Existential Musical Blues or Sheer Boredom?

Pandering to my gay side recently I was reading about the this weeks Armani show during Fashion Week in Milan or wherever it was . The subsequent reviews from the daily newspapers were full of glowing and sycophantic responses typical of the fashion scene. However what disturbed me was the positive means they used to describe the show. As fashion supposedly moves at a frantic pace, renewing, reviewing, cannibalizing various themes, styles and genres the writers were pleasantly surprised that good old Giorgio shunned the current craze on the catwalk for the 80’s and took “inspiration” from the 90’s.

What irked me was the fact that although it is fine and healthy to take inspiration from the past it has felt like an age since anything new came from the fashion industry. There has been no real Noughties style so to speak like the iconic mini skirt of the 60’s or 70’s flares and so on. Each round of fashion weeks it seems these past few years goes in a cycle pandering to various decades of past. Are we so bereft of imagination? Have we reached some post-modern society where fashion has reached its zenith?

I was wondering if the same argument can be taken into the world of music. I know it is very blunt and limited to base things around such abstract and linear ways as time and decades but I wanted to open this up as a debate to you, fellow Analogue readers. It can be fair to say that a lot of bands this decade have been quite vocal in their musical magpie ways. Has there been a quintessential post-Millennial music style, sound or band? Or have we fallen into the clothing fashion abyss. Since we are only 15 months to the end of this decade I thought it would be an interesting argument. What do you think will musically define the first decade of the Millennium? Is it wrong to think in such a way? What do you think?

Special Disco Version

I think its time we rescue disco from the horrid stereotypes and dodgy photographs of our parents from that time and really discover and revel in one of the finest genres music has ever created. For such a mission who could not be better than Analogue favourites James Murphy and Pat Mahoney from LCD Soundsystem.

Taking time out from the band, these two created a Fabric Live mix last October, which delivered the obscure, the great and the thoroughly danceable tunes from all strands of disco. While touring with the band they took these tunes to the dance floor before or after LCD gigs, surprising many who came expecting the jerky, exhilarating schizophrenic guitars and drums that their day band has become famous and loved for. What was just a side project to revel in their love of good tunes it has now become a veritable touring project under the name Special Disco Version. On tour this month in the UK and later to other parts of the world, we can only hope they make their way to Dublin sometime soon!

Every Little Helps With Live Nation

Illustration: Aaron Taylor

At this exact moment Madonna is about to wow fans in Berlin with her Sticky and Sweet tour, a tour that will no doubt make a shed load of money and make her new partners Live Nation very happy if not relieved. Madonna herself will have every reason to be smug sitting on a new record deal from the very generous pockets of Live Nation, the events company based in California. At a reported $120 million it is a vast sum to pay to someone in an industry shaken to the core by illegal downloading and where artists like Prince give away albums in daily papers. However to call it a record deal would sell the term short for this is no normal four album advance contract. Commonly known as a ‘360 Degree Contract’ in the music industry, Live Nation gets a percentage of all the other ancillary revenue by the artist from t-shirt sales to Tour revenue. The deal also locks the artists involved to Live Nation’s ticketing service, which in the future will probably be the only place one can buy a ticket to their future tours.

Live Nation haven’t been coy about their unorthodox approach, one which has yet to be financially proven. Like a Russian oligarch at an art auction they have waved virtual blank cheques at some of the largest artists in music today with almost adventitious haste. Jay Z signed on the dotted line a deal worth $150 million, Shakira and Nickelback for around half that, while our very own U2 signed a few months back on an undisclosed deal reputedly worth more than $300 million over 12 years. Such vast sums thrown at already insanely wealthy established artists has made many sit up and openly question the financial viability of it all. If in the last financial year Live Nation lost close to $12 million dollars,how can it justify such sums? The music industry is a frustratingly low margin business. However Live Nation sees a future quite different to today. To concentrate on one aspect of the industry they feel is dangerous and in the digital age may lead to financial ruin. Where bands have become adept at using the internet and social networking, learning the ropes on their own on how to promote themselves the days of EMI and Warner as we see them today could be over very soon.

