Snoop D-O-Double G. It’s been 17 years since we were introduced to the man with the silky smoove gangster rhymes alongside Dr. Dre on the song “Deep Cover” for the movie of the same name. Well, fast forward 17 years and 9 albums later, the man is preparing to release his 10th studio album in the fourth quarter of 2009, currently called Malice in Wonderland. The project features guests such as Dr. Dre, Lalo Shifrin and The Neptunes to name a few. To celebrate, Snoop has launched a Summer long tour that will see him hit numerous cities across North America and we were lucky enough to take 5 minutes out of the man’s busy schedule and talk all things Snoop.

Killahbeez: Tell us about the upcoming tour, “Blazed and Confused”. What can folks expect to hear from yourself on this latest tour?

Snoop Dogg: Hot music. One big ass party. Alotta fun. It’s tha party of 09′ so be there. It’s gonna be off tha chain ya dig? And more of it to come….

KB: Word. You recently released the single “I Became a Snoop Dogg Millionaire”. Is there a time frame for the album and a title?

Snoop Dogg: Yeah, fourth quarter 2009. Alotta hot ish is on there. Lalo Shifrin and Dre producin’, plus many more. Tha album is called Malice In Wonderland and it is a definite Snoop Dogg classic LP. You gonna start seein’ singles soon, ya dig?

KB: You were nominated for a Grammy this year. Your first Grammy nomination came back in 1995. How have you been able to stay relevant and top of mind when so many folks in music, in general not just hip-hop, come and go?

Snoop Dogg: You gotta make sure that you know what your fans want and are open to see you grow and evolve. I have a loyal fan base and I owe a lot to them…they keep me relevant and let me know what they are feelin and not feelin. You gotta make sure you got a stage show, a brand and keep makin hit music. If you do that, you gonna keep it movin and your fans wantin more, ya dig?

KB: Having been in the industry for so long, how have things changed in your opinion?

Snoop Dogg: The game has really switched to the internet so you gotta make sure and step yo internet game up. It’s a blessing and a curse but it definitely gives young ones a shot at doin it big and makin it happen. It’s only gonna get more bigger and relevant and you gotta make sure that you gonna roll with it and make sure to capitalize off of it, ya dig?

KB: It’s no secret that you grew up around gangs and gang violence. You’ve seem to seamlessly transform yourself from that image to the person we all see today. How have you been able to take that situation and turn it into a positive?

Snoop Dogg: You can either choose to make yo life positive or negative. There are alotta distractions to keep it from positive but you gotta make sure that you rise above tha negative and make sure that fans love and respect what you doin – and I’ma make sure that I’m doin it positive. Haters are always gonna hate, but they can’t stop you.

KB: I can definitely agree with you on that.

KB: On to other recent events. Sadly Michael Jackson recently passed away. On the day of his passing you were playing a medley of his songs and tweeting the jams. How did Michael’s style influence Snoop Dogg’s style?

Snoop Dogg: He the King of Pop. A legend. Me and Mike got alotta ish in common and it was sad to see [that] happen. My prayers go out to his family and loved ones. We gonna keep thinkin of him and keep playin his classic music.

KB: What were some of your favorite songs by Michael or the Jackson 5?

Snoop Dogg: “Beat It”, “I’ll Be There”, “Billie Jean”, “Black or White”, it’s tough to say what my favorite ones are….but I definitely got alotta of em, ya dig?

KB: On a lighter note. You’re a known avid video gamer. You recently played against Mike Tyson in Fight Night and you’re going to be on Rock Band…

Snoop Dogg: Definitely. I am a video game fanatic and love playin them. My favorite is College Football and College Basketball, as well as Madden. I had a video game tourney last Super Bowl in Tampa and all tha stars showed up. It’s definitely a luv of my life and alotta games go down in tha man cave. So anyone who wanna step up holla at cha boy.

KB: Musically, are there any collaborations that you can talk about that are coming up on Malice in Wonderland or other projects?

Snoop Dogg: Be on da lookout. I got Dre and Lalo Shifrin on tha new album but got many more surprises for ya…..it ain’t a surprise if I tell ya….

KB: True enough.

KB: Thanks again for taking the time. Any words of wisdom for the kids out there?

Snoop Dogg: Make sure and be at tha “Blazed and Confused Tour” comin to a hood near you. Malice in Wonderland droppin fourth quarter and comin’ to yo local record shop. Snoop Youth Football League is growin and movin – its gonna be a big summer and a bigger year, ya dig?

