Cut Copy, a trio from Melbourne, brought their dance party to the Paradise Rock Club on Monday night. (Stay tuned for the review...) With live instruments and keyboard, they may remind you of all sorts of styles (synth-pop, dance-rock, electro, post-wave, etc). They piece their sound together on their second CD "In Ghost Colours" with producer Tim Goldsworthy (UNKLE, LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip), which debuted at #1 on the Australian album chart in March.
Before the show, Dan Whitford (vocals, keyboards, etc) and Tim Hoey (vocals, guitars, etc) sat down with Bostonist to talk about their music, strange vocal effects, differences between Australia and America, sexy jams, and gunfire in Boston.
Bostonist: Been listening to the CD. It sounds great. There's a lot of cool sounds, different textures going on. I was curious how the songs came together. Is there a lot editing -- or "cutting" -- in a cut copy session? Do you add a lot of stuff and pull it away or...?
Tim: Yeah...
Dan: Umm, I think there's a lot of time spent just like in terms of putting the tracks together almost like producing at the same time as writing, so it's not us just sitting in a room and playing the parts . There's overdubbing and programming of keyboards and things like that go along with the live instruments, so it's definitely not the straightforward approach like a band that goes in and plays their instruments and that's the song.
Right.
Dan: I guess it depends on the song. Some songs we spent more time rehearsing, and other ones things were done separately and we worked together at the end -- then obviously when we finally went into the studio in New York, that was when we fine tuned everything.
The "vocoder effect" [electronic sounding vocals] is on the CD in a few places. What do you think of the vocoder being used -- or overused -- in a lot in songs these days?
Tim: Maybe a little...
Dan: Well, Daft Punk is the obvious one. They seem to have made it popular again. And I guess for those people who don't think they can sing very well, it's a good option -- particularly in dance music -- to get away with vocals without actually singing it.
More after the jump.
Right, right.
Dan: It's been around forever really. I'm trying to think of one song where we use it obviously... I guess that probably references more of 70's music. The vocoder was used in a lot of 70's tunes and that sort of thing.
Right. You didn't "Daft Punk" it out or anything. It was there every now and then. I read an interview where you referred to trying to create a cohesive sound beginning to end or at least in big segments. How important is it for you to make something that people can dance to? There might be some people that might just want to stand there and listen. Do you care if people don't feel like dancing to your stuff?
Dan: At shows you usually want people to dance. It's not exclusively aimed for people to dance to, but we love dance music as much as we love other kinds of music. It's something that's in a lot of the songs even if it's not the most immediate element. It's not really a conscious decision was made. It 's because we like dance music, there's the element of that in there.
What do you think of the "dance rock, etc" labels?
Dan: Yeah, they're just labels.
Tim: I think it's more about melody and tune first. If it happens to be dance music, then it still has to have that as well. It should be listenable that's also appropriate for the club. We want the record to be something you can listen to it at home. Maybe the shows are geared more towards dance, but it changes all the time. I don't think it's ever a preconceived idea of what we want it to be: "It's going to be a rock song... It's going to a dance song... It's going to be the crossover track..." Whatever... You have to serve the song first.
Dan: It's funny. We were actually talking about it a bit, because we DJ a lot. We play tracks that aren't ours, and a lot of these artists that have done great 12" [vinyl records] were putting out albums that are kind of disappointing. We felt there weren't a lot of records you could listen to from start to finish -- they'd have a couple good tracks and some filler, or they were too relentless the whole way through. So for our record there was more of a goal, if there was one at all, to make a record that worked as whole and not a bunch of 12-inches that were put together.
Both of you have visual arts/design in your background. Do you consciously bring that aesthetic to the music?
Dan: I think our aesthetic...
Tim: It's a companion piece to the music.
Dan: Yeah, yeah. The knowledge we have from studying art, and that side of things, informs making music a little bit in terms of ideas. It's one of those weird things that doesn't translate -- visual aesthetic -- directly to music. People always ask that: "Does this influence that?" and vice versa. But it's fairly different -- but having said that we do the record artwork and all the visual stuff we do ourselves. It's nice to have control of the music and the visual side.
When you perform at shows like SXSW and Coachella, do prepare or play differently?
Dan: Not really differently. We knew it was a great opportunity and a great thing to be a part of... We wanted to do a good show.
Tim: We've been touring for years and playing more shows and more places. As soon as there's a crowd there, it doesn't even matter whether it's a festival or a headline show. We can switch on pretty easily.
Is it fair to say you're bigger back home at this point?
Tim: I guess relatively. It seems that this tour has opened up a lot. It has been sold out pretty much. We haven't done a headlining tour of America like this before, and it's very reassuring to have this happen. America is such a big place.
Do you encounter misconceptions about Australia?
Dan: Oh! People constantly ask us weird things. It seems people are really freaked out about spiders, and stuff...
Tim: Yeah...
Dan: I think it's because that's the only show that probably...
Tim: The Discovery Channel...
Dan: Yeah, Discovery Channel. People always say Australia looks beautiful , but I could never live there. All the dangerous animals... It's not really like that.