Live Nation anticipates synergies in combining the revenues of merchandising, music publishing and sponsorship. Linking them all into its already established ticketing business these Young Turks plan to transform the music business. They also firmly believe that by signing up the largest artists in the world today now in such deals before anyone else they will reap the profits from the whirlwind of change they themselves have created. While many in the music business stare in bemusement or grumble that it will all fail, many artists are very happy with their new deals. Is this a result of these artists simply inebriated by all this new money? Have they been foolishly swayed by the smell of crisp dollar notes without thinking? Probably not for many of them are experienced, proven and successful businessmen and women in their own right. Jay Z has businesses ranging from his own record label to clothing worth hundreds of millions of dollars while U2 have been savvy (or greedy depending on your own personal opinion) enough to move their holding company to the Netherlands to avail of lower taxes. U2 on the signing of their deal with Live Nation released a statement saying “The opportunity to integrate U2 and Live Nation’s vision of the future is a great extension to our established business”.

Established is an apt term for these Live Nation deals. The company have stuck to well established artists, who have proven adept at making money through touring and merchandising and not just record sales. Live Nation will not get involved in the business of finding new artists - which at times can be painful and loss making. With the live music industry booming (Shakira’s “Oral Fixation” tour alone made over $100 million) and sponsorship a well known means of pocketing a lot of money, garnering a sizeable percentage of this cash in the future will hopefully in the eyes of Live Nation make their mouth wateringly big deals make a hefty return. Newer artists may feel a bit left out by the new 360 Degree contracts; with their own record companies being sapped of their cash cows their position could look a little more worrisome. With Live Nation unwilling to invest in new and emerging artists and their own record companies seeing their revenues reduced investment may dry up. This is an unfortunate situation for the music industry overall but one which through technology many bands are adapting to through use of communication technologies.

While Live Nation has to be commended by taking a bold step, diving into the fires of the musical revolution and stealing the family jewels it will have to wait a long time for their deals to bear fruit. There is also the fear that the live music industry will implode and become just a victim of fashion. Ticket sales, already insanely high could become too much for a world already tightening the belts and bracing for recession. Merchandising and sponsorship could easily go the same way too. In the end Live Nation could be left with the old publishing revenue that todays record companies rely heavily on and debts to rival Third World Nations. Will Bono help them then? Lets see in 10 years time….

EMI: A Sign of the Times?

Illustration, Aaron Taylor

Will the last artist to leave EMI please turn the lights off? As one of the largest music companies in the world haemorrhages artists on a seemingly daily basis, that question seems to become more pertinent. Radiohead upped sticks last year, taking the opportunity to release their latest album “In Rainbows” for virtually free online, and in the past few weeks The Rolling Stones parted company for a more lucrative deal with Universal when their contract expired. So why is one of the biggest music companies, home to the Beatles back catalogue, Robbie Williams and Coldplay come to a state where artists are almost queuing up to leave?

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IakDItZ7f7Q]

There are a combination of factors - including the changing face of the industry, illegal downloads, bad management and a sense of complacency based around the almost guaranteed revenue stream of its enviable back catalogue. However the straw that broke the camels back was the recent purchase of EMI by the venture capital firm Terra Firma. As private companies, VC firms do not need to make public published accounts for shareholder and market scrutiny. In the heady days before the credit crunch they were heavy with easy cash to gobble up companies left, right and centre. They were considered unorthodox to say the least, a somewhat business fad and to some just plain gold diggers. Circling ailing companies, they swooped down with the intention to fix what they see is an almost failed - if not dying - company. Stripping the fat right down to the bone from the business, ruthlessly culling unnecessary workers and parts, they eventually sell it off for a tidy sum. In their wake they leave resentful former workers and grumbling listed companies horrified by the sheer audacity of their ways.

In the case of Terra Firma, EMI was such a company. It had fared worse than many of its peers by failing to take on the revolution in music that technology had forced upon it. It had failed in merger talks with some of its rivals and had been accused by business analysts of neglecting the lucrative US market, barely promoting major acts such as Robbie Williams. In a fit of desperation EMI had signed Robbie to a contract reputedly worth $160 million making him rich “beyond my wildest dreams” in his own words. EMI lacked innovation and flair to combat the changing face of music. It had become “boring” as Paul McCartney stated as he jumped ship a number of months ago; and vulnerable to a take over by its rivals. Even they were shy of making a move with a company burdened with $1.8 billion debt. However to Terra Firma, here was a chance to reform the business and make a quick buck. It salivated over what it saw as a cash cow of a back catalogue that included Pink Floyd, The Beatles and Rolling Stones, it bought the company in early last year almost without question and with seemingly undue haste for $6 billion.