***For tour dates and ticket information visit Livenation.com.***

WinnieTV recently interviewed Vancouver’s own Japandroids, just before they leave for their tour. They’ve brought you live rehearsal footage as well as getting a chance to talk to the boys about touring, the reason for the previous cancellation and some of their favourite bands.

Source: Winnie Cooper

If you’ve yet to experience the mythical goodness from Perth, Australia, known as Empire Of The Sun, then you my friend have been living under a rock. But if you’ve been following this site for awhile you’ll know that last August we were first introduced to the band via the video “Walking On A Dream”, which was epic. Shortly after this song became a staple on most of our writers iPod as quite a few of us were highly anticipating album drop. Unfortunately for us that drop was only for Australia, but fast forward a few months later and the mystical duo, Nick Littlemore and Luke Steele, would have their album released for North America.  To celebrate that release we caught up with Nick Littlemore and talked Empire Of The Sun, previous bands (Pnau, The Sleepy Jackson and Teenager), the concept behind the name, album and an Empire Of The Sun opera???

Killahbeez: I’ve been an avid listener of Pnau and The Sleepy Jackson, as well as Teenager. So give us the story of how you and Luke Steele met and then decided that there was enough of a connection to work together?

Nick Littlemore: I love to collaborate. I pretty much try to work with every person I meet.
Luke and I have always worked together. I guess we like to make sounds and write songs rather than drink together or chase girls. We have that kind of friendship. Making music together is like hanging out. Nowadays it is about songs and expressing our own emotion, something we relate to about our lives, loves and lyrics. Luke has an immense talent, I am in awe of his voice, it’s a joy to write for.

The thing that was always apparent from working with Luke was that his voice is so strong. I wanted to work with him to embrace his genius, to create a coupling around his voice; to frame it, if you like. We first messed with a PNAU sound and things suddenly took flight. We cut “With you forever” with Luke on guest vocals and we stood back and realized that something had happened, we had a spark, something new, something wild.

I went to Italy and wrote songs while my girl nursed a broke leg. I needed a break after the PNAU record but this new sound with Luke persisted in my thoughts and scribbles. The sun was constant for me in Italy and for Luke in Perth. We knew we had to act. I rushed back to Australia and both Luke and I were ready to explode. We knew we had started something that could not be stopped, that we could not resist. The Empire began…

KB: The bands name, Empire Of The Sun, what’s the significance behind it and how did you both come to use that name?

NL: We are mystics, travelling to all the ancient places in the world, where the sun has great power and significance, the Ballard connection is merely a nod to one of the best writers in the universe (Referring to the novel Empire Of The Sun).

KB: For the North American fans that haven’t heard the album yet, what’s the concept / theme behind the album?

NL: Life is a journey. But even listening to a record is one too. Time passing, light shifting. The world changes in a second, let alone in the time it takes to walk on a dream. I think we make soundtracks to life. To the journey of life. Just with Empire things are more magical and impossible.

KB: Wow. That is true, in listening to the album myself I felt like I was listening to a soundtrack of my travels. In the bands bio, I read that the one word you wanted listeners to associate with the album is – “Surrender”. Is there something specific that the band wanted people to surrender to? Love?

NL: Close your eyes and listen to our album, or even just one song. Take a chance and let yourself go. Yes Surrender to our journey. We mean it all; we lived every word, every dream. Empire is a wish, a dream for us, so much pain so much love. For if you surrender, you can be healed and in turn heal the world.

KB: The band’s first single, “Walking On A Dream”, was an instant smash last summer, even though it’s just officially being released in North America. I remember hearing it quite a bit at various parties here. When I sat down and followed the lyrics I realized it was a bit of a love song, was it written for someone in particular? Or just an emotion that was inside that was waiting to get out?

NL: My girlfriend was in the jungles of Brazil, sick and exhausted, she called me from a small village deep in the forest, I felt so much empathy, so paralyzed by the distance between us, that I could not do anything to help so I wrote this tune, to try to capture all the magic in the world and force a melody so positive that I could actually send a signal to her that everything would work out, so its really that, yes a love song and a long distance call, a channelling of energy towards positive ends….

KB: All the women around the world just let out a collective sigh. Your videos, “Walking on a Dream”, “We Are The People” and the soon to be released “Standing on the Shore”, are BEAUTIFULLY shot, the visuals are amazing. They seem to somewhat flow from one to the other; will the other following videos continue on the same sort of theme?

NL: There is an order to all things and when the time is right all will be revealed.

KB: Definitely looking forward to that. What were some of the difficulties you guys faced when taking your concepts and actually filming them?

