blog prove it all. He’s really the only kid that can do that.

Yeah man, he’s been credited with introducing Kanye to a lot of shit.

Yeah, that’s true! You can tell… everyone can tell, but not taking anything away from Kanye because Kanye is open. But yeah, that’s what my bro does. He bridges the gap. That’s what his label does. It bridges the gap between dance music and hip-hop music.

And by the way, that’s nothing new!! Because if you look back at AV8… I remember when I had a record store I thought AV8 was wack. Remember those party records?

Yeah, the party break records, right?

Yeah, that label was founded by Armand Van Helden, that’s the “AV.” I thought that label was wack ‘cause I was such a hip-hop purist, but they were really like dance meets hip-hop. And even that label Nervous put out dance records too back then.

And they were doing all the Boot Camp Clik stuff at the time too.

Yeah, it’s nothing new but you just gotta stay in touch and reintroduce it to the new generation.

Do you and your brother ever holler at each other to get opinions on what each of you are working on?

My bro? He’s like the third member of Chromeo. He’s the first to hear absolutely everything we do. We’re extremely closely involved. I speak to my brother five times a day – everyday, and I’m also the first to hear anything he does.

Have your parents had the chance to see you two rock shows together?

Not together, but there’ll be a show with Kid Sister and us, for example, and my brother is involved, etc.

One thing that was cool in January is that my brother and Kid Sister played a show here at the Natural History Museum and then two days later, we had our headline shows at the Bowery Ballroom two nights in a row. My parents flew down. They went to the Natural History Museum and saw my brother and Kid Sister and then Kanye came out!! And then, they came to our shows too!

Any potential for a Chromeo/Kid Sister collaboration in the future?

Well, I’m involved in her record but more on the behind-the-scenes tip.

Kinda like exec producing the album?

My brother is doing that but I’m helping him. I helped him pick a lot of the beats. It’s actually gonna be a really good record. She’s good, she’s a real rapper and she can spit. And that’s important now, man.

I’ve been listening to hip-hop as my main thing since ‘92 or ‘93 – since the Pharcyde’s first record, or Tribe. And now is the first time I’ve seen, more than ever, that there is a real fuckin’ generational crisis! A generational turnover in hip-hop. All the guys I grew up listening to feel old, left out and disconnected and they can’t connect with a new generation. And there’s a new generation that doesn’t give a shit about them. I mean, you saw on YouTube – that’s really what was at the root of the whole Soldier Boy and Ice-T thing, ya know?

Well yeah, its one of the only genre’s of music that doesn’t always hold all the artists of the past in high regard. Like the Rolling Stones get a lot more love than any act of relative significance in hip-hop.

I know, yeah, but at the same time, I think part of what defines hip-hop is that it’s this sort of youthful thing. Like punk music, I don’t know punk well aside a few more commercial bands, but for example, bands like Green Day were really cool when they were really young and then they kinda became older and more…you know, corny. In hip-hop, it’s gotta stay young!!

I remember being like 19 and Nas was 24-25 maybe, and he was like the older brother I never had. Nas, Q-tip and Buckshot: They were like the older brothers I looked up to. I admired them. But if you’re a kid who’s 15 now, 50 cent is like 35! You can’t relate to him! Like who is he, your step-dad? You can’t relate to that dude.

Haha… Yeah, no doubt.

So what’s happening now is, you have 100,000 kids that related to fuckin’ G-Unit ‘cause they look like a bunch of bodyguards, but there’s a 1,000,000 kids that related to Weezy cause he’s like your fucked up older brother if you’re 16!! You know, he’s 25 and you love him!

I think that’s a really interesting thing that’s going on in rap music right now – this generational crisis – and it fascinates me. On the Ice-T and Soulja Boy thing, I was riding with Soulja Boy all the way… and I grew up on Ice-T! I don’t even like his music but Soulja Boy is so much smarter.

The kid’s definitely got some hustle.

It’s not even about hustle, though! He made it work for himself using the technology that all these old fuckin’ has-beens don’t even know how to work! And he connected with all these shorty’s and he’s the man for that. And you know, Kanye’s still connecting and Weezy too. That’s why Weezy’s album sold like that. The kids picked it up.

The only dude who’s been around – and that’s why Kanye said he’s the greatest of all time, which I’m really starting to believe now, is Nas, man. He’s got the secret to eternal youth.