That the music industry is unlike other businesses is a well-known fact. In their minds EMI was a “classic example” of its own strategy to “look for the worst business of its kind in the most challenging sector”. However Terra Firma seemed to be ahead of themselves, not fully understanding the company and industry they had now found themselves in. Radiohead issued a statement when they left EMI a year ago, haranguing the company that Terra Firma had tried to form out of EMI. Stating that Terra Firma “Don’t fully understand” the music industry guitarist Ed O’ Brien wrote “because one of the great things about the music industry is that it’s not an industry. It’s a collective of a series of relationships with people”. Here was a company, which only saw figures and accounts, dollar signs and financial opportunity to many artists and could not fathom this business based upon the intellectual property of the art of music. Terra Firma immediately began to cull what it saw as unnecessary employees, forcing 2,000 redundancies (almost a third of EMI’s workforce), and forensically combing accounts for a means to releasing more money. Here they found one of the more interesting aspects of the story. It was announced that in the financial year before the take over EMI had spent over $400,000 on what was stated in the accounts as “fruit and flowers”, allegedly a euphemism for sex and drugs. $20,000 was spent on scented candles alone in an apartment in L.A.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ySdocMeBW8]

The ruthlessness with which Terra Firma had wielded its axe, and the shocking probing of expenditure taken for granted in the music industry had created a revolt within the ranks. Artists grumbled and began to openly attack the company. When Terra Firma began to make Robbie Williams work a bit harder for his money the artist allegedly revolted. He had reportedly vowed to withhold new work in protest over redundancies within the company, although this was later denied by his manager Tim Clark. Nevertheless it only highlights the sheer scale of the economic problems facing the company and the harshness of the policies the private equity company had taken to combat this.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXoAbIDyY88]

Within a year, artists free of multi-album deals began to jump what they saw as a sinking ship. Radiohead left and found artistic freedom on their own. The Dandy Warhols complained consistently about the workings of EMI subsidiary Capitol Records and left to go their own free path. Finally the big shocker came this summer with The Rolling Stones leaving for Universal. Unconfirmed reports from Coldplay and Kylie Minogue’s camps had shown a similar eagerness to leave. To lose one major artist is unfortunate, but the new EMI had begun to look carelessness. To make matters worse for Terra Firma, the credit crunch had swallowed up all of the easy credit, which many private equity firms had lived on like a never ending drip. Saddled with massive debt and the sheer incoherence of the industry, it’s safe to say that EMI is close to fatally loosing its way.

What will become of EMI? There are many options. If the record companies are able to adapt to illegal downloading, EMI has a clear chance to pick itself up with or without artists. It could sell the whole business lock, stock and vinyl case to a rival. It could renew contracts to be similar to the 360-degree deals Live Nation has signed with artists such as Madonna to make money from not just the ailing record sales but also from the booming live business. It could simply sell everything while holding on to the publishing division and back catalogue. Any are viable options to Terra Firma, however one way or the other EMI will continue loose artists who feel stifled and neglected. The question is in the end will there by any left? So could the last artist in EMI please turn the light off?

Midnight Juggernauts

Are you ready for lift off? Melbourne’s Midnight Juggernauts return on Tuesday September 30th to the same stage where they took us to some breathless heights back in May, Crawdaddy. Expect a good bit of guitar, a lot of synth and a smidgen of disco as your inflight menu as they blast out hits as “Shadows” and personal favourite “Road To Recovery”

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qf12eLVSck]

Summercase 2008

Excuse the wretched delay in writing this. I think I have only now gotten over the hangover induced by a week of partying culminating with me dancing like the Duracell bunny being electrocuted to 2ManyDJs at Summercase in Barcelona. Yes it was quite a sight and all photos have thus been censored by me of said instant. I do have some dignity left.

I have begun like many people here to grumble about our expensive rain-soaked isle on the edge of Europe and looked at greener pastures to be found just a short Ryanair flight away. A personal boycott of the Electric Picnic due to the extortionate ticket price and the fact that I am getting old and find camping bad for my auld back brought me to glorious Barcelona in July for the annual Summercase festival. The line up is more akin to our very own Oxegen, minus the drunken 15 year old skangers with acts such as Primal Scream, Interpol and Kings of Leon. However they throw in a good few mighty fine alternative acts. This year saw Cornelius, Neon Neon and Whitey.