NL: We are both so visual. So inspired by film and art that it is hard to collaborate. That is why we jumped out of the safety net of studios and conventions and made the videos as adventurous as they look. We explored, we lived those moments. We saw vultures circling around us in the desert ready to attack. I would love to travel forever and take inspirations from all the wonders of this planet. We use the experiences to create so even those at times things can be daunting the adventure is always worth it.

KB: In a recent interview you guys did I read that you wanted to take a page out of Kanye Wests book when it came to making the visual aspect fit in with the music. Can you speak a bit on that? The man is definitely more than a hip-hop artist; he’s an entertainer in the true sense of the word.

NL: Music is colour to me, it always has been, I don’t see notes on a stave I see landscapes, clouds, drops dirt sirens in the sky, we are always trying to get closer, closer to showing the audience what we see, the costumes, the locations are just the start, this is an evolution

KB: So are there any plans to taking Empire Of The Sun live? With the music being quite cinematic, it could almost be a play.

NL: I would love to do a play, a film and opera. I think this music has so much potential, so much atmosphere. I think music is moving into a new sphere where it will not be judged by its references. All music is the sum of all things. That is the kind of records I want to make, like great art, this is music that you can feel and read so many things out of. Close your eyes and dream and you will see the play, be your own story and the Empire will be with you.

KB: Moving away from the Empire of the Sun project, will fans of Pnau, The Sleepy Jackson and Teenager hear another potential project? Any chance on working on that with Ladyhawke again?

NL: Teenager will never break up and yes Pip is never too far away, she is a wonderful light in my life and like Luke makes me honored to make music with.

KB: Who are some of your musical influences?

NL: Laurie Anderson, John Cage, Lindsay Buckingham, Moondog, Skinny Puppy, Meat Beat Manifesto, Mirror Mirror, M.Craft, Brian Eno, Vangelis, Xenakis, Harry Nilsson, Django Reinhardt, Leonard Cohen, Silvia Ocougne, Isao Tomita, Jefferson Aeroplane and Elvis.

KB: That’s quite a list. I want to thank you again for taking the time to do this. For the fans out there that will be picking up the album, what did you want them to take away from the listening experience?

NL: That anything is possible, that creativity is what we preach, that which is in each and every one, we all got something brilliant to communicate, after all that’s what the world revolves on.

Empire of the Sun’s homepage: www.walkingonadream.com/
Empire of the Sun’s MySpace: www.myspace.com/empireofthesunsound

Be sure to catch these videos in order as they tell a story as Nick Littlemore mentioned above.

Empire of the Sun “Walking On A Dream”

Empire of the Sun “Standing on the Shore”

Here’s a fresh interview with an up and coming designer by the name Melody Ehsani whom is makin’ some huge waves in the industry. Stars such as Angela Simmons, Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Keri Hilson and Erykah Badu to name a few have rocked her jewels.

Few artists can break down language barriers and find success, yet Yelle, a French Pop Artiste, can certainly state that claim as she has done just that. Her music, despite being sung entirely in French, has gone global and specifically infecting English speaking countries with her sound, yes sound. Listen to her album Pop-Up and you’ll understand. The electro-pop sounds make you euphoric and you can’t help but dance. Her live show takes the energy of the album and multiplies it by a 1000, giving you a feeling that you’ve just enter an aerobics session. So it was a great pleasure to have a chance to interview her last month, touching on topics such as how the group started, musical and fashion influences and a host of other topics.

Killahbeez: Hi Yelle, thanks for taking the time and doing this interview with us.

Yelle: No prob!

KB: So for those who are new fans of Yelle, can you breakdown how the group formed with you, GrandMarnier and Tepr and why the group decided on the name Yelle?

Yelle: I met GrandMarnier first and we became good friends. We decided to do music together in 2005 and we chose the name Yelle at the beginning for “you enjoy life” and it was just YEL, but then we decided to feminize it with one more L and E! Tepr met GrandMarnier because he used to be a journalist and he was writing an article about GM’s previous band. We asked him to join us on stage and for the album in 2006.

KB: Your album, Pop-Up, has a fun and playful sound to it, how do you translate that to the stage and bring that energy out?

Yelle: The live show is like an extra power of the album. It’s like a dj set with the energy of instruments (GM on the drums, Tepr on keyboards, me singing and hitting my floor tom). Performing live is what we prefer; we are a rock band when we are on stage!

KB: [laughter]. Yeah I couldn’t agree more.

KB: Writing for this album, how much of the lyrics are about your life and how much of it is just about a 25 year old girl (which you happen to be as well) living life and having fun?

Yelle: With GM (GrandMarnier) we find the theme in our life, in my real 25years old girl life! Of course it’s funny to imagine some stories but it’s always apart of reality!