Yeah man, he’s still so dope and relevant!

Yeah, but it’s not only that. I know it’s a superficial thing to say, but he still looks fresh. Like Jay kinda looks corny now, but Nas looks as fresh as when he first came out… He looks 21! And what’s dope about Nas is that he does his own weird thing every time, and it’s so hit and miss – but it doesn’t even matter anymore. He kinda invented his own genre of music and now whenever there’s a new Nas album, I’m like, “Oh cool! New Nas album!!” I always buy it ‘cause there is always weird shit on there. He’s like a fringe artist now, but that’s longevity. Nas is the greatest.

Ah man, I can’t even count how many times I’ve had this debate! But yeah, agreed. I know a lot of people who would definitely choose Hov between the two – but not me. Nas has had his questionable moments but never supremely wack or anything. Stillmatic was crazy to me.

Yeah!! Stillmatic was incredible. I was thinking about it, and like, Stillmatic was crazy, but Lost Tapes… remember that? Insane!

Yeah man! some amazing shit on there.

The only wack album was the double one.

Street’s Disciple? Yup, too much filler.

Yeah, but it had “Just a Moment,” that joint with Quan, and dude’s got some classics… “Made You Look” is a fuckin classic!

On his last record, I didn’t really like “Hip-Hop is Dead,” but I loved that song about the old school, “Where are They Now.”

Did you hear the remix he did with everyone on it?

Yeah, but they were so wack…haha.

Yo, but you gotta give it up for him putting that together! He went and got dudes like Positive K and Das Efx…

Ya! Like where does one find Positive K nowadays?

Haha! This is true!

When he mentioned Red Head Kingpin, for someone like me, that’s like the best feeling ‘cause I know.

And I love his new joint, “Hero.” He’s spitting hot shit on there, and the “Sly Fox” one too. I love him. I’m a Nas fan, man.

Alright alright… haha, back to the questions. Your hometown of Montreal is considered somewhat of a creative breeding ground for music and has spawned some of the most progressive and successful acts out of Canada and North America for that matter. What’s your explanation for that?

To me, it’s good karma; I don’t really know what happened. But to be fair, a lot of those dudes you’re probably referring to are not originally from Montreal, like Win Butler from Arcade Fire. He’s not from Montreal he’s from Texas. But still, it’s a gorgeous city with cheap rent. It’s easy to live and blossom in, and you can get the government grants and stuff.

Yeah, it’s an environment conducive to a developing artist’s lifestyle. You can work on your stuff and still live relatively comfortably.

Yeah, straight up and down, it’s like Berlin.

I did an interview with your Modular label mates Cut Copy and asked them the same inevitable question to wrap the interview up: What’s your take on the current state of the music industry?

Cut Copy? Those are my boys, man. I like those dudes.

But yeah, I think it’s great. I think it’s the best. I’ve never been more proud to be part of the music industry. I’ve been doing music my whole life and I mean, it’s a bit of a cliché, but now all the labels that used to bully and jerk artists, they’re all getting jerked and they’re all getting bankrupt and everybody is getting fired! They’re all going under and losing their jobs, and I can just sit back and laugh and make money off shows.

That’s always how artists signed to labels have really made their money.

Yeah, it’s all from touring, it’s not from record sales. I don’t know anyone that makes money from record sales, but it’s better that way, it’s becoming increasingly artist controlled, and there’s a shift in media. I really can’t wait to be older in 20-30 years from now and tell people that I lived through such an important paradigm shift. It’s fascinating… It’s fuckin’ fascinating!

Its like, I’ll be at my lawyer’s office and we’ll talk about certain deals, and I’ll be like, “Well, why don’t we do this?” And for the first time, the lawyer will be like, “Yeah, why don’t we?” There’s no precedent anymore. We can do whatever we want; there are no rules anymore.

No doubt, the Cut Copy guys mentioned it’s like the Wild West now, but if you can hold your own and push your own stuff…

Yeah, or even work with the label in a very cooperative kinda way.

Yeah, like, still own your masters and let them do the distribution.

Yeah, exactly. That’s a great idea.

Alright my man, I think we got some good stuff here.

Was that good?

Yes sir.

Cool

For More on Chromeo see:

Chromeo Official Website

Chromeo Myspace Page

And be sure not to sleep on the Chromeo’s jam session with Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates to be aired August 15th. Go *here* for more.