The Block: How did you and Ryan meet?

Leo Thomson: We met at high school initially. We became friends after realizing we shared a similar sense of humour and musical taste. Prior to doing music full time we both studied and worked different jobs. We’ve always been involved in music in one-way or another. Ryan played drums in a bunch of bands and we both DJ’d.

TB: Which one of you is DJ Lobster and which is DJ Platinum?

LT: Not sure which of us was either of those names. It’s a joke we have going with a couple of friends; who can come up with the best DJ duo name. There have been some really good ones lately.

TB: How did the name Canyons come about? I noticed you dropped the “The” in the name.

LT: We’re not exactly sure how it came about, it’s just a handsome word really. We did drop the “The;” it’s a bit classier that way.

TB: Apart from drum machines, samples, and analogue effects, what live instruments do you use?

LT: We use synthesizers, guitar, bass, piano, Wurlitzer, percussion, live drums, and anything else that we like the sound of.

TB: Can you name some of the vocalists you’ve used on your tracks? Like the vocals featured on “Dancing on Silk” and “Fire Eyes.”

LT: “Fire Eyes” features a woman called Delilah – she’s from the US originally but has been living out here in Sydney for a while now. A friend of ours called Ai Hibino sings/talks/screams on “Dancing on Silk.” We’re also working with Nite Jewel on a track for our album and a few other people.

TB: Is there anyone you’d like to collaborate with?

LT: Lots of people! Nicholas Cage for one.

TB: Who are you listening to right now?

LT: Pond.

TB: The band did a mix called “HFGW Canyons Drunken Rage Mix.” Have you guys experienced drunken rage mixing lately?

LT: No, we don’t normally drink in the studio; we’re there during the day and that would be kind of weird.

TB: On your MySpace page you have an eclectic mix of photos (a sailboat, a camel, a seal, and a dog). Can you tell us a bit about them – muses?

LT: The boat is a photo taken from a boat party we were playing on in the Sydney harbour. It was a great day/party so that photo reminds us of that. The seal we saw in San Francisco and thought he looked pretty relaxed. The dog we saw on the beach and he/she had a good vibe. The camel is inspirational.

TB: What can we expect from the upcoming album? And when is the expected release date?

LT: You can expect a variety of sounds. It’s quite varied in style but still cohesive as a whole. There are some more upbeat “dancier” numbers and some slow jams and some stuff in between. We don’t have a release date just yet but it’s going to be early next year.

TB: What will be the first single off the new album? And any plans on releasing a music video for it?

LT: The first single is called “My Rescue” and will be out some time in July. It’s being mixed as we speak. And yes, there’s a video also being made at the moment. I don’t want to ruin the surprise – all I’ll say is there is a Viking wielding a mace.

TB: Do you have any tour dates lined up soon?

LT: We’re heading to NY in August for a Modular party, but that’s about it. Our priority at the moment is just to get the album finished, then we’ll start looking at that side of things.

www.myspace.com/thecanyonsinfo
www.aholeinthesky.com

Beach House contemplates music, success, and MacGyver

Words Miné Salkin Image Evaan Kheraj

“You look familiar,” she says. “I know you from somewhere, right? We’ve met before.” Lead singer and organist Victoria Legrand might sound seductive and gruff when she sings her dreamy, lovelorn tunes, but in the green room she’s relaxed and humble, walking towards me wearing retro blue denim and a smile that could melt butter. For Baltimore-based duo Beach House, it’s broken hearts and soulful crooning on the album, but kindness for a stranger. “Actually, I’d love to see you down some of this tequila,” she says, pointing at a full bottle on the table.

Guitarist Alex Scally sits down, brushing back his thick black locks to reveal he’s shaved his beard, but left a rather dapper-looking mustache behind. “Get tanked!” With only a couple of hours to settle in before blazing the stage at Vancouver’s Rickshaw, Legrand and Scally are relieved to be heading home soon after a tour that sold out at nearly every show in the country. Their third full-length, Teen Dream, released by legendary Sub Pop Records, has garnered much critical acclaim despite the pressures of their success with 2008’s Devotion.

