Thursday 24th September, we caught up with P-Thugg and Dave 1 otherwise known as the hottest export from Canada since the summer of 69, Chromeo, via a transatlantic hotline from Brighton to New York. With my speakerphone on and my iphone set to record I was ready to dispatch my well prepared questions to P-Thugg before being quickly re-diverted by P-Thugg himself to Dave’s Manhattan pad. Confusion aside and a few quick pleasantries left hanging in the air I called Dave 1.
Blah Blah Blah: Hello Dave, its Jonny Blah Blah Blah
Dave 1: Word Up
BBB: Right, straight in. Its been three years since Fancy Footwork, have you been letting the new stuff develop over that period or do you thrash it out when you decide its time to get back in the studio? What is the Chromeo method?
Dave 1: We toured for 3 years and then in the last year we got into the studio and started putting together the new album. We didn’t really get in the studio during those three years but little song ideas did begin to develop, P on his side, me on mine. Each of us map out our own rough ideas with P sending me loops of which 1 in 10 we will use, once we start working on one of those ideas together its usually a keeper.
BBB: I remember buying ‘Me & My Man’ on vinyl, which was a regular part of my set back then, how would you say your sound has changed since then?
Dave 1: Well on the new record I tried to give a more updated take on modern funk with synth sounds that the ‘Me and My Man’ track had. I mean that record wasn’t really thats 80’s sounding, like the Fancy Footwork LP. Certain songs on the new album I tried to bring that funk sound back with an updated twist….’Hot Mess’, ‘You make it Rough’, ‘Im not Contagious’, but with more orchestration, more vocal arrangements, more interesting things musically. With this record I wanted to diversify the spectrum of influences compared to Fancy Footwork with late 70’s sounding piano stuff ‘Don’t Walk Away’, ‘The Right Type’ and more atmospheric 80’s sounds like ‘Don’t Turn the Lights On’.
BBB: I remember reading that you delve into a lot of 70’s and 80’s vinyl for ideas, do you still seek out these records or is it that you have very much got that influence and that’s what you put into your records?
Dave 1: No no we are always listening to new records, before this album we were listening to a lot of soft rock, anything with Jeff Buckel playing drums, Boz Skaggs, Todo and Kenny Loggins, it all works its way in…
BBB: Kenny Loggins reminds me of playing Beach Volleyball with the boys…moving away from production to the live show, I saw you at Glastonbury this year and you dropped a little 80’s nostalgia with Money for Nothing, how do you plan your live shows and do you have any surprises planned for the UK tour?
Dave 1: Ummm, probably should start thinking about it, we don’t really plan in advance as it never really works, so we go by trial and error in the first couple of shows experimenting with song order until it gels and then that usually becomes the perfect set list for the tour.
BBB: Seems to work as everyone was getting involved and singing along at Glastonbury, how did you find Exit Festival?
Dave 1: It was amazing, 20,000 person sing along, I mean where our music stands out in the electronic music world is that we are song writers and therefore our music is not just about a crazy mosh pit or a massive dance floor record, like Momma’s Boy.
BBB: Yeh, Momma’s Boy is a great sing along anthem with a sense of humor, is the humor a conscious effort in your music or does it just happen naturally?
Dave 1: Yes it is, well it naturally happens, like for example ‘Don’t Turn the Lights On’ is not that humorous a record but that’s why we made a crazy video for it. You’ve got to always keep that humor in there.
BBB: Your unique style seems to draw fans from all electronic musical dispositions, you recently converted a friend of mine who is a huge Dubstep head…
Dave 1: Well yeh, that’s cool, I mean that stuff comes and goes, look at how many trends there have been in electronic music since 2004 when you bought our Rage single? We don’t care, songs are here to stay, we don’t follow the trends.
BBB: Right, last question…..you mentioned earlier in the interview a number of 70’s and 80’s artists who have influenced this record, are there any electronic artists, song writers in the present day who really stand out for you?
Dave 1: Stuart Price is killer, he’s the man, I like a couple of tracks off the Aeroplane record, Holy Ghost, Midnight Juggernauts of course!, La Roux I think is incredible, so yeh.
BBB: Stuart Price is the man, well thanks for taking the time to talk to us and we will see in the UK shortly.
Dave 1: All good, Easy.
BUSINESS CASUAL UK TOUR with Midnight Juggernauts:
Nov 13th – Academy 2, Manchester, UK
Nov 12th – Roundhouse, London, UK
Nov 11th – Plug, Sheffield, UK
Nov 6th – O2 Academy, Bristol, UK
Nov 5th – O2 Academy 2, Birmingham, UK
To Buy Tickets for the above shows (Click Here)
Business Casual – Out Now (Click Here)