So how was it all? First of all I have to commend the venue. The Parc del Forum is ace. Designed for such events like this you are graced with amphitheatres overlooking the scintillating Mediterranean and mighty solar panels that shade you from the sun. Watching the Raveonettes do “Love in a Trashcan” at 3 in the morning under a tree in one of the amphitheatres was a very pleasurable and relaxing experience. At times you forgot about bands as you sat down with good company and enjoyed the cool breeze from the sea. However there was one major issue, sound. This was a seemingly logistical one. The Breeders were muffled, which was a crying shame as their new album sounds great live. The Deal sisters were their usual jolly selves joking to each other about it. Nevertheless it was sorted for the onslaught which is Kings of Leon. This is a band that keep getting better live. Pounding and tight they blew the audience away. They were certainly one of the highlights of the weekend.

There were many highlights. It is always great to see Blondie and thirty years on are fantastic. Dancing with your boy to “Heart of Glass” was as romantic as music can get. 2ManyDJs always never cease to be fun. It was also great to see CSS graduate from being somewhat a novelty to full on rock band. Their new songs hint at a more mature sound and written for such live shows. Throw in a bit more glitter and you have a whole visual and aural experience that is fun and frivolous. Accidentally bumping into the GOD which is Gruff Rhys made my weekend. I was composed enough to speak to him and not grope him in a very inappropriate manner.

While Summercase will be remembered by myself and my friends as a great festival to others it will be remembered more for the brawl between Kele from Bloc Party and Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols. Apparently a racist jibe dents the overall experience of a festival which has become one of my favourites and at 100 euro one of the cheapest. Next year I shall be back.

Hercules and Gravy Anyone?

So I get back from my trip and I finally get my filthy paws on the Hercules and Love Affair EP. Oh lordy, it’s funktastic. I was a bit apprehensive at first when I heard Antony Hegarty would be doing a lot of the vocals. His voice is unquestionably unique but at times it can be grating and once in a while reminds me of a half dead dog moaning. However to the right sound and situation it can be perfect and chillingly haunting or dare I say it romantic. But the idea of putting Antony with some funk/disco sounded like putting stew on your cheesecake or something, I don’t know. It just doesn’t feel like it would work. Strangely with Hercules and Love Affair it does.

The EP is great. It has that sun setting on a tropical island feel. It is not time to get into your groove but the funk and disco beats will get your hips moving and be the perfect exercise and preparation for more gyrating later on in a night. It’s a funny little record in style, substance and tempo. The meshing of Antony’s voice to the calypso dance of Blind is em, strange? You Belong sounds like something you would have heard in the Hacienda at its height while the rest of the album skirts close to Studio 54 disco. Strangely my mother likes it, which threw me off a bit and I think that is the beauty of it. It IS strange in some respects but an admirable mix of the best funky sounds of the last thirty years.

Stew on a cheesecake? Or some poutine?

Talking about strange mixes. In Montreal I was lucky (or unfortunate depending on your taste) to try their ‘delicacy” of poutine. Now this is a weird mix and I would love to know where the idea came about and what twisted genius thought of it. I am guessing that a certain intoxicating amount of alcohol was involved.

Poutine is made of three ingredients-chips, gravy and cheese. That may test some of you guys’ gag reflex but don’t diss it until you try it. I think I could make a lot of money out of it on Dame Street at 3a.m on a Saturday and Sunday night as the heaving mass of drunken zombies lurch out of the bars and clubs ravenous for a kebab or chips. Almost anything at that state of inebriation will be considered delicious. If you feel rank the next day IT WAS THE DRINK RIIIIII?!?!!

Conorworld in Canadialand Deux

To be honest I didn’t do much in Toronto. Hell, I didn’t even do the CN Tower, that wonderfully bombastic symbol of the city and until recently the tallest structure in the world. Toronto is a great city but I was left a bit unsatisfied. It’s a young city (It only surpassed Montreal in size and as the commercial capital in the 1960’s) and you feel that as you walk down the street. The buildings are relatively new and the people youthful. IN parts it is picturesque. The University quarter would give Trinity a run for it’s postcard perfect architecture and Queen Street West buzzes with great shops and vibrant graffiti. But overall you feel it is lacking something special. It didn’t captivate me like other metropolitan sirens like New York and Montreal, the two other cities on my itinerary this time. Nevertheless it was a thoroughly enjoyable place to be.