KB: So do you feel that singing in French has been a barrier at all to breaking into the North American market, or do you feel like good music is good music and people don’t necessarily care about the language?

Yelle: It’s maybe exotic for English speaking people to listen French songs. But yes the music is very important and if the people are curious they’ll try to find the translation of the songs. It’s not a barrier, we have this particularity and it’s cool!

KB: Yeah I was definitely initially drawn to the energy of the music before diving into the lyrics a bit more.

KB: How would you describe your sound? I mean in some songs there are times when it definitely sounds like you are rapping, yet maintaining a pop / electro vibe.

Yelle: We did a real electro pop album with some fantasy sounds. I think I’m more a singer than a rapper; my rap is so old school! I discovered the rap music with Warren G and Snoop Dogg when I was a teenager and yes I like that!

KB: You mentioned Snoop Dogg and Warren G, who or what else influences your music and sound?

Yelle: I’m a big fan of Pop music with Madonna, Blur, Prince, and more and I was listening lots of rock bands and French singer when I was young, with my parents. Then I had a crush on Daft Punk, with my bro.

KB: Speaking of Daft Punk, a lot of French artists, such as Daft Punk, Justice, DJ Mehdi, SebastiAn and including yourselves, are getting a lot of recognition in the US. Do you feel like each of you are influencing one another with your sounds?

Yelle: It’s not the same sound, and not the same crew. We appreciate them but we can’t say they are an influence, except Daft Punk, for sure, cause they do have songs, you know what I mean, it’s not only about sound, it’s about songs. But we are from the same generation yes, and we all watched the Fresh Prince!

KB: [laughter]

KB: So changing topics here, in all your pictures and in all your videos you’re so well dressed. Who or what influences your fashion sense? Any favorite designers or pieces of clothing that you can’t live without?

Yelle: I like to play with my outfits for a long time! I like to wear colors but black and white stuffs too! I just like to have fun with my style like in my life so I’m a big fan of designers like Jeremy Scott, Andrea Crews, JP Lespagnard or JC de Castelbajac who are really into pop art, they have lots of fun in the way to dress people! I’m a big fan of bags and shoes!

KB: Would you ever think of starting your own clothing line?

Yelle: We have some merch on tour and on a web site call www.recreation-center.com! Creating a clothing line is one of our project, yes.

KB: Going back to the topic of music, Tell us a bit about your experience at Coachella, what was it like performing at such a huge festival? Do you prefer big venues or smaller more intimate venues?

Yelle: Playing in Coachella was totally crazy and amazing!! We were a little bit nervous cause we were playing at the same slot of Portishead but the crowd was there, they were dancing and screaming, it was a very good night for us! We like to play sometimes in little venue to be closed from people but it’s really intense and fun to be on a huge stage too!

KB: What’s next for Yelle, any other projects or collaborations that you can talk about?

Yelle: Katy Perry just asked us for a remix, we did it, but now we really want to focus on the next album. Can’t wait to go back in studio and work.

KB: Anything else you want to say to your fans that read this?

Yelle: We love you!

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

Lady GaGa aka Stefania Gabriella Germanotta has dazzled the dance music scene with her new album ‘The Fame’ with its booty shaking hits like “Just Dance” and “Poker Face.”  Hustling the streets of NYC her whole life, it’s no surprise this blonde bombshell has brought major grit and glamour to her dance floor friendly songs.  If you haven’t heard of her yet, check her out now as I predict she is here to stay alongside the best.  And apparently I’m not alone:  The New York Post called her the “Future of Pop” and Us Weekly called her “Pop’s New Dance Diva” while comparing her to Madonna.  Throughout all this hype, Lady GaGa remained refreshingly grateful and honest during our candid interview.  I hope you enjoy her answers as much as I did conducting the interview.

Killahbeez: Tell me a little bit about yourself.
Lady GaGa: I’ve been working on this album for over two years now and am grateful that it has finally gotten to this point.

KB: What got you into singing and song writing at such an early age?
LG: Well I started piano at the age of 4 and started writing at the age of 13.  At 16 my mom would help me so I could get into certain clubs to play and I just hustled you know.  I dropped out of college early and started sending out my demos that I made out of my room.  From there I started go-go dancing and really working the club scene to get out there.

KB: You have a keen fashion sense.  Do you feel that fashion is an integral aspect of your music or music in general?
LG: For sure.  The fashion, the technology and just being innovative with what people are hearing and seeing are a big aspect of my music.  I want people to go to my show going “What the fuck was that!?”  In other words it’s like a pop show fit for a museum.  Everything we do is completely spur of the moment.  I don’t usually know what I’m wearing until it gets delivered an hour before the show and it’s usually stuff you can’t just get anywhere.

