RHODES WARRIOR

Tim Heidecker is more awesome than his television program with Eric Wareheim could even suggest. In between production of the last season of Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job! and the Tim and Eric movie, he’s just released an album with his musical partner Davin Wood. Play Heidecker and Wood’s Starting From Nowhere for your dad and he’ll probably nod his head and quip something like “Ah, I remember these guys. Your mother and I used to just get in our Buick Skylark, put on this record and drive for days. Of course that was before you were born.” Starting From Nowhere although comedic, rides the wild line between dry and blatant humour both musically and lyrically. The album is proof that if artists from the late seventies released these records today, we would play them only ironically.

Take me through the process of writing this record and how it differs from your comedy process.
Basically, the process of putting this record together took over two years sort of on and off. My partner Davin and I would get together on a weekend or at night at my house and based on little song sketch ideas and little melodies that either I or Davin would jot down at some point during the week, we would sit around, have a couple of beers and write a song and try to do as much work on the song as possible so after an evening together we kind of had a song written and recorded. Davin would take the song and clean it up and do some overdubs and make it passable, but it was a thing where I was in the middle of producing Awesome Show and other projects so it was a hobby. It was a fun distraction. After several months of doing this, songs just began to accumulate and it kind of became apparent that we should do something with this, we should get it out. As far as what’s different about the creative process, all this stuff is very subliminal kind of subconscious stuff; writing songs or coming up with ideas. It’s a hard thing to control when or how ideas are going to come. You just have to put yourself in a place whether it’s just sitting at the piano for an hour and plucking away, and you end up singing something that sounds right. The same goes with writing comedy. You just have to be open to knowing that when ideas come you should be writing them down.

How did you get hooked up with producer Pierre de Reeder?
I didn’t know Pierre. I got his information from Greg Kurstin of The Bird and the Bee who I’m friends with. We had gotten a demo of the album together and so much of the record is Davin making these sounds and making it sound as real and polished as possible. As I played them to some friends who made records for real, they said this is good but I think it would really stand to get another ear to mix it and possibility add some drums, and do a little bit of professional work on it. I was a fan of Rilo Kiley and he (Pierre) had a really nice disposition to him so he ended up being the perfect fit. He’s also putting the record out now so we got a little bit more than just a guy who comes in as a day player. He’s part of the project now.

Tim and Eric Awesome Show has so many guest comics. How come there aren’t any guest musicians on the album? Is Davin your only musical buddy?
Again it goes back to the fact that originally this was just something for Davin and I to do as a fun thing and I guess maybe we should have. We never even thought about it. We wanted something that we made basically from scratch. I tried to not make this about work for me, which as much as it’s fun to work with other famous people, that’s just part of my job. This was just something that came from me and Davin and didn’t need anything else to it.

It’s become vogue in the past few years to mock the smooth music of the late seventies. Is this album tongue in cheek or is it a tribute?
I think there’s definitely parts of it that are referential to that music and Davin and I have a love/hate relationship with it where there’s things about it that we love musically and there’s a lot of really genuinely stupid shit that they ended up doing that is obnoxious or over the top. So we definitely were going in a parody kind of direction with some of the styles of music and then of course lyrically it’s all pretty silly. For the most part it’s pretty stupid and meaningless and it manages to make you laugh if you listen really closely.

“A Song For My Father” has lyrics that obviously honour fathers, but the music is also a nod to the hits from our parents’ era. Was that intentional? Did your father’s musical taste affect this song or the entire record at all? I guess what I’m asking is, what’s your dad like?
(Laughs) I grew up around a lot of music from the sixties and seventies like the Beatles and Zeppelin and the Stones, and my dad loved that music. We played it all the time in the car and at home and it’s some of my favourite music too. Davin and I would start a song by just strumming the guitar and making up words and when you start singing the first lyrics of the song you realize “I guess I’m writing a song about my dad and I gotta finish this now.”

Were there giggles in the studio while writing this album?
Definitely. We were just playing to each other really and Davin is an incredible encyclopedia of that kind of music. I write a lot of the music for Awesome Show and a lot of it’s very simple, with almost nursery rhyme simplicity. It’s three chords kinda music and Davin is a little more sophisticated. He can add all these layers and texture to it that are really funny. Forget the idea of a studio, we’re in my little office in my house with a laptop. None of this is being done professionally. We’re sitting there and I’m writing the lyrics while he’s making the songs more interesting and yeah we’re making each other laugh.

Do you feel that there’s something wrong with the music of today?
I don’t listen to any of it. I probably couldn’t tell you any of the popular acts or any songs. I don’t listen to the radio and I don’t watch MTV so there’s almost no way for me to experience any popular music. I’m sure it’s appropriate for somebody.

What separates you from other comics?
My style and my voice. Eric (Wareheim) and I don’t try and do somebody else’s act. This is the shit that whatever it is, whether it’s the show or the music or the work we do, it’s a very simple thing. It’s just what we want to do. They’re not too pre meditated, the choices we make.

Do you think that the Tim & Eric voice has been imitated by Vimeo and Youtube comics or is your brand of absurdist comedy just the current style?
I think our work has been influential to people and we see it, but I don’t know.

So what’s been influential to you in terms of comedy? There seems to be a congruency between you and Kids In The Hall.
Kids In The Hall I used to love and watch consistently. All the staples like SCTV, and (Monty) Python and a lot of local TV in my area in Pennsylvania like the local news broadcast, infomercials and that kind of stuff. Music I’ve always used as an expression of my humour. You know I’m certainly not the first person to do that, but it’s a way for me to do something that I really do enjoy. I’m not interested in being taken seriously as a musician though.

What was your first concert?
I think it was the Monkees reunion tour.

When was that?
I think it was in ’88, a long time ago. It was their first reunion tour. I think Michael Nesmith was there. They had a song at the time called “That Was Then, This Is Now”. They were back being aired on MTV in the states. I thought the Monkees were the real deal. I also like pro wrestling.

I thought that Michael Nesmith never did reunion stuff because his mother invented White Out so he didn’t have to do any tours?
That’s what I thought, but I think he was around for this one. I might be wrong. Definitely something that I should check the facts about.

If you were talking with six year old Tim Heidecker, what would you say to him?
I’d say keep acting like an idiot, it’ll pay off. A lot of this stuff is letting yourself put yourself out there and look like an idiot and just be naked. I guess I’ve always been not too afraid of what people are going to say or think and just try and do things that make me laugh.

What’s next for you?
Well we’re just about to get started shooting our Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, a low budget feature film which we’re starting in a few weeks. After that it’s up in the air. We’re gonna see how making a movie feels and maybe make another or maybe go live on a farm somewhere. Who knows?

Who’s your favourite artist from the era that this album is a tribute to?
I’m a big Elton John fan, specifically his records from the seventies. I think I’m always writing thinking about him. It doesn’t end up sounding like him in the end but sitting at a piano working on ballads, I think his stuff is great.

This album is written around the Fender Rhodes it seems.
Yeah it really was. It’s a testament to Apple’s Logic Studio which is their version of Pro Tools which has a lot of built in midi sounds. They’ve got incredible sounding Rhodes. You just play the Rhodes and it immediately transports you into an era of music which is very specific sounding. You can get away with a lot just by using a Fender Rhodes with a major seventh chord. It’s a good way to start writing songs.

Starting From Nowhere out March 15 on Little Record Company.

Words: Trevor Risk
Photography: Brain Heller

DARK KNIGHTS

You’re finally releasing a full-length album after a handful of limited run EPs and 7” records. Is releasing an album a momentous thing or is it just another step?
Jack: I think it’s exciting. It’s a good step, but I don’t think any of us will feel like we can rest on our laurels or anything. It was just something that had to be done. I’m more excited about making more music and being able to do an all new full-length album. This was wrapping up three years, you know what I mean?