“Peaches was here last week”

That’s how my Toronto mates sold the Drake to me. The Drake Hotel, situated on Toronto’s hip strip Queen Street West is like its home city wanting to make a statement and that statement is to be the epitome of cool. Owner Jeff Stober has very much achieved that garnering acres of column inches in Canada and abroad for what is a beautiful retro-styled hotel. One could call it boutique with its 19 rooms all fitted in various 20th century styles but it is more than a hotel. This is one of the nicest hotels I have been to in style and service. Ok I only went for a few drinks and didn’t stay the night but the staff were impeccable in their fashion (understated cool) and talkative. The music in the background of the main bar switched from Matthew Dear to Dandy Warhols effortlessly. It deserves its accolade as a Bohemian Mecca. Open late it has a club that has a varied array of nights. Check out their listing on their website.

American Apparel-tastic!

I don’t get the mad ravenous craze that is American Apparel. Their clothes are a cross between that Eric Prydz video “Call On Me” and a 1980’s low-end hooker from the Bronx. Also their print ads are paedophilia-lite. But hey they make great hoodies. So it was after a drink in the Drake that I ended up in the Social. I have begun recently to garner how cool a place is by how many American Apparel hoodies I can count in a room (you’d think that it would be so un-cool to be wearing the same thing as someone else) and this place was swarming with them. The Social is a great bar. Minimal in its bare limestone walls and rough metal edges the music flirted from Boys Noize style electro to early 90’s hip hop and dance. In fact in judging from the style of people and the music it would be somewhere that someone like M.I.A would feel comfortable after a gig (in fact it is actually what she did after a recent gig). Surprisingly the drink was cheap too. $2 drinks before midnight was a great way to start a night in my opinion.

The Social
1100 Queen Street West
Toronto

That job in between becoming a pop star

Canadians are known for their social tolerance. This has created ample space for the gay community to flourish. Church Street in Toronto is the official gay village full of gay B+B’s to a multitude of saunas and leather clubs. However I was being conservative when I decided to meet a Dublin friend in the most famous (non-fetish) gay bar in Toronto, Woodys. It was a Sunday and we expected a quiet night with the ubiquitous drag queens singing dire Dolly tunes (we were not disappointed). As the night was closing I ended up talking to the bar man. Named John it transpired he was the bassist for local band Kids on TV. Being signed to Chicks on Speed’s record label you can kind of guess what they sound like. Irreverent rock with a twisted electro tinge courtesy of a trip down Peaches’ rabbit’s crack hole would be a good idea of what it is.

Their most noticeable song “Breakdance Hunx” contains the great lines “Surely you must realize you have market value/little blonde boy who break dances and suck cock” and the video is stupid but in a good way.

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=tS5JooUzWBo]

Conorworld in Canadialand

Canadialand Part I

So I have finally returned from my spur of the moment trip to North America. Back not long ago in December I kind of well, how can I say it, I kind of cracked and decided to drop everything and get the bloody hell out of Dublin. It was London I decided to go for a few days. However during the process of booking my flight to Blighty I got distracted by a cheap flight to Toronto. In the end I ended up booking a flight to London and then another to Canada in March.

Gypsy Punk in Canadialand

So I arrived on the Sunday the 3rd of March into Toronto where my good Canadian friend Steve picked me up at the airport by saying “So, would you like to go to see Gogol Bordello? Like right now?” Even after 12 hours of traveling I ended up watching what has been aptly described as gypsy punk. I had heard about these guys before and simply decided to discard them to the wayside of my attention. I’m sorry luv but I just don’t do that sort of thing. It was also around the same time that Madonna, the musical vampire that she is (she MUST be a vampire, just look at her aged 50) adopted them, robbed them from a T in the Park appearance to parade them in front of millions at Live 8 or whatever it was as her back up band. I don’t know why that irked me but I had no patience for them afterwards. But I couldn’t say no to a free ticket and the excitement of my first gig in Canada so it was straight to the venue.

It was kind of appropriate in some way that the venue was in the docks. Dark and seedy it seemed apt for a band like Gogol Bordello. It started off bad for me. Little did I expect that in Ontario that when a gig is open to all they have strict drinking policies. So we were shunted off quite briskly by security men to the drinking pen, like alcoholic sheep where we HAD to drink our alcohol there and not take it out. Conor don’t like that. SO it was from here that we got the beginning of the gig. As a band they look like a rabble of drunken Romanian labourers from the Caucesceu era at a dodgy wedding and sounded like the house band you would find at such a wedding. However it ripped through the crowd. And here’s me thinking all Canadians are calm, quiet and reserved. No, there goes a leg there, a plastic cup here and was that a sock? Hmmm. Odd. However somehow I was swept up in it as I apprehensively ventured out of the drink pen.