KB: What are your top 3 clothing and shoe designers?
LG: For clothing I would say Chanel,  Maison Martin Margiela and Thierry Mugler. For shoes I would pick Christian Louboutin, Marni and I have to say again, Chanel.

KB: Where do you get your inspiration for your music?
LG: For music pretty much New York, parties, pop culture. I’m really inspired by all the energy they give.

KB: How did the NYC scene influence your music growing up?
LG: Oh it totally did.  Everything about my music is attitude and lifestyle.  I would be a completely different artist if I didn’t have New York.

KB: It’s been rumored that you have collaborated on Britney Spears’s track “Quicksand” from her upcoming album Circus, can you confirm that?
LG: Wow, how did you find that out already (laughter)?  I can confirm that I worked on a track but not which one.

KB: What was it like working with Britney Spears for you?
LG: I never got to work with her directly in the studio because I was in Europe.  I would have loved to produced the vocals for her but I wasn’t in the studio.  I’m excited to work with her more closely in the future though.

KB: Your upcoming tour is with New Kids on The Block.  Were you a big fan like most of us in the Nineties? How does it feel to be touring with them at this point in your life going almost full circle in a way?
LG: Oh my god, I was HUGE fan!  I mean I had the “I love Johnny” t-shirt and everything.  It feels amazing.  It really, really was hard not to be star struck even though I know them as friends now, to see them on stage still gets me super excited.

KB: Who would you like to collaborate with in the future?
LG: I would love to work with Marilyn Manson.  He is such a visionary and his work is really artistic in the same vain as what I do.  I would love to work with someone who has the same philosophy as I do.

KB: What would you advise to your fans who are interested in singing and song writing?  Any words of wisdom?
LG: Two pieces of advice: 1)  Go buy the book “Letter to a Young Poet”.  Read it 100 times and in the deepest hour of the night, ask yourself if you would die if you were forbidden to write.  2)  Live your life within quote that book unquote, since it has strong philosophies I agree with about art.  Everything in there is true, you will find your dreams.

KB: Do you find it any different getting into the music scene as a female?
LG: Well when you are female and you are blonde and pretty, people assume you don’t know shit.  It takes a minute to earn your intellectual space as an artist, especially when you’re a woman like me who likes to do it in her underwear.

KB: What’s the worst trend in music these days?  Favorite trend?
LG: Least favorite is the “I don’t care trend.”  Like “I don’t care how I dress at award shows and I don’t do interviews” type attitude.  I’m enjoying seeing artists that work really hard and are doing something really serious in their arena.

KB: Can you name a few of those artists that you enjoy right now?
LG: I really like M.I.A. and Britney.  In some ways, she (Britney) has to fight harder right now to get people to take her seriously but I have a feeling she will be making a comeback in the next year with some serious pop music.

KB: Any last words to your fans?
LG: Thank you to my fans and I love you!  You are so loyal to me and I will stay loyal to you.  Keep your eyes and ears open because I will be making a lot of things happen soon!!!

On November 6th and 7th, Keys N Krates played to a packed house in Vancouver and then in Victoria. For those of you that have been reading the blog for a minute now, you know we’ve been talking about Keys N Krates quite a bit. For those that aren’t in the know, Keys N Krates are a live remix band, yeah thats right a LIVE REMIX BAND, live drums with Tune, live synths with Matisse and Jr. Flo on the turntables breaking down the samples. In the midst of their busy touring schedule we were able to catch up with one of the members, DJ Jr. Flo, for a quick one on one interview.

And yes that is a car alarm in the beginning, a testament to how dedicated I am to go to dodgy areas to get interviews for you all. Wellllll, technically this was across the street from my place, and the area isn’t that dodgy. But yeah sorry about the car alarm in the beginning.

For upcoming tour information hit up their MySpace page: www.myspace.com/keysnkrates

If you liked this interview please help me out and vote for me here: music.virgin.com

Special thanks to AJK and the video editor extrodinaire Gordon Wong.

A long time indie favorite, dance floor rockers The Faint have brought us the undeniable truth about American politics and the daily life of the American middle class with a quirky, tongue-in-cheek approach making use of unforgettable lyrics and striking melodies that no one can shake off.  I had the opportunity to speak with Todd Fink, the lead singer of The Faint and am truly pleased to share this conversation with our readers.

As kids, what did you all want to be when you “grew up”?

Todd:  Hmmmm… well not sure if I wanted to be anything or even had certain aspirations.  Kinda sad, I know [laughter].  But I guess as I grew up I wanted to be a professional skater.