Sitting pretty on a rather tired leather couch, Legrand and Scally are something adorable together. Instantly becoming friends when they met back in 2004, they finish each other’s sentences, poke fun, and make the other shriek with laughter. “I have to play off my own stupidity sometimes,” Scally says, while Legrand scrunches up her face at him. It’s easy to mistake a faint trace of love lingering between the lines, but their musical synergy is actually more platonic than that. By listening to songs like “Zebra,” “Turtle Island,” and “Gila,” it’s pretty clear that their brains have the same creative hardwiring. The two also share a penchant for thrift store shopping and retro instrument collection.

While Devotion and their debut set in motion their classic dream-inspired pop sound, full of whimsy and sprawling instrumentals, their latest album drifts into more melancholic realms. “This record, more than anything, has been the product of time,” says Legrand, leaning in. “We feel things more clearly now. When we were writing those songs, we became a lot better at creating more physical spaces out of our sound.”

As thoughtful and shy as they may sound on their albums, Legrand and Scally are both visibly disciplined, yet bubbling with extroversion. Abstaining from the tequila and beer they so graciously offer, they perk up and explain the joys of late-night MacGyver reruns. “We don’t get a chance to watch television on tour, but we’ve watched MacGyver. What an idiot,” Legrand says. “No way, MacGyver was killing it,” Scally defends. Part of the duo’s charm is flirting with the fine line between a joke and the truth. Legrand admits to practicing levitation to prepare for a show, while Scally frequently treats himself to tantric sex with strangers. “It just helps to reset my mind,” he says with an inscrutable smirk, visibly blushing in his dark green fleece pullover.

After the tour is over, the band will be ready to start writing again, but the tone for future music seems unclear. At the core of it, Beach House is all reverb-soaked, hauntingly beautiful soundscapes, not unlike a dream you can’t recollect even though the feelings still move through you. “Sadness, heartbreak, longing, all those things are in the music, of course,” says Legrand. “That’s what pop music is all about.”

Uffie, whose given name is Anna-Catherine Hartley, was born in Miami, raised in Hong Kong, and currently lives in Paris with her newborn baby Henrietta (whose father is French nightlife impresario and graffiti artist André Saraiva; the pair briefly married in 2008 but are now divorced). Sitting in a downtown New York hotel room wearing a muted sweatshirt and black scarf, this mommy exudes none of the cocksure swagger for which she is best known. Amidst the ruins of her stay – cigarette butts, three-day old bananas, rumpled sheets – she gives off a polite innocence, giggling as she discusses why it’s taken so long for her debut album, Sex Dreams & Denim Jeans, to be released. “For three years, me and Feadz were on the road. We’d come home for a week and I’d be like, ‘I’m going to my bed,’” she explains, pushing her short dyed blond hair behind her ears.

Perhaps this delay has worked out for the best. During the time between her initial thrust into the limelight and today, Uffie has had the chance to mature both personally and as a performer, honing her sound to produce a more varied record than anyone would have expected a few years ago. The album includes past hits as well as new tracks produced by the dudes who have nurtured her from the beginning, Oizo and Feadz. Mattie Safer (formerly of The Rapture) provides beats and vocals on “Illusion of Love,” a melancholy duet about heartbreak and loneliness accented by swirly synths and minimalistic drum claps. Uffie’s label mate SebastiAn contributes beats for “ADD SUV,” a heady electro/hip-hop tune about poppin’ pills and doin’ drugs to keep the party going, which features rhymes by Pharrell Williams.

In an unexpected move, a number of tracks are produced by Mirwais, former member of ‘80s French New Wave band Taxi Girl and, most recently, Madonna’s go-to production guy. While Uffie is used to crafting machine-made club bangers, she was challenged by Mirwais’ polished pop sensibility. “He really encouraged me to start singing on the tracks. I’ve never really gotten the chance to experiment with ‘feelings,’” she describes, using air quotes. “I think people will be surprised by the depth of it.”

With Sex Dreams & Denim Jeans finally being released (it’s out on June 15 in Europe and June 22 in North America), Uffie has started to tour again, both with the Ed Banger party crew and with her own band. Now, her biggest challenge is to balance her music career (and club kid ways) with the responsibility of caring for her daughter. “The partying every night and being so carefree…I used to be so good at it,” she muses. “Now it’s kind of hard to get back into that, then go home and be a mom.” Leave it to the ever-badass Uffie to find a way.