Gogol Bordello are undeniably a great band live but I just didn’t get it. Maybe I am not astute or open to such world rhythms blasted through some sort of musical particle accelerator that defines their sound at times. They are an acquired taste but a band that must be experienced I suppose sometime even if you’re not really into the sound of Moldovan wedding bands.

www.gogolbordello.com

Adriano from CSS talks to Analogue

Band member and the man behind the greatest thing to come out of Brazil since Giselle! Adriano from CSS talks to Analogue.

So 18 months on the road and over 5 concerts in Ireland alone, you must be the hardest working band today!

Yeah our agency, since we have been through a lot of bad things made this little frame or picture saying “Most Hard Working Band Of the Year”. We played like a 180 shows last year!

When you were leaving Brazil 18 months ago you were just getting big. You went back recently for the first time since and now you’re huge. How was that?

It’s weird as a lot of people didn’t like us and then they wanted to interview us but we didn’t do anything we didn’t want to. Like we didn’t speak to Globo Television (Brazil’s largest tv company). They wanted us to go on the like the David Letterman of Brazil and we said “no way we’re not doing this”. We don’t sell that much records there, we don’t have a record label there. So there’s no point in doing those things. We were wasting our time rehearsing and recording and we didn’t want to waste our time doing those things for people who didn’t like us. Just because we were famous in Europe and America. It’s really boring.

But you did a few shows in Brazil when you got back. How was that?

Yeah we did. We were at a festival and 6000 people were there watching us, which was cool. We were on at the same time as Lilly Allen and people left her to see us! That was emotional. For a moment I thought people were there to criticize us but they were all there singing and dancing. It was really beautiful.

The first time I met you guys was when I was living in South America and you were on a bus, a normal bus from

Sao Paulo to Rio in November 2005. Then I see you less than two years supporting Gwen Stefani on her European tour. That must have been weird, that quick rise, that trajectory from local band to world tours.
Yeah we played the Wembley Arena 4 times! Like 12,000 people each night! Ok they’re not there for us but to see Gwen Stefani.

But you must get people who go to those gigs to see Gwen but come back to you and say “Wow, I didn’t know you guys before and you’re really good!

Yeah! I never thought of the marketing aspect of touring but when we do tours like that our sales increase tremendously after. Of course there’s a lot of people who have never heard of us. You know if we play in front of those 12,000 people and only 10% of those like us and buy our record that’s 1200 people buying our record. So they are in HMV or Virgin and they see our record and go “That’s the band that opened for Gwen Stefani!” and they buy our record. That’s really cool.

How do you come about nabbing these big names to support? Is it a question of the record company coming to you?

Nah, it’s the agent. It’s the people who schedule our show. Like Gwen Stefani is from Primary, our agent. Primary, they have been really good to us. Our agent, he’s brilliant.

You’ve supported over the past year or so Ladytron, Basement Jaxx and Gwen Stefani. Which one was the best?

Ladytron. We became really good friends with those guys. They are the sweetest people ever. Like Daniel from Ladytron, he lives in Milan so everytime we go there we meet up. His wife is Brazillian. She’s really nice and we really became close friends. Like Helen from Ladytron always goes to our gigs in London. And Gwen, she’s really, really cool. She always went to our dressing room and she brought her kid Kingston and she is so down to earth. But she’s also kind of unapproachable as she’s a big star, you know. So we didn’t get that close so I don’t have her email or her phone number so I can’t ring her up and go “Hey Gwen, how are you!?”. Basement Jaxx, we met them 3 or 4 times in the catering area at the gigs and they are really nice. We had the most fun supporting Gwen. Basically we had a show and a day off, a show and a day off. Her show is also amazing. Watching that show every night it was amazing.

So you’re working on the second album. How is it different in sound from the first album?