How far did you get with skating?

Todd: Right up to being a pro but then I realized that I wanted to take my time with getting better at skating so that I would have a better chance at becoming a pro with a reputable skateboarding company.  I did really well in national youth competitions and stuff.

How did the transition from skateboarding to music happen?

Todd: I had surgery for my knee from arthritis, and found out I couldn’t really skate anymore.  But from the experience of doing something that I loved, I gained the passion that transferred into music and if I kept doing it just like with skateboarding, I knew that anything was possible.

How did the members of The Faint all meet?

Todd: Well Joel is a skateboard friend and my bro Clark, I had him around all the time to go skating.  The three off us were from the skating scene and started the band.  The other guys we just met in Omaha and it just so happened that we all went to the same high school.

Did you think that you would be this successful when you all first started out?

Todd: No. I mean, we didn’t really think about it.  The only goal that I remember having was a dream to be able to go out and tour different places and know that however amount of people there would be whether big or small, that they knew our music and it happened bigger than we ever expected.  At the same time you are convinced by your own humility and it’s hard to really know which one to believe, the numbers of fans responding to the success is almost a mind fuck.

You boys are from Omaha.  How has that influenced your music and your individual creativity?

Tood: I’m sure it has, I mean we’ve all been here our whole lives and I’m sure our opinions in which things we have experienced have affected us.  There have been good record stores here and venues that are conducive to small bands performing and it’s not like we lose people to Kansas City or anywhere.  The closest place is 8 hours to Chicago.  So we are just a bunch of people for whatever reason ending up and staying here, so Omaha has a thriving music scene.

I’ve noticed you have evolved as a band since the days of Danse Macabre, Wet From Birth to your current album Fasciinatiion.  Was this planned or something more along the lines of a natural progression?

Todd: Well we sort of base it on our opinions about what sounds good and what makes sense.  To do changes over time, based on what music we hear, it’s a natural progression for better or for worse.  It’s definitely natural.

People in the past have labeled you as the “new new wave” or “dance/punk.” How do you feel about these labels?

Todd: Labels.  People love them, but in general we try not to associate with them since they are fads and catch phrases and no matter how cool they are at the time, people invest too much in the actual label and get tired of them over time.  We feel like, “listen and decide for yourself.”

If you were to describe The Faint and your music to an outsider, what words would you choose?

Todd: I’ve had to do this on the plane a few times sitting with strangers [laughter].  I guess I’ve said we play electronic rock music before.  It’s pretty general.  Or I will say we play songs with keyboards – I try to keep it literal.

Who have been your major influences in the music world and are there any current bands/acts that have caught your attention?

Todd: Fugazi has influenced us.  But you take different things from different bands, you know.  Sonic Youth, The Clash and David Bowie – bands that have good songs that are unmistakably their songs.  The band Late of The Pier, they are pretty awesome and from the UK; they have something there that I relate to for sure.  We like that French electronic scene.  There is a huge explosion of artistic expression there.  We were in France and met with Busy P, Sebastian, Kavinsky, Kasper from Justice, etc..

So any prospects of remixes with them?

Todd: Definitely.  But we’ll see,  we do have some good remixes that are being worked on including with Boys Noize  – Alex,  he and DIM did a mix together.

Where did you come up with The Faint as your band name?

Todd: It just presented itself.  There was no decision; it just was.  We didn’t have a name for a while and it was just kinda assigned to us when we did our first show.  On the flyer was a Roman Bailer reference, so we kinda considered ourselves as a band without a name until 1997.   We knew it was just going to come to us and it did.

Last but not least, what do you guys spend your time doing when not touring or making music?

Todd: Well, I like to make visual art collages and other artistic things.  Also I love playing pool, I love learning science, astronomy etc.  We are kinda the NPR and stoned cartoon watching kinda of guys – we can’t help it.  When we’re not doing band stuff we still hang out.

Thanks so much guys and I’m looking forward to seeing you guys live at your next show!!!  When is the next U.S. tour?

Todd: Our next tour in the States is in two weeks and after that in the Spring.

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.

People who know me on even an acquaintance level are well aware of how passionate, critical and even borderline asshole I can be when it comes to opinions on music and giving out my self-proclaimed coveted stamp of approval – so any insinuations of a fluff piece can be checked at the door.

With that being said, my proverbial ink pad has almost run completely dry with how much I’ve been frantically stamping away at everything Australian trio Cut Copy has put out ever since I became aware of them earlier this year. They’ve been around for a minute now, so I had some backtracking to do once I was introduced to their recently released 2nd full-length album In Ghost Colours and its inspirational precursor Dj set So Cosmic.