Words Ali Gitlow Images Ysa Pérez

Uffie – ADD SUV feat. Pharrell Williams (teaser video)

Canadian alt-rock collective Broken Social Scene, currently promoting new album Forgiveness Rock Record, are finally set to debut their film project with Hard Core Logo director Bruce McDonald. Screening exclusively at 92YTribeca in New York (today and June 17) and at NXNE in Toronto (June 17), This Movie Is Broken chronicles the band’s July 11, 2009 Harbourfront performance. Though the film is set against the love story of fictional characters Bruno and Caroline, it’s really McDonald’s homage to Toronto.

This Movie Is Broken opens in limited release on June 25 in Vancouver and Toronto.

Buffalo Stance by Buraka Som Sistema
Directed by Anthony Burrill

In Issue 21 of The Block, we told you all about how as part of Dr. Martens’ 50-year anniversary celebrations, the footwear brand commissioned a bevy of musicians to produce videos of classic tracks. Here’s one of those vids: Buraka Som Sistema’s cover of Neneh Cherry’s “Buffalo Stance,” directed by Anthony Burrill. We think it’s smokin’ (not cokin’).

]]> http://www.theblock-mag.com/hanging-with-the-wild-bunch/feed/ 0 http://www.theblock-mag.com/tanlines/ http://www.theblock-mag.com/tanlines/#comments Thu, 29 Apr 2010 17:25:59 +0000 jennifer http://www.theblock-mag.com/?p=2101

In the traditional sense of the word, Tanlines – the musical duo that is Jesse Cohen and Eric Emm – is not exactly a band. They certainly do make music: Emm is a veteran guitarist, formerly for the bands Storm & Stress and Don Caballero; Cohen was raised on the drums and keyboard (most recently playing for the band Professor Murder); and Tanlines’ debut EP, Settings (True Panther), thumps with electrifyingly diverse instrumentation – bongos and steel drums convene with airy guitars, hooky synth riffs, and thumping bass lines to create a sort of tropical disco dance party. But Cohen and Emm barely play any actual instruments on the album. Like a growing number of young experimental DIY pop musicians, they translate their musical ideas from their brains straight to their super high-tech computers. “For us, the writing and the recording process are the same,” says Emm. “I think the evolution of our band is kind of the opposite of the historical evolution of a band. With a band, you start out writing music in a practice space and then go to a studio. We go to the studio first.

If Tanlines’ evolution as a musical group seems out of order, it may be due to the lack of premeditation behind their decision to form a band. “We were friends,” says Cohen, who met Emm at their now-shared studio while recording with Professor Murder. (Emm is also a part of the production team Brothers, responsible for the likes of !!!, Free Blood, and Telepathe.) “Professor Murder wasn’t doing much at the time, and Eric didn’t really have his own project going on either,” says Cohen. “So I would hang out with him at the studio. Tanlines grew pretty organically out of that friendship. We sort of spontaneously began working on music together. It wasn’t as much a band as it was a way to use the studio creatively.”

In fact, it wasn’t until Tanlines was asked to contribute a song to a collaborative art project that the duo even contemplated making an original composition. “At first, we just wanted to do remixes and produce songs,” says Cohen. “That was all we thought we could do. But an artist we knew was releasing a book of poetry, and she asked some different musicians to do music based on the poems.” The response to their contribution was positive, and the song, “New Flowers,” ended up being Tanlines’ first single. “It just sort of clicked that we could make music ourselves,” says Emm. “It was fulfilling in a different way than what we’d been doing previously – and so, very quickly the direction of the project shifted to becoming more like a band.”

Since then, the duo has steadily put out original tracks, including the dancey, bongo-heavy, Calypso-informed “Bejan,” included in 2009’s seventh annual Kitsuné Maison Compilation – a crucial cred-building milestone for up-and-coming musicians. True to their history, however, Cohen and Emm are still working out the details involved in being in an actual band. “It was hard to make the transition to playing live,” says Emm. “We had to figure out how to do all of the things in a live situation that humans just can’t do.” Not to mention the fact that neither artist had previous experience developing vocal parts. “Writing lyrics is something I haven’t done before,” continues Emm. “It’s a challenge. It’s like I’ve been learning how to play this new instrument.”