Did you enjoy the experience of putting together a full album?
Jack: This album was more like curating a lot of things we had been working with and putting it together to show where we are right now. But if we had started with a blank slate and just came out saying, “This is going to be this album,” that would have been a different thing. If we sat down and made all new songs for a new album I think that’s something that would excite every one of us.
John: It would be very different, but we pretty much record all the time. We don’t really think about if they’re going to be on anything specific.
Heather: It would be nice to do another album with more focus on making songs, so that the whole album was its own piece and it wasn’t a mix of all these songs we already made. We didn’t get to sit down for a few months and just work in the studio and concentrate on making this comprehensive project, you know?

So has this process of curating an album made you think about your approach in the future?
Jack: I think we’ll have more freedom. We have enough songs right now—enough to put out a new album—but I think we needed to put out these older songs and have a complete sample of where we are coming from and where we are going for our first full-length. And then, after that, we really are free to do whatever we want. This first full-length, I think it’s in some ways sentimental to me. It’s really nice; I think it came together. It’s fucking sick. But after this album, it’s like, we’ve paid our dues. And now we can take it in whatever direction we want.

How is it sentimental? Do you feel the album reflects changes in your life over the last few years?
John: We were always making music. All the time, wherever we were, no matter what. So, I think it goes without saying, that it has.
Jack: On a personal level, my life has changed so much from when some of those songs were written. I mean, I was listening to the album the other day and… it just represents a pretty long period of time and, like, me. Like getting to know someone who I really care about. And close relationships with people and things changing and everything. It means a lot to me.

How about changes in the way you write?
Heather: I think we’re better at composition now than when we first started. When we re-recorded a few of the songs we made them fit better without newer songs.
Jack: I like the really old songs but the songs that we’re writing now are more developed or more complex.
John: There’s not that clear of a definition between old songs and new songs. Some songs we wrote three years ago and some songs two years and some songs one year ago and some songs one month ago and yeah, we’re going to feel a different way no matter what.
Jack: I’ll forget about songs and then listen to them and become re-excited about them because I haven’t listened to it in two years. It’s not like I listen to any of our songs like, “What the fuck were we thinking?”

You are a very visual band as well. Your artwork and videos are just as powerful as the music. Do you guys work in any other mediums?
John: Yeah, we do drawings and photography and painting and watercolours or even just creating things out of sticks or branches, you know, all kinds of sculptures.

Do you pull much inspiration from art outside of music?
Jack: I feel, maybe like, cops… and I like surveillance camera footage.
Heather: Yeah, we’re not the kind of people that go to art openings and be like, “Oh, I got so inspired by that.” [laughing] You know? We aren’t really that involved in any one scene. If we get inspired it’s more from everyday life.

So it’s more about experiences.
Jack: Yeah, definitely. I get really inspired when I’m in nature, or even in the city, and there’s a lot of fog. Or when there’s nice light and I’m driving around. When the light is blurred, or right at the edge, I get to a place where I’m inspired. In those moments, my mind will be in a place, or imagery will come into my head, where I’m open to thinking about things that would make me more inspired to make music.

All of your vocal styles are so different. How do you decide who sings?
Jack: If you think of us as instruments and not as performers, it’s more about what instrument would best complete this song.

Other than the rapping your lyrics are essentially indecipherable. Is writing lyrics more of a cathartic practice for you? Is there any meaning to them?
Jack: It’s like I was saying, if we consider ourselves more instruments than traditional performers it’s not about us. When I’m rapping I don’t want it to sound like myself, I don’t want to listen to myself rapping so I change my voice because that’s how I want it to sound. To me, it’s not about me. It’s about what we’re saying to us, it’s not about what we’re saying to you.

Is it not important that people know what you’re singing about?
Jack: I feel like if people read the things we’re writing… it’s not like we’re fucked up and don’t write nice or beautiful lyrics. It’s just like everything else we put out, it’s very strong. If feel like if people read them they’d be like, “That’s really nice.” It’s just not about that. The feel of what we’re saying is getting across without…
John: Saying it… audible… with words.
Jack: It’s been going on too long, where people are trying to tell you a story. That’s something that could make me pull away. I think that what we’re doing is more true to life in the sense that it’s not trying to hammer out a cute way of depicting something. We’re describing the situation but leaving it vague. As things are.

[www.s4lem.com]

Words: Cameron Reed
Photography: Jeremy Williams

Check out our street edition on Issuu.

On the cover of this issue are Victor Vazquez, Ashok Kondabolu (Dapwell) and Himanshu Suri (Heems) from Das Racist. People are having a tough time putting their finger on this Brooklyn-based rap trio. The New Yorker calls them art rap, The New York Times calls them joke rap and the internet is calling them a clever and self-aware take on hip hop. Regardless of what you want to label them, they’re injecting some good times into hip hop and their sound is simultaneously being embraced by Hot 97 and Pitchfork. Their breakout track “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell” is a sign of the times anthem that reached meme status last year. They followed that up this fall with “Who’s That? Brooown!,” a Tribe Called Quest-sampled burner who’s video is an 8-bit arcade game flashback (it was accompanied with a playable video game that will have you thinking of Frogger for days). With two free mixtapes under their belt—Shut Up, Dude and Sit Down, Man—a busy touring schedule and a slew of other projects they’re working on, you better keep your eyes on these dudes because they’re poised to paint the world brown.

RACE RIOT

Who does Das Racist consist of? Is one of you Memphis Bleek to the other’s Jay-Z?
Heems: It’s more like—who are some rap trios?
Dapwell: Cypress Hill.
Heems: But we are all B-Real.
Victor: We are all Sen Dogg.
Heems: DJ Muggs was Cypress Hill? I want to be him. Well Heems is DJ Muggs, Victor is Sen Dogg and Dap is B-Real.

That’s pretty ill. If I was in a rap trio, we would be Onyx but we would all be Sticky Fingaz.
Heems: Can you change it so we said that? I want to be Fredro Starr and have a mildly successful acting career and be on Moesha and in Sunset Park.

How did you guys meet?
Heems: We met in college and high school. I met Dap at Dalton High School, in New York and I met Victor at Bard, which is in Annandale-on-Hudson in upstate New York.
Victor: We were in the same poetry collective.
Heems: I thought it was pottery class.
Victor: It was a pottery class but I think we bonded most at the poetry collective.

What were you guys doing before you formed Das Racist?
Dapwell: I dropped out of college and spent a couple years in New York moving from apartment to apartment, then moving back to my parents’ house kind of aimlessly. Sometimes I’d get an odd job that I would get fired from.
Victor: I’d say the Kanye West story but I worked at a farm and I tutored children.
Heems: I was a human resources consultant in the financial service industry. I was a headhunter.
Under what circumstances did you guys decide to form Das Racist?
Heems: I don’t know. We were bored and talented.
Victor: You smoke weed?! What’s your favourite weed?!

Where does the name come from?
Heems: There was a short-lived TV show called Wonder Showzen that had short cartoons in it and one of them was called That’s Racist.
Dapwell: T-H-A-T-S Racist and everyone misspells it.
Heems: I think people kind of attribute the phonetic thing onto us unnecessarily. It’s pretty offensive that they would do that. It’s clearly spelled “That’s Racist” on everything we put out.

Shouldn’t you guys hire a PR firm to take care of that?
Heems: I don’t know shit about Puerto Ricans! What would prevent us from hiring a DR firm? Or a Honduran firm?

Where do you guys fit into the rap world?
Victor: Right up the butt.

Being rappers, what did the streets teach you guys?
Heems: They taught me not to make garbage rap music, not to be British, not to be white, not to make videos about ecstasy that nobody cares about, not to glorify sniffing cocaine and making bad songs about it.

But what did the streets teach you guys?
Heems: Mike Skinner, right?

What is it like to be coming up in the music game in 2010?
Heems: It’s cool because cars can fly now, right? Finally right? Finally. Opposed to coming up in 2009 when everything was different. A lot of individuals… I’m sorry. I just ate some chipotle peppers. It’s really burning the shit out of my face.