I think it’s gonna sound more like a live show. It’s going to be less electronic but still sound very pop. When we recorded the first album we weren’t a band. We didn’t play that much and I didn’t know what we would end up doing. I have been working on this album since we started touring. I work on it on my computer touring and I am a workaholic so I am writing all the time. We already have 13, 14 songs so the album is all done. Man, at the beginning we didn’t even have songs. We would have maybe 4 songs and we would do one song twice and move on. And everyone was so shocked we had the guts to do that. But now the girls have gotten way better. I really trust them as musicians. I know I can make a bassline and Ira would pick it up. At the beginning they couldn’t. But now we play every day and we’re practicing. I still write all the arrangements for the instruments but now when we’re playing they’d change something as maybe it’s easier for them or they discover it’s better. Although I’m not really happy as we won’t be able to rehearse all the songs before we record and that’s something I really wanted to do. I wanted to go somewhere like a farm away from things and play the songs for almost forever but it’s not gonna happen. It was funny we were thinking about songs in ways like how it would sound on the main stage of Glastonbury or we would go “let’s make a break here so Lovefoxx can jump into the crowd” and stuff.

What goes on in Lovefoxx’s head when she thinks of things like “Music is my hot hot sex”?

She’s really unique. I think she’s a little genius. Her first thing is not music. It’s drawing. She’s an amazing illustrator. She’s more graphical than musical. I think her lyric writing is very visual as she is so graphical. She’s one of the best artists I have ever met.

So how did you two meet up?

It’s all Ira’s fault. I used to have another band called I Love Miami, which was the worst band. It wasn’t a proper band . It was me with like 10 other girls and we would just go on stage and make loads of noise. Then Ira saw us play one time and said “ I would love to be in a band like that” and she called me and said “lets make a band” and I said ok. She invited the girls. I never met Lovefoxx before the first rehearsal. She said we met once when I was in my other band but I don’t remember.

Did you get on well from the beginning?

Yeah! Ira was thinking when starting the band about who would be the best people to party with so she thought it would be cool.

With touring and the stress, do you still get on well?

Yeah we do. I think it’s because were a lot of people. I get along very well with Ira. Yesterday we went for dinner and I live very close to her in Sao Paulo. Lovefoxx hangs out with Luiza. Its not that we are jealous of each other and we have two gangs, it just seems natural.

So what is it like as the only guy in the band?

I never really thought about it. Most of my other bands had girls. I was in one band with all guys. The difference when you
have a band with girls is that people tend to treat you better. In Brazil they would put you in a better hotel as they would think they wouldn’t put a girl in certain hotels.

Have the girls rubbed off on you? Have you developed an appreciation for good shoes and make up?

Ha, and astrology too! We speak a lot about astrology too. I don’t know how they do it but they guess the star signs of everyone. They go “ Oh you are a Virgo” and I go “Yeah!” They are always right. And it’s good. They always have creams like when my hands are so dry….

So what do you think of today’s fast moving world where people come and go and more specifically bands form, go global and break up in such a short space of time?

Since we get along so well and we had a lot of shit together and we didn’t break up or fight I think that if we want we could be a band that could last 10-15 years. This idea of brief famousness is so new now. I think our fans are not those trendy people looking for trendy bands. They like our music so if we get smaller or become less famous we would do well.

Are you the beginning of something new, a wave of Brazilian bands to come over here and make it big?

Nah. There are a lot of bands that suck. There are a lot of bands that sing in Portuguese. Bonde do Role kinda work cause they have this different funky kind of sound. But they’re not big in Brazil because their lyrics are so filthy. Like if you understood what they were saying you would freak.

What is it with Brazilians? You guys and Bonde do Role.You seem to be overtly sexual? And your lyrics are too?

Well it’s when we sing in English and its not our first language. Like when Lovefoxx sings Art Bitch she would be ashamed to sing it in Portuguese.

But why sing in English and not Portuguese?

Well because I was listening to bands singing in English. I’ve been that way since I was in bands at 14 years or age. I’m a terrible Portuguese writer. In English the words are very small.

And so you’ve been on the road almost 2 years non stop. Are you going to take a break?

No! All New Year we are recording the album and then we are back in March. Actually in January we are going to Australia from Brazil for three days, which from Brazil is awful. We have to go to Chile, then New Zealand and then Australia. Its gonna be awful. Then we will be back. In February we have 2 or 3 shows.

And this year you’re making the big move to London. Are you apprehensive about going to London?

I don’t think about it much. We stay so much there so don’t think about it. Once I have my own house Ill be fine. I hate hotels. I’m paranoid to the point I travel with my own pillow! I keep thinking about who has drooled into that pillow. I was even thinking about bringing my own sheets but I thought that was too much!

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