Tanlines – Reinfo

But at the core of the Tanlines project – be it a “band,” or a “production duo,” or whatever other name you deem appropriate – is the desire to make interesting and experimental music you can move to. “As a small child I was more known for dancing rather than playing music,” says Cohen. “Part of what we do in this project is reflect on different kinds of rhythm-based music.” And while the growing demand for new music from Tanlines will inevitably push them to put out a full-length, Cohen and Emm plan to continue working at an organic pace. “I like the idea that we could produce music in a way that it reflects the way that we consume it,” says Cohen.

Words Lucy Madison Images ioulex

LCD Soundsystem – Drunk Girls
Directed by Spike Jonze and James Murphy

Forget those mopey Wild Things and their existential crises: Spike Jonze’s new music video for LCD Soundsystem’s “Drunk Girls” (co-directed by frontman James Murphy) features a goon squad of pandas really getting wild. They’re hilariously creepy, but since we don’t like being egged and tied up with duct tape, we won’t be inviting these party animals over anytime soon.

The Block: People like to compare your music to film scores (I think the weirdest descriptor I’ve heard is “slasher-flick disco”). Do you guys watch a lot of movies, and/or take inspiration from films? If so, what are some of your faves?

Daniel Stricker: I just watched this great Japanese film from ‘77 called Hausu that not only was amazing, but had a great soundtrack. Our tour bus is always filled with weird and wonderful films. One of which, Cannibal Holocaust, was probably inspirational in some ways for our new record.

TB: Your music gets slotted in with electronic, but you actually play all your instruments live. What was the band’s music background before forming Midnight Juggernauts?

DS: We used to play in garage rock bands when we were younger. Even now, the music is such a mix of electronic elements and live instrumentation – I guess we just got more toys and pedals and started adding to this sound… When we play live now, it’s always live – just using a lot of weird pedals and gear. It makes it way more interesting to play electronic music like you would play a guitar. You can go off on tangents whenever you like.

TB: I read on your Wikipedia that you’re working on stuff for Solange, Beyonce’s sister. That’s pretty random. How did you get into working with a soul/R&B act?

DS: We just kinda met when we were touring at the end of 2008, I think in Paris, and had been talking about doing something for ages. She came out to Australia a few months ago and we just started doing stuff. She’s cool and has been fun to work with.

TB: Midnight Juggernauts is from Melbourne. How come there are so many great electropop acts coming out of Australia?

DS: I guess we’re isolated so there aren’t all these distractions that dictate the type of music you make – you just find things you are really into and work on them within your own context, I guess. When we first started out there was nowhere really to play, as there were a lot of “pubs” and bars all with AC/DC-style rock music. Us and our friends would be playing this weird electronic music, and I guess we all became close over our love for that kinda sound… even if everyone is quite different. So you get this community of people pushing each other. That and looking at a band like The Avalanches get success. That was a real tipping point I think for a lot of us.

TB: You just put out a limited release album through Acephale. And right now you’re working on a new album. What can you tell me about it? How long do we have to wait before we hear it?

DS: It’s a heady prog 60s-70s-90s-2020s sound. It’s a lot of everything rolled into one. More organic than our first, it sounds like a band in a room… with lots of toys. It’s coming out in June. Maybe slasher-flick disco cannibal zouk paisley doo-wop?

Midnight Juggernauts: Vital Signs
Directed by Krozm

Sébastien Tellier – Look
Directed by Mrzyk & Moriceau

There’s something about the joyful psychedelia of Animal Collective that gets us all wide-eyed and giddy (and maybe a little dry-mouthed, but that’s a minor side effect). So you can only imagine how excited we are to let the band guide us through a totally immersive sensory experience at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

On March 4, Animal Collective and video artist Danny Perez’s sold-out collaborative installation show entitled Transverse Temporal Gyrus transforms the Guggenheim into a magical mystery world of recorded music, original video projections, costumes, and props, all designed to bathe us in “intense abstractions” (read: trip us out). The doors of perception are only open from 9 pm until midnight, but we’re pretty sure the flashbacks will keep us up till dawn.

Sad that you can’t get a ticket to this sold-out mind warp? Animal Collective and Perez have also put together a “visual album” called ODDSAC, which will be touring across America through March. Check out the trailer below.