When you guys made the song “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell” did you guys do it with getting a licensing deal in mind?
Heems: We wanted a licensing deal, and there are a whole batch of other songs we didn’t put out for other corporate entities that we were hoping to get licensed. They are only sitting on our hard drives.
Victor: The original “Who’s that? Brooown!” chorus goes (sings) “Quiznos, Quiznos Quiznos, getting together, getting some pizza in the mail, UPS, what can brown do for you? Getting pizza in the mail, UPS Quiznos.”
Heems: So that was the second track on the EP.

You guys should have left it like that.
Heems: Have you ever played “Who’s that? Brooown!” backwards? You should hear the song we did for Bloomberg.

What’s it like to see a song you guys did blow up on the internet?
Heems: I hope that future employers don’t find it.

What’s your favourite collaboration you’ve done so far?
Heems: Rapping with Despot on “Rooftop” for the second mixtape was fun. That’s like a dude we kick it with a lot. Basically the people we see every day that are in and out the studio.
Victor: We just did a song with Homeboy Sandman that was really fun.
Heems: For me doing a song with El-P was a crazy thing. By the time we made it, we kicked it a bunch of times too. So he grew from just a dude who I really respected into a dude who I just kicked it with. So making a track with him was really comfortable. At the same time it was like, “oh shit, that’s El-P recording right there.” He was a dude I idolized when I was in high school so doing a track with him was really crazy.

Which gig has been your favourite so far?
Heems: Hawaii was fun because we got to go to Hawaii, but there weren’t a lot of people at that show. Madonna at the Macy’s Parade—we played a private show for Madonna on the sideline at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

So Madonna’s down with Das Racist?
Heems: Yeah, she likes it.

What’s the worst gig you guys have done?
Heems: Maybe Hawaii or the Madonna joint.

What made you guys decide to give out your music for free?
Victor: I don’t know, we had a lot of samples and we didn’t want to figure out splits for everything. We just wanted to get it out there. We thought maybe it would help to have a release out before we did an album.
Heems: It’s kind of how rap music works right now if you want to reach an audience. I mean, it’s not very difficult for us to make songs, I don’t think we are worried about not being able to do more.

It’s a good thing to do while you’re trying to figure out a deal.
Heems: Or stop. Or put out a different kind of record that’s not rap.

How do you guys plan to monetize?
Heems: Live shows and when we get on top of our shit, merchandise and military arms.

What are your guy’s groupies like?
Victor: They are weird. Some of them are pretty.

If you guys could have rap beef with anyone who would it be?
Heems: Tupac, Biggie, Joe Budden, Lil B, Madonna, Kanye, Bill O’Reilly, probably the rapper Jin, Murda Mook, Beanie Sigel, Thom Yorke, Snoop Dogg, Bon Jovi, Freaky Tah, Axl Rose. Who was the Hip Hop Violinist? Miri Ben-Ari.
Victor: Probably Facebook.
Heems: I would battle Facebook, The Social Network, Mark Zuckerberg, Nine Inch Nails and Trent Reznor. So we would probably beef with Mark Zuckerberg, Hip Hop Violinist Miss Miri Ben-Ari, and the rapper Jin. Those three more than anyone really.
Dapwell: Saul Williams.
Heems: We are going to recreate the battle between Saul Williams and Sherman Alexie.
Victor: We were going to tell that to The New Yorker an hour ago but we saved that for you.

Two dudes in your group are Indian, are you guys looking to start a brown power movement? Like being the Indian Public Enemy?
Heems: I don’t think so, that’s too ambitious. I studied South Asian studies, so I am interested. It comes up in our music.

Where do you guys see the future of rap going?
Heems: It’s really moving toward the independent stuff, like the smaller independent stuff. There are no more indie rap labels; there was Definitive Jux and Stones Throw doesn’t really do rap now. It’s not about being signed to a major label—you have to do your own thing. I think now is a much better time to be independent more than ever before, that’s not to say that we wouldn’t explore the option of doing something with a major. At this time we put our music on the internet, because that’s how you get the most attention and the most people to download your music. We are not too stressed about making it. If you are signed to a major they do a 360 and they take your touring and your merch money and you’re making what? A hundred grand up front? I’m not sure how the future of rap is different from the future of music.
Victor: There’s this hyper-emotional, hyper-personal trend in rap music, kind of like we are. Because everything is personal, however superficial, and it seems like we are tackling bigger issues. Kid Cudi is making songs about having nightmares. Who gives a fuck about Kid Cudi?

What does the future hold for Das Racist?
Heems: We are going on tour right now to China and Western Europe. We are going to come back and work on more songs. We are doing Minority Fest 2. We did the first Minority Fest in September 2009. Minority Fest is a one-night-only show that had a panel representing comedy, music and visual arts that happened at Glasslands in Brooklyn. It was just different people who were minorities talking about being creative. The whole minority thing was tongue in cheek. We are going to have another one where we invite different bands, it was mostly composed, last year, of comedians and academics talking about what it’s like to do what they do while being a minority. We are going to do the second one next year in February 2011. We have a radio show that we are working on; we are trying to base it on Stretch and Bobbito, which was an old rap show in New York. We are also working on this weird sketch/talk show called Chillin’ Island. So all sorts of different media. There is also some interest by a network for a TV show with me and my brother. Me and my brother have a talk show that we do and there is some interest in having a sketch show for this network.
Victor: We have a gallery opening we are working on in 2011 in Brooklyn. Heems has done a lot of painting and canvas work so that’s going to come out in 2011. We haven’t thought of a name for it but we have the space.

So you guys are multi-faceted?
Victor: You can’t just be a rapper or you’d be dead in the gutter.

Who are your top five rappers?
Heems: I think top five dead or alive for me would be: Joe Budden, Madonna, Gary Oldman, any Chinese person that you might meet, Korea as a country—only physically geographically, not the people in Korea, but the land mass—and a single flame rising from the nostril of a snake.
Victor: In no particular order, for me it’s got to be: Pablo Honey—the album by Radiohead—a volcano, the shark from the cartoons—Jabberjaw the Hanna-Barbera shark—and probably MF Doom.

dasracist.net

Words: Zia Hirji
Photography: Jeremy Williams
Cover Photography: Jeremy Williams
Photographer’s Assistant: John Klukas
Styling: Nick Whitehouse
Hair and Makeup: Jenny Kanavaros, TRESemmé Hair Care/judyinc.com using Dermalogica skincare.

Das Racist is wearing Victor: All clothing Victor’s own. Dapwell: Hat, Jacket and Shirt Dapwell’s own, Jeans by Levi’s. Heems: Shirt and Scarf Heems’ own, Jeans by Levi’s.

Check out our street edition on Issuu.

On the cover of this issue is Dave 1 and P-Thugg from Chromeo. Being retro in the Western world ain’t easy. Having busted through the plexiglass window of sophomore slumpery with the hit LP Fancy Footwork, Chromeo are sticking to their guns—not re-inventing themselves, but rather sticking with the sound that they hold so dear. The new record, Business Casual, is a classic Chromeo record (yes, by the third record a band’s sound can be classic) that will delight both fans of their earlier work and fans of electro funk pop from decades past. ION was lucky enough to have Love & Electrik, a young and popular act of a similar genre, interview Dave1 and P-Thugg. Never again shall these two bands be in the same room, as any catastrophe would drain the Canadian funk pool down to zero.

So we got to listen to your album Business Casual. What was your inspiration musically on this record compared to previous records?
Dave 1: I’d say we were listening to a lot more classic rock—late Seventies classic rock, soft rock, Toto, Boz Scaggs, but I mean…
P-Thugg: Still a lot of funk, but the soft rock kinda gave us a bit of a new direction.
Dave 1: There’s also songs that sound like nothing, kind of. “Don’t Turn the Lights Out,” to me, the only influence was, like, maybe Sade for certain melodies.