Are there things about about America you enjoy? Or don't enjoy?
Dan: We've been here a few times. America is the media center of the world, so you have a pretty good idea of what it's like before you get here. We get American TV and movies and stuff. Particularly walking around New York, you feel like you're walking on the set of Seinfeld...
What sorts of things have inspired you lately?
Tim: There's something new everyday; we listen to different things all the time. We've become obsessed with the NBA playoffs this tour, so we watch the playoffs every night before the show. Or the television show "The Wire" -- we got obsessed with that on the last tour. When you're in touring mode, your life is very strange. You try to find things that get you through it -- whether it's food or trying to find good coffee everyday. Something to try and keep your sanity. We also try to visit art galleries. You're doing the same thing every night, so you do need to do things like that...
The Internet has helped to get your music out there. Do you google yourselves often? Do you read the blogs?
Dan: We check on Hype Machine.
Tim: Hype Machine, to see what's gotten leaked. We get stuff sent to us all the time by the label, but it's usually good reviews. You've got to be careful when you search yourself online...
Dan: You'll never know what you'll find.
Tim: Yeah, it's a double-edged sword. You can read a million good things, and when you read the one bad thing... That it'll be the one that will stick with you.
I went to a local discussion board and asked if they had any questions for you. There was one girl that wanted to know: "Why are your jams so sexy?"
[Both laugh.]
Tim: Uhhh... Dan?
Dan: Uhhh.. I don't know. Are they?
Tim: I'm gonna have to put it back on her I think. Maybe she should tell us...
Dan: It's more about her than it is about us.
Tim: Yeah, exactly! I think we're kind of a sexy band...?
Dan: I've never had someone ask me a question like that before.
That's why I thought it was a good one...
Tim: At least that's what we can say at immigration and border stops... What's your music like? Sexy music...
Together: Sexy jams!
[Laughter throughout the answer.]
Is there something about Boston that you enjoy?
Dan: We've only just arrived...
Tim: Yeah...
Dan: We just woke up pretty much...
Tim: The last time we played here, we didn't even stay overnight. Didn't we drive out when we played with Franz [Ferdinand]?
Dan: I think that's right. We finished the show, and I think we had to drive back to New York or somewhere...
Tim: We got shot at.
Welcome to Boston...
Dan: It felt like a gunfight as we were driving along.
Tim: It was like, "Is this the America that we saw on TV? Is this what it's like all the time?"
Dan: Like "Boyz 'N the Hood."
Tim: Yeah, it's like "Boyz 'N the Hood" everywhere.
There is one neighborhood that has more gunfire than others...
Dan: Probably right amongst it...
Tim: So that's the Boston we know.
Well, we have more than gunfire to offer...
At the end of interviews, I've ripped this off from a TV interview show who stole it from a French journalist. What's you favorite word?
Tim: My favorite word... Home.
Dan: I'll go with that.
Least favorite word?
Dan: Soundcheck?
Tim: Soundcheck!
Dan: Is that a word...?
Favorite swear word?
Tim: Shit-bitch.
Dan, Do you have one you like?
Dan: Probably... I'll go with shit-bitch.
Favorite sound?
Tim: Thurston Moore's guitar.
Ooh... Good one!
Tim: Ha, top that! I got a "good one" from the reporter!
Dan: Umm...
I'll give you a pass on that one, Dan...
What is your least favorite sound?
Dan: Mitchell's [the drummer] snoring.
Tim: Yeah! Mitchell's snoring, which I heard a lot of yesterday.
What turns you on?
Dan: Coffee.
Tim: My beautiful girlfriend.
What turns you off?
Dan: Bad coffee.
Tim: Seeing Dan naked in the morning.
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
Tim: Take a week off...?
Dan: Yeah, that's a good one.
Tim: At the moment, I can't see a week off in sight...
Can I try one more thing? "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!"
[Both groan.]
Dan: It's one of those things. It's like a sporting tradition, that chant... But when you have people come to your show, it's always these burly jocks...
Tim: Yeah...
Dan: That are wasted and...
Tim: The kind of guys that beat us up in school...
Dan: Yeah, we try to discourage that [chant] a little bit.
You don't follow a football or a cricket team?
Dan: Oh, no! We do. It's just one of those weird, sort-of creepy, nationalistic...
Tim: Yeah...
Dan: Kind of... things... And especially when you're traveling out of the country. You want to experience their culture and not to have Australian culture imposed on you.
Tim: Yeah, totally. Especially that aspect.
Dan: Thanks for trying.
I had to give it a try... Is there anything you miss from home?
Dan: I often feel like having vegemite in the morning. It's sort of an Australian cliche, but...
We're all very familiar with that via Men at Work...
[Both laugh.]
Dan: Yeah, "vegemite sandwich..."
Is there anything else you'd like to tell the youth of Boston?
Tim: Buy our record. Come to our show.
Hey, you're sold out tonight...
Dan: It's a good start.
Photo from their MySpace page.
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