We’ve all been making music for years or doing stuff in the arts, bands, filmmaking, visual art. And in the last few years we’ve all been drawn more to electronic music.
Is there one piece of gear that was a real turning point for you?Yep: The Synthstrom Deluge. It basically allowed us to write and sequence songs quickly. Using it is a no brainer and it's bloody versatile. There is no time to become bored as it’s such a quick sketch and composition tool.
Is there a particular instrument or sound source you find yourself drawn to?We're drawn to repurposed library sounds that have been mutated into an evil context. For instance any DX7 sounds that might once have been familiar, we enjoy warping.
Also destroying samples out of context - either expanding beyond their intentions, or limiting them to crusty granules. Something about space-time distortion and sonic collage?
But we also really like dark, clubby bangers that have got a grittiness to them and are drawn into the romance of the idea of Italo Disco. And we have a Pulsar 23.
What does your creative process look like? Are there particular techniques that help your process?We'll scrub out a few musical ideas on the Deluge. Then the team will pluck out any lyrical obsessions that have been plaguing us, any bogus conceptual concerns or topical things that we wanna synergise into our mainframe, then we'll record a tonne of us improvising and trying melodies out and then we'll boil it all down to the good stuff that we can execute.
Where do you usually start when creating a new piece?There'll be a rhythmic motif or compositional trick we wanna explore, and that often combines nicely with one or more of our lyrical ideas and themes we're playing with.
Do you find that other creative pursuits influence your music?Yes. The band is one part filmmaker, one part publisher designer and two thirds party animal / bus driver.
Do you perform live? How do you translate your music into a live performance?Yep. We started with the intention of wanting to make live techno.
What is the source of inspiration for your latest work?VR entrepreneurial arguments with crypto investors.
Do you think the town you live in has an influence on your sound or process?We recently toured with Ex Partner and Cat Ellis as our stage designer, and this was definitely the result of us wanting to leave town. Auckland definitely contributes to our neurosis, it's a commercial cesspit with terrible planning (but nice people). So: we make modern brutalist industrial techno music because we live in a city with bogus architecture.
What is the strangest or most surprising instrument you have used?The human voice. Billie is classically trained, so it’s fun misusing her chops to shred in an alien context.
Also: we have a Russian built modular synth called the Pulsar 23 and that's a huge part of our sound. It sounds like steel pylons crushing into a superyacht while a crowd watches amd cheers.
The same company that make the Pulsar (Soma) are also sending us a device called 'The Pipe' which is gonna make our vocal sound even spicier.
Who do you see as your biggest influence?The Skeptics, Paul Anka, Skinny Puppy, KLF, Scatman, Amanda Lear, Boney M, LIES Records, TISM, thrash metal vs Italo Disco, Australian smokefree stage challenge circa 1990's, Kraus, Ribs the dog.
What records caught your attention early on and influenced your direction?Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion original soundtrack. Early Skinny Puppy. Tzusing. Technotronics - Pump Up The Jam (the album). Mortal Kombat 1 soundtrack. Kill Em All. All of Filmmaker's albums.
Recommend one artist for people to check out (other than yourself of course)Ex Partner - Flatmate Coup D'Etat. Centre Negative - Existence Is Buzzy. Vow Cave. Drop Zone.