After digging up some of their previous and equally amazing material, I became even more interested in how these guys put together such a distinctive album this go around and I was able to squeeze in a sit down with them to remedy that curiosity just a few hours prior to their April 29th, 2008 show in Vancouver, B.C.

Click on through for the exclusive interview.

How did the three of you originally meet and how long was it before the group came about?

Tim: We were kind of just all friends. Dan had started Cut Copy as a studio production solo project and we just all knew each other through various people. Originally, I used to live in a small town around South Wales and Dan used to come up there on holidays and stuff. Then, we both separately moved to Melbourne. I went down there to go to art school, and yeah, Dan kinda started writing Bright Like Neon Love. He kind of got us around to add, I guess, the more organic sounds to the record that he’d written the majority of on the computer, and it just became what it is now.

So, were you guys were heavy into music since childhood?

T: Never played ‘till later on…

So no classical training or anything like that?

Mitchell: No, not like playing instruments.

Dan: That’s almost the opposite of our approach. Ya know, the whole point of this is, we kind of just taught ourselves to play instruments. That’s the contrast between the sort of perfect studio stuff and the sort of loose and live aspect of Cut Copy that adds a dynamic to the music.

In Ghost Colours plays through much like a mixtape in terms of cohesiveness and transitions from one song to the next. How much did having a DJ in the group play into the executive production of the album?

D: I think that’s probably not something I would’ve thought of if I wasn’t into DJ’ing and mixtapes. Perhaps the idea or just the way its put together is sort of reminiscent of maybe all the records, like Tangerine Dream or, you know, records where the whole side of a piece of vinyl would be continuous music you could zone out to and get into that way. It’s not so much beat-matched, but it does flow.

This album seems to have more vocals relative to its predecessor Bright Like Neon Love. Did you find a huge difference in the creation process this time around considering you had to write more lyrics?

D: Yeah, I think so. I don’t even know whether it was something I really thought about. It just seemed to naturally turn out that way. A lot of the stuff with this record wasn’t really some sort of master plan for us. It’s just the way things turned out. The fact that the record flows together is just something we ended up doing. It wasn’t a decision from the outset. Same with the extra vocals and probably the more layered guitar stuff and live drums – it just happened really organically and crept up in a way I guess.

You guys give a lot of credit to other artists for inspiring your music. What is some of the music you had in heavy rotation during the period In Ghost Colours came together?

D: I guess with the guitar stuff, My Bloody Valentine and some of that Shoegaze guitar sound. Lots of Krautrock as well, Cluster– a lot of those bands. I guess current dance music in general as well. A lot of the DFA stuff, which we were pretty inspired by and obviously having Tim (Tim Goldsworthy – DFA’s in house producer and LCD Soundsystem member) as a producer on the record as well. I could probably keep going…(Laughs)

It’s endless I suppose… That being said, the album has a very retro/dance feel but still sounds very much ahead of the curve. Did you go out and really hunt for new/vintage gear and synths to capture that particular sound?

M: Going over to the DFA studios, they’ve just got so much gear there that you can’t nearly get through it all really.

T: They did all the hunting for us.

M: Yeah, and there’s always new stuff arriving. They’re always just buying, collecting and hoarding stuff. Yeah, there was just so much for us to experiment with and to get new sounds out of and sort of adapt to what we’re doing. So yeah, a lot of that was done for us, but I mean, also, Dan bought a bunch of new synths.

D: Yeah, I spent all my money on sort of three synthesizers – probably $7,000-$8,000 worth. They ended up all over the record. I think it helps the particular kind of music we make. Buying new gear and that sort of thing almost shapes the way a record can sound. The creative rush you get just finding something new can end up influencing the sound of the record. So I think, yeah, the equipment probably played a big part.

Some of the interludes were recorded and cut from four track tapes. Any particular reason you guys went analog for these sections of the album?

D: Umm, I guess it’s sort of nice to have a contrast of lo-fi and hi-fi stuff to a record -different types of recording on an album. A lot of my favorite music is really poorly recorded. Like Guided by Voices or Ariel Pink – amazing songwriters where the studio polished aspect is left out. I kind of find that side of things interesting, so I think it’s sort of nice to have a bit of contrast of different recording sounds in there.

You guys just played Coachella – How did that go? Any artists that stood out to you guys out there? (Note: Prior to sitting down, the guys had mentioned that they hadn’t had much of an opportunity to watch other acts at Coachella due to the fact that they had shows in San Francisco and Portland the following nights before reaching Vancouver)

D: We had a great show. We didn’t really get to see anyone else (laughs). We can’t really speak for any of the other ones. But yeah, it was obviously quite hot in the middle of the desert, but apparently, the day that we played actually wasn’t that hot compared to usual. It was really good, like the crowd was jumping around and going nuts, and it was sort of everything we would’ve hoped for from a first show like that, so we were really thrilled with it.