You guys are both spokespeople for Bushmills whiskey. Do you drink it dry or on the rocks?
P-Thugg: On the rocks.
Dave 1: It’s actually quite good. I don’t know much about whiskey so the fact that I can drink it… I mean, here’s the thing, when you’re a band like us, and you’re not on radio and you’re not on mainstream television, there’s only so many ways to finance a tour and also get any kind of promotion money. I know a very traditional sort of indie minded person might think that’s kind of a sellout thing, but that doesn’t really mean anything in this day and age. How I see it is like this: record companies give out these new deals where they have your publishing, your merch and touring rights and they give you this huge advance. We said no to that because for us that’s important. That’s ours. For us, I feel like if you sign that deal you’re just as much of a sellout as someone else who licenses something to a commercial. I mean, I would feel more like a sellout if the record label was making money off our live show. I’m happy to talk about this. We actually got a couple
comments. I mean, you don’t see us drinking. There’s nowhere you see us drinking. It’s not like, “Whoa, soo good Bushmills.” You don’t see us drinking it anywhere. The pictures are just cool photos. We had all the approval of every artistic dimension. It’s about friendship. Every time they have a little clip of us we’re not talking about Bushmills. Like there’s no mention of us doing anything with their product.
P-Thugg: It’s kind of a win-win situation—the three-way win-win. The Bushmills people win, we win and the fans win. We get to put on a better show.
Dave 1: We put all the money back into everything, the videos, the album. We reinvest back into stuff so that everyone benefits.

When you first recognized success back in the She’s In Control-era, are there any regrets or things your would do differently?
P-Thugg: The whole thing! [laughter]
Dave 1: I listened to it the other day and I mean, it was dope, it was alright. There was no precedent for that back then. Sometimes I look back and I’m like, “Ugh, the artwork. Ack it’s terrible.” But, like, it’s our first album.
P-Thugg: We were still kind of looking for our sound.
Dave 1: We had no managers; we didn’t know what a booking agent was. She’s In Control didn’t blow up. It was pretty much a failure at all levels. But we had “Needy Girl,” and “Needy Girl” was like a musical passport. That song went all around the world and DJs played it everywhere, but there were no remixes on She’s In Control but one— actually lousy one: Paper Faces.
P-Thugg: Our best remix was two years after.
Dave 1: The label put all their money into getting a DFA remix for “Destination Overdrive,” and they were like, “We spent everything” and we were like, “Oyyyy.” So it was a tough learning experience but I look back and actually in a way I’m proudest of what we did, ‘cause it was just me and P, schlepping everywhere. Just the two of us.
P-Thugg: Recording everything, mixing everything…
Dave 1: Now that I look back, our band sort of chronicles the coming of blogs or YouTube. When we came out with our first album, MySpace didn’t exist yet and YouTube didn’t exist yet. Our “Needy Girl” video was almost one of the first viral videos… but people had to send a crazy link. It’s weird ‘cause we kind of saw all that happening. DJs were the first people to support us. At first that’s really how it got around. With the first album it was the DJs and a snowboard video. So many kids learned about us through that.

How many videos have you guys done with Surface to Air?
Dave 1: Two. I like Surface to Air a lot. We owe a lot to them—they’re kind of part of our image. We collabed closely with those guys. The logo was them, the legs were their idea, the album covers for Business Casual and Fancy Footwork was them. The guy who owns the whole company is a good friend. A lot of credit must be given to them… we have fun with the videos but our videos are not very self-indulgent, it’s really a service. I mean, I have fun, but I really hope that the millions of people that watch the videos, like “Night By Night,” had more fun than me. We see it as something to really show people a good time.

How does it feel to have such an influence on young musicians?
P-Thugg: It feels great, especially when we get questions, you know, about production with people really interested in what’s going on behind the scenes… more specifically asking me about the talk box or the synths we use. It’s very rewarding, just as much as being in front of a sold-out crowd dancing.
Dave 1: I agree with P. It’s really humbling, and we talk to musicians all the time and give advice and P’s geeking out with all the guys and stuff. I feel like, at the same time, when the smoke clears, I hope that at one point people realize that we were one of the first to do it—as far as the Eighties funk. Obviously there’s Daft Punk—they hinted at it. But in terms of really trying to rehabilitate the Rick James, the Hall and Oates thing, the squiggly synths and stuff… you know, we were some of the first. Not that we want a special achievement award or anything, but that recognition feels good when we get it. Even at our shows when we first started, P having a synthesized voice was a curiousity. He would go, “What’s up?” and people would be like, “What’s that?” We never get that anymore. Now, people barely react. But back when we started, it was like. “What’s that? It’s a tube! It’s a robot! It’s a guy!”

What was it like collaborating with Yo Gabba Gabba! and writing a song that was kid friendly?
Dave 1: P always answers the “What was it like?” questions, but another thing we should clear is that we didn’t write that song. Believe it or not, they have their own songwriter over there. So all the songs for Yo Gabba Gabba! is like one dude. I think his name was Ken Lee, this Asian hipster guy with, like, big glasses. He’s dope. He writes all the stuff and sent us, like, three songs, they were like demo quality so we took the songs, picked one and made it into a funky Chromeo thing.
P-Thugg: All three of his ideas were actually very compatible to us. So he had you guys in mind when he was creating the tunes?
Dave 1: Definitely, especially the one we picked. A couple of the songs they might have had already sitting on the shelf, but that one was already very funky.

So Dave, you’re earning your PHD in French literature and now teaching in NYC. How do you manage to balance this with music and what’s it like when students recognize you?
Dave 1: I don’t really know. You need to ask my students, but I think it’s kinda funny for them. I don’t think about it when I teach class because there’s so much to do. It’s tough balancing them. At the same time, with a band, you have time when you’re not touring. Writing music for us luckily comes fairly quick. And the way we split the work, P can do a lot of stuff in my absence and then I can come in and we can do binges. Hopefully by the next time we do an interview with ION I’ll be a full-on professor.

Have you ever taught in your leather vest?
Dave 1: I’ve worn other leather jackets, but that one is a little too sleeveless, you know?

Chromeo has been around for eight years, which dismisses any kind of novelty act assumptions people might have about you. What are your thoughts on that issue?
Dave 1: It’s understandable. I mean, look at what we look like. This guy’s got a tube in his mouth; I’m talking about chicks. I mean, obviously I’d have my suspicions too. But I think that Fancy Footwork kind of dispelled that. When we started we just looked at the White Stripes. I mean, Jack White’s wearing red pants, he’s got swirls everywhere, he does like retro music too. How come nobody thinks they’re a joke band? They’ve just been doing the same thing and the image is über consistent. Maybe subconsciously we tried to apply that. And if you look at what we’re doing now, the legs everywhere, the chromed out logo everywhere, everything is consistent. We’re trying to create a universe that’s between us and our album covers and our lyrics and theme. The more you do that the more it makes it harder for others to imitate you. That’s why, by the way, you can’t imitate Jack White, Like what are you gonna do? I mean, who can walk around imitating Jack White? He’s untouchable. He’s the only guy who wears the red pants, sings the way he does, and has that retro sound and crazy artwork. So I think it’s a cool model for us to follow. That’s what leads to credibility in the long run.

www.chromeo.net
Chromeo on Facebook
Chromeo on Twitter

Words: Kevin and Roxy from Love & Electrik
Photography: Felix Wong
Photo Assistant: Julia Visentin
Styling: Toyo Tsuchiya
Hair and Makeup: Eduardo Mella, TRESemmé Hair Care, judyinc.com

Purchase this issue from here.

Here’s a sneak peek of the cover of our Fall Fashion issue. It’s features Dave 1 and P-Thugg from Chromeo. It’s printing right now so stay tuned!

Check out our street edition on Issuu.

On the cover this month are Ninja and Yo-Landi Vi$$er of Die Antwoord. This high energy, rave rap outfit from South Africa caused the internet to explode back in February when two videos they made, “Zef Side” and “Enter The Ninja,” spread like tuberculosis. The virus analogies can’t stop there as everything about Die Antwoord is totally infectious, be it the music, the tattoos, the hair, the Zef style, or the Afrikaans slang. Given that Die Antwoord translates from Afrikaans to The Answer, it begs one to ask: what’s the question? Probably something along the lines of, “Are these two for fokken real?” After photographing and talking to them as well as seeing their ridiculously awesome live show (their first ever in Canada), we’d have to emphatically say yes!

