damn these beats are so fresh! or...nice boys don't play rock 'n roll.
Spitzer [French band]. interview by Kenyon Hopkin.
Brothers from France, Spitzer (Matthieu and Damien Bregere) is a shoo-in for one of the brightest new electronic artists in 2008. The duo's trance-electro materialized later in their music careers, as they spent their formative years in a rock band worshipping Guns N Roses. Their first recording is due very soon. Because of their mysteriousness, an interview was required. Advance Copy has the honor of being the first blog in the U.S.A. to communicate with Spitzer. [Kenyon knows how to write a feature story but doesn't have that kind of time. So here's the ever-popular Q & A.]
your myspace url is "therealspitzer". was "spitzer" taken already and is there someone else claiming to be spitzer?
No, simply because we knew we're gonna be famous and didn't want anybody pretending to be us. Seriously? Because the first url was taken.
i think you listed every single style of music on your influences. is that for real or used for people to find you if they are searching for that?
It's nearly real. We listen to a lot of styles, from Motörhead to Philip Glass, from Autechre to Compay Segundo. We love Music and we try to take inspiration from everywhere.
who do you like better, Daft Punk or Justice? and why?
Daft Punk. No doubt about it. Even Justice are good, we don't think that their music will have the same impact that "Homeworks" did at its time.
has anyone ever said to you, "damn these beats are so fresh!" ???
Our girlfriends and our manager tell us that every morning.
your music is very beat-driven. how important is dancing for you?
Dancing is a curious thing isn't it? It's the body language translated by music and almost everybody speaks this language. We make this music to make people dance but with a bit of finesse. Far from the easy way, we take them on a song, to travel, to let their body speak for a few minutes. But we try to make it quite easy to listen. If you listen carrefully (with headphones), you'll hear a complete symphony of concrete sounds, synth and deep beats. Easy to be listened but quite hard to compose (think about Michael Jackson and the way everything sounds evident whereas the music is so complex, harmonically speaking)
have you been to the United States yet? do you love France?
One of us has been to NY a few months ago. He liked it very much. Concerning our love to France, we can not answer to such a question. To resume, we like the country and the people but maybe not more than you like the US.
you have a track titled "disco biscuits" is that named for the band?
You're the first one to find the solution. Yes, it's beacause the band. All our titles have a secret meaning. Because you're smart, we give you another clue: Avida Dollars sens deals with a spaning painter.
you were in a rock band (drummer and guitarist) for 8 years loving GnR, what made you make such a drastic change?
A lot of things made us stop our band. We were playing rock for 8 years and we were fed up with the problems of having a five-person band. we started to listen to electronic music via Warp artists and decided to start our own project. From the name to the music, we do what we want without making any concessions. Recently electronic music is really more exciting than rock (even if we love a lot of rock bands like The Mars Volta or Battles).
did you ever dream of being like Axl Rose?
Of course we did. When we were younger, we were fans of Guns N Roses. Axl and Slash were like Gods to us. And after all these years, we realize that this band was really special. From the music to the look, Axl understood everything.
do you guys get along or do you want to kick your brother's ass?
No, we get along. We are like twins without being twins.
how do you program your music? and do you play anything live or is it mostly or all pre-recorded?
We use software and we record some musical parts which we play ourselves. We don't uses any samples from other artists and we make all the noises you hear in our music.
so still no record label yet? are you playing the waiting game?
We are currently dealing with labels. We've been contacted by majors but we don't want to deal with these companies. We want to keep our freedom. You'll know more about our label's choice asap.
what is your ultimate vision for one of your performances? are you going to have many swirling lights?
We are currently working on our live set. It will be a laptop live because of he lack of time to work with a band. But, in the future, we will try to work wth musicians and lights on a super show.
Die! Die! Die! - Though there are some better band names with "!" and "Die," the name is very straight forward and so, naturally, is the band. The second record Promises, Promises (February 12, 2008), is sounding an alarm within rock music, especially tracks like the shout-along "A.T.T.I.T.U.D." The post-post-punk bratty New Zealand trio is the type of band that's gonna be hot for at least a few months. They got much in their pocket already too: the first album was recorded with Steve Albini, and they've opened for Blood Brothers, Wolfmother and Wire. !.
Juviley
die Kinder
Foxhole: We the Wintering Tree (Burnt Toast Vinyl)