Did the crowd seem really familiar with your music? A lot of people singing along and such?

All: Yeah, yeah.

D: We had a full tent, so we couldn’t have asked for more.

As I’m sure you guys know, once you play at SXSW and Coachella, you’ve pretty much “arrived” in North America. Having the new album debut at No. 1 back home in Australia and a fan base rapidly building in North America, is there any particular region you guys plan to target next for touring and exposure?

M: We’re going to come back here in the fall. We’re doing our tour now and our shows have all been really good. A lot of people coming out and enjoying the shows, enjoying the record and I mean, yeah, it’s really great for us. We like being here, and later in the year, we’re going to come back and just see some of the people that came to the shows this time around come back again and add some more songs from the record and keep working on our live show.

Are you guys thinking of maybe hitting Europe a lot more?

T: Well, our record is coming out in Europe really soon, so we’ll spend a lot of time there… In the U.K., obviously, hopefully Asia – kind of everywhere. That was always the idea when we put the band together. We’d take it as far as we possibly could and kind of get to every corner of the world that’ll have us.

Right, right, they call you and you guys are ready to go!

T: Yeah!

M: Except we want to make sure we get around to making the new record.

Are you guys already working on a new album?

D: Well, we got our touring and then some solo records.

Dan, you designed the album artwork. With Cut Copy’s international profile growing exponentially, do you still find time to work on graphic design?

D: Not so much at the moment to be honest. I mean, I have in the past. It’s been a while since we worked on this record at home. When we’re back in Australia, I work as a designer. I’ve got my own business that does a lot of artwork for MTV and sort of various other people. It’s sort of something I have to step in and out of. Obviously when we’re touring, it’s a bit hard to run things. But yeah, definitely when I’m at home, it’s sort of good having that totally separate creative outlet. It kind of keeps you a bit refreshed. I think doing that and coming back to music and vice versa, you sort of end up hopefully cross-pollinating a little bit.

What about you guys? Do you have other focuses besides music that you’re quite heavily involved with?

M: I’ve got a web development business sort of similar to him (Dan), and yeah, it’s pretty similar in that respect.

T: I’ve studied Fine Arts at university, but yeah, kind of like everyone else, I don’t really have that much time for it. Like, I’ll do stuff at home but never to the point where I could get an exhibition or anything together at the moment. Plus, I’m kind of actually learning stuff about music at the moment. I kind of spend every second I’m not touring trying to learn something new to apply to the next record or whatever. Its kind of a full time thing at the moment, but certainly the visual aspect of Cut Copy is a very important one. We spend a lot of time with artwork and visuals for the show. At times, it’s just as important as what we put on record as well.

And of course, the inevitable… What’s your take on the current state of the music industry?

T: It’s not much of an industry anymore. It seems very open.

D: It’s kind of like the Wild West!

T: Only the strongest survive!

D: I think that the internet has blown it all open. Like blogs, file sharing and all that sort of thing.

M: It’s a tougher thing for producers, but I mean, for bands playing live… there is a really good audience for bands playing live at the moment. There are some upsides for it, but as far as record labels, I guess its tough conditions for them – trying to make money with less people buying records these days.

Personally speaking with regards to you guys, I was exposed to Cut Copy purely via online.

M: Oh yeah, a lot of people are.

D: Well, just commenting on over in Europe, our new record hasn’t come out there and we had people singing the words to all our new songs and that sort of thing. So it’s like, you don’t need a physical record out for people to know about you. For a band, it’s great, but for a record label, it’s not so good. But I mean, hopefully people will still buy our record (laughs).

I think a lot of it is, when fans know a little bit more is going to the artists, I think they’re more inclined to purchase. I guess that kind of keeps you guys on your toes to put on a really good live show.

All: Yeah, yeah!

Cool, I think we’re good, thanks guys.

All: Cool, thank you.

And so there you have it people, an interview with Cut Copy, the band that created In Ghost Colours, a masterpiece musical journey that a lifelong Hip Hop head ranks amongst his top albums of all time – right up there with Nas‘ Illmatic, Biggie’s Ready to Die, Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt and even Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Yup. For Real.

For more on the group check out their blog at cut-copy.blogspot.com or hit them up on Myspace at www.myspace.com/cutcopy.

*Edits: Mona Alice Oakenfold aka Michelle.