The video “Zef Side” went online in December 2009 and the video for “Enter the Ninja” was up in mid-January 2010. How did they fare initially?
Ninja: No one watched them and we started getting insecure and we thought we sucked.
Yo-Landi: A weird thing was, suddenly a lot of people caught on to “Zef Side” and we were a little tweaked because we made it for fun. But “Enter the Ninja” was more like our soul. From there, funny enough, “Zef Side” turned people on to “Enter The Ninja.” And that became the big deal.

Please explain what Zef is.
Ninja: It’s the ultimate style.

February 3, 2010 is the day the videos went everywhere. What was that day like for you?
Yo-Landi: It was messed up.
Ninja: It was nighttime. We got home at night after a show, late. We came in from Johannesburg. It was like The Twilight Zone for about a week.

Did you leave your computer that week?
Ninja: We just left to go to the bathroom and then came back. Or when the food ran out after the third day. We just laid down on the floor and looked at the sky and then went and looked at the computer again.
Yo-Landi: When you have like 5,000 emails in your inbox you just give up eventually. I didn’t know what to do.
Ninja: When you’d navigate away and come back there was like 2,000 more hits. Once it jumped up 10,000 hits in a second. It was a fokken freak out.

So literally over two million people have seen you shaking your dick in the “Zef Side” video?
Ninja: It’s much bigger. Someone posted another one so it’s actually like four million. There’s two there. It’s ridiculous.

After the explosion in early February, what happened next for you guys?
Ninja: It’s all a psychedelic blur. Everyone wanted to be our friend.
Yo-Landi: We went from a small fishing village in South Africa to flying business class to LA.

Is it fair to say Die Antwoord is satire?
Ninja: Not really. I think it’s just kind of new. A lot of people say that but it’s not really our thing. It’s very personal to us. It’s just how we are. We’ve done other stuff before but I didn’t really know what my fokken zone was. Then when it hit me with Die Antwoord it was like, “This is the fokken shit. We can go full-force into this.” It’s new. People get it and they love it. But some people are cozy with the shit state of pop at the moment and they can’t process it and think it’s not real. They’re not into the next dimension yet and are kind of stuck in the past. How old are you?

I’m 31. How old are you guys?
Ninja: I’m 35 and she doesn’t talk about her age. I’ve been doing other projects for a fokken long time.

I’ve heard you say Die Antwoord is an overnight success that was 20 years in the making.
Ninja: I’ve been rapping for ages. When rap came out it was so fokken fierce. There was nothing quite like it, but then rap kind of died. It’s huge but it’s this big fokken dead thing, to be perfectly honest. It was so fierce and psychedelic and had so many different things popping. It started getting big and overtook Garth Brooks in the late Nineties. It was like, “Jesus, rap’s bigger than country.” Now it’s not such a big thing. It’s big but it’s dead. I was experimenting with all this different shit that was way off the fokken mark. It wasn’t close to the core. Then you find something like this. Die Antwoord? It’s fokken personal, Die Antwoord is.

Why do you think Die Antwoord has resonated with people on a global level?
Ninja: Because it’s new.

What was the reaction to you in South Africa?
Yo-Landi: Mixed emotions. Because it’s the place we come from our music means something totally different to someone from South Africa. It’s got different nuances and they hear different things to what you hear. The kids love it. The older people aren’t that sure.
Ninja: A lot of old people really, really, really don’t like it. I’m not bragging but we’re the biggest group in the world ever out of South Africa. Like ever, in the history of the whole fucker. There’s Mandela, District 9 and Die Antwoord. That’s the history of South Africa. Someone said that to me and I’m like, “Oh yeah, that’s true.” The style we represent pisses a lot of people off. South Africans generally, the culture—this is gonna be a little controversial what I’m going to say here—the entire culture is insecure a little bit. Americans, they’re not insecure. You’ll see the French also and they’re like, “Fuck everyone; we’re the centre of the world.” We’re kind of inspired by that attitude. There’s cool fokken shit in South Africa. But the people, as a culture, as a whole, they haven’t got a fokken style. Then we check in and we get to present it and stylize it with full-force. And that’s what Zef is for us—that ultimate flex and it’s fokken South African. It’s a medium to put our most intense life experience and energy into like a bomb, which is Die Antwoord.

You mentioned District 9. Is it true the director of that, Vancouverite Neill Blomkamp is going to make your next video?
I can’t believe it. Neill: Fuck you. He was supposed to come tonight. He said “no” right before we came. He thought the show was at 7:30 on the 17th. So he missed it. We’re gonna do something with him but he’s caught up and doing a new film. We’re not sure what it is but probably a video. I haven’t met him yet. We’re looking forward to meeting him. He’s a genius.

Yo-Landi, can you confirm that you’re talking to David Fincher about playing Lisbeth in the English version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo?
Yo-Landi: He asked me and I said no. We’re shooting a feature film now so the plan didn’t work out. He wanted to shoot in August but we’re in Japan and then we’re shooting our movie.

What’s that called?
Yo-Landi: The Answer.

And it’s about you guys?
Yo-Landi: Yeah.

Die Antwoord have this amazing internet presence. However, you’ve signed with a big label, Interscope, and big labels are notoriously bad at the internet…
Ninja: It’s like a gangster move. We have a very unique deal.
Yo-Landi: I don’t understand.

What I mean is big labels just aren’t good at the internet… especially on YouTube. A lot of the time, efforts to monetize online traffic can end up hurting the artist.
Ninja: That’s why we’re with Interscope. They don’t restrict us at all. Every single fokken major was knocking on our door. We had a real affection with Interscope, like an understanding. We got an intimate understanding and that’s really fokken important to us.
Yo-Landi: They’ve got Wat Pomp. They’ve got fuck you. They put out fokken Tupac. They put out fokken Eminem. They put out Dr. Dre. All these fokken people. You walk into their office and there’s Eminem’s album, fokken Marshall Mathers platinum.
Ninja: They’ve broke a lot of things. The worst thing they can do is restrict. As for the interweb, I can do so much. But when you take it to another level, we make pop music. I want to hit different people. The cool thing is our contract is unique and we have a fort around what we do. In the past you get bands like Queen and The Rolling Stones or Michael Jackson. I don’t think the labels were restricting them. I don’t think they were telling them what to do because they were popping. So the thing is stay popping and you’re gonna get more people plugging into this mechanism.

What’s the coolest thing your newfound notoriety has allowed you to do?
Ninja: Get paid.

And what’s the master plan to keep people talking about Die Antwoord for years to come?
Ninja: I don’t know. We don’t think about that. The future is boring. I don’t care. I never worried about that before and I’m not going to start worrying about that now.

[www.dieantwoord.com]
[Die Antwoord on Facebook]

Die Antwoord currently have a digital ep, titled 5, available on iTunes and are slated to release their full-length album in October on Interscope Records.

Words: Michael Mann
Photography: André Pinces www.pincesphoto.com
Live Photography: Kris Krüg www.staticphotography.com
Makeup: Andrea Tiller www.andreatillermakeup.com

Purchase this issue from here.

Check out our street edition on Issuu.

This month’s cover features Eugene Hütz—actor, DJ, and front man for the gypsy-punk band Gogol Bordello. Originally hailing from a small town near Kiev, Eugene fled Ukraine after learning of the Chernobyl disaster just up river from his home. After six years spent in refugee camps throughout Eastern Europe, he arrived in the U.S. as a political refugee. He has since released six albums with Gogol Bordello and one with his experimental side project J.U.F., been the subject of two documentaries, acted in three films, and had one film based on him. He has performed on stages ranging from the Tate Modern in London, to Lollapalooza and has dabbled briefly as a model in New York’s fashion world. He’s befriended and collaborated with the likes of Madonna, Elijah Wood, and Russian Gypsy guitar sensation Sasha Kolpakov. He also has a very nice moustache. Blessed with equal parts talent, charisma, luck, and affable insanity, Eugene continues along his wandering road to success. Gogol Bordello just made their major label debut with the Rick Rubin-helmed Trans-Continental Hustle.

Can you tell me how the collaboration with Rick Rubin came about for this record, Trans-Continental Hustle?
Well, Tom Morello—who has been a good friend and big supporter of Gogol Bordello for years—started bringing Rick to our shows like three or four years ago actually. And so, I think it was the third show when I actually met Rick backstage in LA. Basically just introduced ourselves, but it kind of picked up pretty quickly. Shortly afterwards I was already in Rick’s house showing him my new songs. I think only some couple weeks or maybe a month went by. It was super exciting because Rick has been known as a major force in preserving the art of songwriting.

The new album is made up of a surprising number of love songs. And I understand that your choice to relocate from New York to Rio de Janeiro was inspired by a woman. Sounds like you may have found your muse?
[Laughs] Yes. My strongest muse. Actually many of those songs had already existed in some form. Working with Rick helped bring those out.

What was your biggest surprise working with Rick?
Well, nothing comes as a surprise when you work with somebody with such a high intelligence—not only musical but literary and emotional intelligence. Of course Rick was super important in the rock and rap world, but it did not come to me a surprise that he was listening to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan or was interested in Gregorian chanting, y’know? There was nothing surprising about it and in the process of getting to know each other and working a lot, that’s what we did a lot… just listen to music, endlessly. And our process kind of consisted of me going to Brazil or on tour and coming back to Rick’s house every two or three months with a new batch of songs. And what excited me was that he wasn’t scared that every time I see him I have like 20 new songs. The band is pretty scared of that, usually.

Being a band with a grassroots following, I imagine there are fans who perceive Gogol Bordello’s signing to American Recordings, as a push toward the proverbial mainstream. Have you encountered any criticism for it?
Not really, man. I mean, I’ve never seen it like that to start with. It’s like—I hate to bum you out but the Eighties are over. Back then everything was clear-cut and you had the plastic stupid façade of mainstream and then you had the underground camp. You had Alternative Tentacles and Dischord Records going strong. But everything has disintegrated in the last two decades and there are many artists that don’t fit in either camp, y’know. Signing with American Recordings was primarily about signing with Rick Rubin. That’s the move we were aiming to make.

Gogol Bordello doesn’t seem like the kind of band that formulates a detailed plan for success, and yet the past six years or so you’ve become more and more successful and have worked with some pretty high profile people. What do you attribute this to?
We’ve always just wanted to do what we love, and fortunately things are just taking their course. I’ve always felt like we have had our own destiny. Ever since I was young and I would play my songs… people would be interested. So I always felt that was the direction I should go. We are the first people from Eastern Europe that have been taken seriously abroad here. There is no manual on how to deal with it. We’re making it up as we go along but we’re very committed to the quality of our music.

Let’s talk a bit about your endeavours outside of music, as a model and an actor. I get the sense that it gets your quills up a bit when people start discussing your previous experience in the fashion world.
[Laughs] Not really. It’s true that in the early years, basically our first recognition came from the art world and we were spending lots of time flying around to play in galleries and museums and that quickly crossed over into the fashion world. That was just something I started getting irritated with because I started getting interviewed as a fashion icon and this kind of bullshit.

What’s your opinion on fashion as an art form?
Well, fashion is basically one of the lower forms of art. I don’t detest fashion. It’s just that the importance is blown out of proportion. Most fashion has become institutionalized elitism. Personally, I don’t give a fuck about fashion. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate if somebody whips some combination out that I’ve never seen before. Fashion is great when it is spontaneous and upbeat, or from somebody whose aesthetic about fashion is very artistic and solid like, say, Yohji Yamamoto.

You’ve also said you don’t care much for acting.
This is not entirely true. I enjoy acting. But there are many things that have to feel right. Many things have to come together. It has to be the right kind of story and with integrity and the right group of people. I like very much when it’s like a gang. Like a gang mentality—kind of like being in a band.

Do you have acting gigs on the horizon?
Well, with film projects you can’t really say too much about them until it’s for sure they are going to happen. I’m fortunate that some of my favourite directors have communicated that they are fans of Gogol Bordello’s music… like Emir Kustirica, Jim Jarmusch, and Jonathan Demme. Upon meeting those amazing directors and finding out that they find my music and character inspiring gives me a lot of optimism for cinema-future.

Is there such thing as an ultimate goal or ultimate success for Eugene Hütz?
Well, I’m a big believer in Eastern philosophy. That ultimate goal and final point are very Western ideas. Frankly, I don’t know what the fuck they mean. It’s like saying the goal of life is death. The movement through time and space… that’s the goal. Some Western poets and artists are aware of that too. There’s a great Bukowski title: What Matters Most is How You Well You Walk Through the Fire. That’s that my friend. It’s how well you navigate through time and space. If you navigate great it’ll bring you to the goal that needs to be. I think that is why gypsy mentality and gypsy spirit and psychology is so married to a moment and celebration of the moment. The roots of it are in India… in that Eastern philosophy. It all comes from that old-soul philosophy and way of life.

Why do you think Western culture has such a romantic intrigue with gypsy culture when they are so entrenched in such an opposing philosophy?
Well, it’s a very young culture. Comparatively, it’s really in the baby stages. The song “Rise the Knowledge” on the new album is precisely about that. It’s about Eastern knowledge coming to the rescue.

I came across a quote from you in an interview you did for the UK paper The Independent which stated: “You’ll never find refuge in nostalgia: I think it’s just a form of laziness.” Do you feel that will still apply when you look back on this period your life, say, 25 years from now?
Big-time, man. I mean, the idea of nostalgia is very much a part of the Western condition. It’s also been employed as a big business by capitalists milking people’s weaknesses—a form of mental laziness. People are chasing the wrong things. It seems people are either constantly aiming towards some goal that they think will finally free them, or they are taking comfort in things that have already happened. It’s this doomed way of thinking that the best time in their life has either already happened, or that it never will happen, y’know? So, I’m not really a fan of that. It’s not about arriving anywhere, or dwelling on all the places you’ve been. It’s about the cruising.

[Gogol Bordello's Facebook Fan Page]
[www.gogolbordello.com]

Words: Devon Cody
Photography: Norman Wong
Stylist: Toyo Tsuchiya
Grooming: Eduardo Mella, TRESemme Hair Care, judyinc.com,

Check out our street edition on Issuu.

This month’s cover features Philly-native, DJ, producer, filmmaker, and manatee enthusiast, Wesley Pentz aka Diplo. If you’ve been to a club in the past four years you’ve probably heard something he’s had his hands on. You may have heard his name as one of the guys behind the infamous Hollertronix parties or as MIA’s producer. He now makes up half of Major Lazer, a guerilla fighter with a prosthetic laser arm and a penchant for being a celebrity magnet. Major Lazer’s album, Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do, sounds like being daggered by a massive bass line all while being too freaked out to yell “Rasclot”… but in a good way. Along with Major Lazer, Diplo’s label Mad Decent is home to a cornucopia of artists including dubstep superstar Rusko and Po Po, a Pakistani garage punk band. When Diplo isn’t running his record label, or producing for a large number of artists he spends time touring as a DJ bringing world influences to the dance floor. If you haven’t heard of the guy, get familiar.

What did you do before you started DJing?
Lots of stuff, rode bikes around my neighbourhood, the last job I had was teaching kids and also social work. Those are the most immediate jobs that I quit before DJing. I also worked at the zoo for a while and sold shoes.

So how did the whole Hollertronix party and Philly scene start?
For me it was just a party I started because no one was putting our parties on and I couldn’t get a gig anywhere. There was a rock DJ thing happening at the time and there were black clubs in Philly and I was between them and there weren’t really hipsters yet, you know? So there was something happening there. My girlfriend at the time was doing Eighties parties and she couldn’t mix, and I was like, “Yo, I love these kinds of records.” I was into Arthur Baker, kind of Eighties vibes Electro stuff and then I just started doing parties on my own. We rented this club out near my house and didn’t make any money for about a year and then we started making some money and touring. It went to New York and it was crazy the kind of reception we had there and that was it. That was like five years ago.

What about putting out the records?
We first put the mixtape out and we sold like shitloads of the mixtape. We sold them at local shops and we sold them at Turntable Lab. Turntable Lab pressed like 5,000 and they sold them really quick and we put a bootleg out to launch the Turntable Lab release and that sold out too. That was even before mashups were coming out, and that was on vinyl too. You couldn’t download the shit.

So when did you flip to doing parties and putting these records out full time? What was the breaking point?
I think I just hated my job. I just quit. I was sleeping less. DJing at night and waking up at eight in the morning to go to work. Eventually I was just like fuck it, nobody appreciated me at my job so I just quit my job and was like, it’s time I commit tosomething.

I assume you were a DJ before you started making music?
No, I was actually both. This is actually when I started making money, making a living at it. We’re talking like 2005, but before that I was DJing by myself from like 16 years old. Like doing Miami Bass—DJ Laz and Magic Mike were my two biggest inspirations when I lived in Florida. So I was DJing that kind of stuff, collecting old records, but playing some Electro and Dancehall stuff out in Florida, never doing any gigs, maybe a friend’s party or something. Then I moved to Philly and started thinking how can I do this seriously? But no one was listening to any of the music I liked. Electro and Miami Bass? The East Coast thought it was fucking whack music. Southern Hip Hop was just like ghetto shit. Nobody in New York liked that at all so it just took me a while, and then parties just started moving. I think people just liked the idea that our parties had no presumption at all. It was really working class like black kids and white kids. The black kids started listening to stuff like Tainted Love, which was a big record, and that old school shit. We started playing a lot of the Houston records up in Philly before they were big, like Lil’ Flip and Still Tippin’—those were really big for the rock kids. It was really weird. Now it seems like you can’t go to a club nowadays and not hear Rap and Lady GaGa over Electro hits, it’s just the same thing. Back then it was really weird for people to hear us mix a Rock record and then drop an acapella and do it live. Now it seems a little cheesy, but back then it was actually different. That was the heart and soul of the party because it brought people together. Back then they were all sneaking in. Amanda Blank was just under 21 and she would sneak into our parties and it kind of culminated into a scene now. You see, in retrospect, even Santigold was crew with those people and MIA, her first show in America was at a Hollertronix, so you could see the vibe was just happening there.

What was the most memorable party you played?
The Mad Decent block party is always really crazy, that’s kind of where Hollertronix left off, we do that party on the street, and we have 3,000 kids come up and the city blocks off the whole street for 10 dollars… that’s all it costs to get a block party permit in Philly. We’re just on the rooftop with the speaker system and everyone is going crazy. It’s really Hollertronix. We have a real mix of people. It’s cool to say fuck you back to Philly, because they never supported our shit anyway. So that party’s good. The carnival party we have in England… during Notting Hill Carnival, we have this crazy party… we’ve only had two of them but it’s been insane. At the last one we had Thom Yorke there and he was moshing, and he met me backstage and he did a remix for Major Lazer. So, London’s Carnival Party is sick. It’s everything I love about the Caribbean, you know, Dancehall music and the Caribbean diaspora because there are all these little sound systems. There’s a Dub sound system, an Old School Disco sound system, a Hip Hop one, proper Reggae, UK Funky; every other corner there’s something going on that represents the London underground culture… I’ve always had more support from Canada. I’d do a show in San Francisco, a show in New York and then five shows in Canada. If I went to any other random city in America they would be like “I don’t get it,” because Canada has always had a more open acceptance for music. The cultures are mixed here a lot more than in America. Underground music is bigger in Canada than popular music. In America, I feel like it’s 90 percent pop and 10 percent underground. It seems like Canada is half and half.

When you started Mad Decent, what was the mantra behind the label?
I think that the main focus was just to give releases to stuff that we were doing bootlegs of anyway. I wanted to develop artists and scenes that didn’t have proper representation. Back then you didn’t have any Baile Funk stuff, or any Baltimore Club stuff being released on real record labels. That was the first goal. The label was just me. It only started four years ago, so for a year and a half it was just me answering e-mails and designing the covers. Then a year and a half after that, I hired a label manager and it’s been about two years as a proper label. I feel like we’re trying to do more bands we believe in. Rusko is our first major artist and I think he represents a big culture shift for us to do a record that can go far, like further than underground music. Even though it is underground music we feel like we can break through with artists like that, and we’re doing Rock bands now.

What are you stoked on for 2010?
I hope we can keep doing fresh shit and keep being ahead of the curve. That’s the hardest part for us; to always stay ahead of people. Because the minute we do something cutting edge it seems like people bite into it and make generic versions of whatever we do that’s cool. So it’s always a struggle. Like why do I work so hard to make cool shit if people just rip it off? But I think we might hopefully break through with some of our stuff. To be honest, we never expected to have hits when we did MIA’s record, I never expected my girlfriend to have a top five single or whatever, but that just happened, so if we can do more shit like that it would be cool. We don’t really try to be successful, we just try to do what we believe in 100%. Like if we think that something’s amazing we are going to put our strength behind it. But there are a lot of roadblocks and stuff. I hope that kids keep supporting underground music too and new shit. I don’t want to name names and stuff, but whenever something does pop off in the underground, somebody does do it and they have their own record on a major label. And you can’t really sit back and hate on those people… it doesn’t do any good for you. The record books are going to name those guys and they’re going to be known as the ones who broke that music, no matter how hard you try and no matter how many people think you’re responsible for shit you can’t really complain, you just got to keep a positive attitude. I’ve just been so lucky to have success as a DJ and to have success producing. The one thing that holds true is I can probably lose all this and go back to working at my dad’s bait shop catching fish, and I’d be cool with it. I’ll start something else. I think I’m a creative person so I think I could do something else. And I think that’s a good strength because I’m not really afraid to keep fucking up.

[www.maddecent.com]

Words: Zia Hirji
Photography: Andre Pinces
Hair and Makeup: Andrea Tillier

You can flip through our latest issue and a wackload of our back issues here.

Check out our street edition on Issuu.

This month’s cover features the collaborative project She & Him which consists of Zooey Deschanel and Matt Ward, otherwise known as M.Ward. Now, we didn’t put Zooey and Matt on the cover just because they’re easy on the eyes, they’re easy on the ears too. After much success with their first album, Volume One, Zooey and Matt have stepped back up to the plate with their aptly named follow up, Volume Two. Volume Two is what a luau in the countryside would sound like with its twang-ridden, emotionally evocative vocals and fluid, gentle instrumentals. These are the perfect tunes for a rural bike ride along a smooth, sun bathed street—the best way to combat, yet take advantage of global warming. So start polishing your fenders and pumping up your tires because Volume Two is out on March 23.

Check out our interview and photoshoot with Zooey and Matt after the jump

The opener “Thieves” makes me want to start singing “Cupid” by Sam Cooke. Is that intentional?
Zooey Deschanel: No, it wasn’t. I love Sam Cooke but “Thieves” is a much darker song than “Cupid.” I wrote “Thieves” to be kind of a long lost Roy Orbison song. But I love hearing what people think when they hear the record and I love Sam Cooke. Very cool.
M. Ward: Sam Cooke is a constant reference. On “Thieves” one of the inspirations was a Phil Spector production called “Spanish Harlem” but that’s Ben E. King.

If you are slowly becoming the new Phil Spector, is your wig collection starting to rival your guitar collection?
MW: You know, I have not delved into wigs at all.

Do you still work out of Portland?
MW: I do. There’s a couple studios there that I work out of, the new She & Him was recorded at a couple of those and was also recorded in Los Angeles out of a pretty famous studio called Village Recorders, where Fleetwood Mac recorded Tusk.

Why is Portland such a special corner of America right now?
MW: Well I think a lot of people on the West Coast are moving there and have been moving there because it’s the cheapest and best city on the West Coast. You can still afford a decent practice space and there are plenty of musicians to work with. I have friends who live in San Francisco and they had to eventually stop playing music because they couldn’t afford to have a practice space.

Did you get together and write for Volume 2, or was it still a mostly correspondance project like Volume 1?
MW: Well, Zooey writes all the lyrics and writes all the melodies and pretty much all the chord progressions. So in general, she writes all the songs and I just do the production and the guitars and the arrangement.

Tilly and the Wall are on this record. Were you hoping for a little tap routine on the song?
ZD: No, they did a great enthusiastic response to our call and response section. I wasn’t about to ask them to do a song AND dance.
MW: We already had our percussion set up when we got Tilly and The Wall involved. I just love their singing style. It’s incredibly enthusiastic and it seemed to fit for what we wanted for the song which is basically a chorus of enthusiastic singers. So we were mixing the record in Omaha, Nebraska and I was hoping that Tilly and The Wall were in town and they were so they came in and recorded “In the Sun.”

Who chose the covers for Volume 2? Was there a debate?
MW: I suggested the NRBQ song and Zooey suggested the Skeeter Davis song. We come up with a lot of songs but the only ones that make the record are the ones that take on a life of their own outside of the original version that was recorded years ago. We recorded a bunch of covers. We also recorded “I Can Hear Music” which the Beach Boys made popular years ago and it’s going to be a b side to the single that comes out this month.
ZD: We don’t really ever debate about things because we almost always agree. It’s pretty awesome.

Matt, you get to work with Jenny Lewis and Zooey Deschanel. Does that make you the envy of most young men of a certain demographic?
MW: Y’know, journalists point that out but it doesn’t really happen much in normal everyday life. I work with a pretty good mixture of talented men and talented women and it’s one of the best parts of my job working with extremely talented people.

What is the best/most difficult part about working with each other?
MW: Well the heart of the record is the songs. The songs are incredible and the singing is incredible. As a producer, it makes life very easy when you’re working with a remarkable ingredient.
ZD: The best thing about working with Matt is that we always have fun in the studio because Matt is a very intuitive artist who always takes advantage of the present moment while recording. It never feels overly “precious” and it is always fun.

Actors and actresses face heavy scrutiny when trying a hand at music, no matter what their history with it is. What was your internal debate like when you decided to move forward with She & Him?
ZD: There wasn’t really an internal debate concerning that. I have always felt that the music spoke for itself and it’s very
sincere. I make music to please myself and Matt and we hope others respond to it. But I don’t make it in anticipation of others’ reactions. You can’t win trying to constantly predict the reaction of people, so I just worry about myself and hope people like it.

Zooey, your father shot The Natural, which is awesome. (I heard that Robert Redford hit all those homers himself as he once had a baseball scholarship to the University of Colorado, but says he discovered booze and women and dropped out). Your mum was on Twin Peaks. Your sister is an accomplished actress and producer as well. What’s Sunday dinner like with the Deschanels?
ZD: Probably a lot like everyone else’s Sunday dinner except my mother has to make a lot of different things because everyone likes different kinds of foods.

What’s the worst/most embarrassing thing that’s happened to you onstage?
MW: One of our backing vocalists got locked in the bathroom at a show in North Carolina. That was pretty funny. We thought we lost her.
ZD: A day onstage is always a good day!

Are you fans of any Canadian acts, country or otherwise?
ZD: Yes, of course. Feist and Sloan immediately come to mind and of course classics like Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. But I am sure there are dozens of others!

You’re a man of many hats. Do you have a favourite project to work on?
MW: I love the She & Him project because I just get to focus on the guitar and the arrangement so, especially if you’re asking me right now, it’s the She & Him project.

The record stores call you Alt Country. What’s the divide like in the country world between more traditional sounding artists like yourself and what is sometimes referred to as Country-politan?
MW: Yeah… I have an allergic reaction to those terms. I am happier when people label the music much more broadly. Definitely I’m inspired by American music, which Zooey calls AM Gold music and I like that.

Do you drink or smoke before a show or recording? If so, is it whiskey? Do you get that authentic Sixties country sound or mood?
ZD: I don’t drink or smoke, ever, actually. I really don’t believe that drinking and smoking is the magic behind old recordings. It would be much more apt to blame the microphones.

Are YOU a whiskey drinker?
MW: No.

What’s your karaoke end-of-the-night go-to song?
ZD: “Crazy” the Patsy Cline version or “Stand By Your Man” by Tammy Wynette.

Check out some more photos from our shoot with Zooey and Matt on Tumblr
www.ionmagazine.tumblr.com

www.sheandhim.com

Photography: Jeremy Williams [www.photojw.com]
Interview: Trevor Risk
Introduction: Alysa Lechner

You can flip through a wackload of our back issues on Issuu here

View the full issue here.

On the cover this month are Dandilion Wind Opaine (aka Dandi Wind) and Marta Jaciubek-McKeever of Vancouver’s own Fan Death. Their names may be a copyeditor’s worst nightmare but their music is a dancefloor’s wet dream. Dandi, with Dandi Wind, and Marta, with Girl Nobody and esl, have been making great music in this city since forever. But some things are too good to be kept secret. With music that is a synth-laden, disco delight, a must-see live show, some extremely stylish and fun music videos, a remix of “Veronica’s Veil” by global tastemaker Erol Alkan and an opening slot on Vampire Weekend’s UK tour, Fan Death are set to explode.

Watch out for their debut EP, A Coin For The Well, coming out on Last Gang Records at the end February and their full-length, Womb of Dreams, which is due this May.

[www.fan-death.com]

Flip through the issue and see a few Fan Death videos after the jump

View the full issue here.

On the cover this issue is England’s Band of Skulls. Band of Skulls have finally put the let’s-name-our-album-four-words-that-have-something-slightly-similar- in-common idea to rest, mostly because Baby Darling Dollface Honey cannot be topped (sorry The Dudes and Gwen Stefani). At its best, the album wakes up the listener’s sleeping love for Elephant-era White Stripes, with added panache that only the English can provide. The best moments on the album may be the call and response, lady/man vocals between bassist Emma Richardson and Guitarist Russell Marsden. Add a backbone of Matt Hayward on drums and you’re left with a nearly perfect bar band. Oh, and if by the time this issue comes out, you’re not tired of teenaged vampires (AKA “The New Pirates”) slutting around and viciously emo-ing the shit out of each other, Band of Skulls are featured on the soundtrack for the next Twilight movie, New Moon.

Also in this issue are interviews with Annie, Tim Barber, Brian Donnelly, Sondre Lerche and Monontonix.

Check out some video footage of our cover shoot with Band of Skulls after the jump.

View the full issue here or right click to download.

On the cover this month is Karin Dreijer Andersson. Though her name may not roll off your tongue, you probably more familiar with her as one half of The Knife (the other have is her brother Olof Dreijer) or as a solo artist performing under the moniker Fever Ray. Fever Ray’s debut album came out in March. With its emotive, creepy and haunting electronic soundscapes, it’s easily one of the top albums of the year.

Hailing from Sweden, Karin is yet another exapmle that the Swedes are making some of the best music on the planet. We love her so much, we had to go all the way to Gothenburg to shoot her for our cover. A normally reclusive Karin made time for us before a sold-out show and did not disappoint, arriving for the shoot looking part Japanese Kabuki performer, part Norwegian Black Metal rocker. As insane as she looked, she was somehow able to pull it off effortlessly and it seems totally appropriate.

Fever Ray’s self-titled debut is out now. Check out the ridiculously amazing videos for ‘When I Grow Up’, ‘Seven’ and ‘If I Had a Heart’ after the jump.