Releases/
 |
New single
MELANCHOLY SKY
8 Jan 2012
|
 |
New album
THE SINGLES
6 Feb 2012 |
..................................
Live dates/
..................................
Latest updates/
Disco Dec 21
Video May 28
Gigo Nov 01
Press Apr 03
Pictures Jul 08
Bootleg May 04
..................................
Our Myspace/
..................................
Official site
Official forum
Official Myspace
.................................. |
|
| Date |
September 19 |
| Type |
Interview |
| Source |
In the mix |
| Title |
Goldfrapp: Seductive utopian chic |
| Country |
Australia |
| Journalist/Photographer |
Vocal Assault / Ross Kirton |
| Text |
Goldfrapp are one of the most aurally and visually stunning outfits to have walked onto the music scene in recent times. Shaking things up from the very get go, as they silenced audiences worldwide with their stunning debut Felt Mountain, then seduced, excited and enraptured us all as they took us into their vivacious, rich glitter-filled world with Black Cherry. It was a foreign land filled with colour and magic, timeless beauty, glam and ruled mainly by wolves and other kinky imagery, which was said to have symbolised a sexual freedom for Alison.
Now two years later, they’ve returned and just served us with Supernature. But one must wonder, is it likely they’ve done yet another complete 180 on us with this record and changed their sound and image again? Have they toned things back down and gone back to explore more of the yet untold wonders of Felt Mountain? Or will they pick up their glitzy, disco synth-rock halos from where they left them perched after the Black Cherry tour ceased?
Well, the record is finally upon us and Semone Maksimovic recently had a chance to gabber with the lovely Will Gregory, one half of the super chic British duo, shortly before release. To help shed some light on the process that’s taken the super chic British duo from Black Cherry to Supernature, why Will left the live show and everything in between.
Setting a standard so high, that nobody else has quite managed to even come close to the magic they possess both live and on record, Alison and Will hold all the cards in a league of their very own. But from experiences, lessons are learned and progression is sought. And after three albums and years of touring, Goldfrapp have had plenty of that, but what were the biggest lessons spawned from the ride so far?
"Well with Felt Mountain we just provided the music for people to just basically nod off to sleep…with a smile on their face. Which was nice, but it wasn’t quite what we were really after for a live show. When we toured that first album, we played statistically to a lot of doctor’s and dentists. We had a lot of them coming up to us and saying…" puts on faux French accent "‘Oh, I really love this music, it makes me feel better’ and ‘Your music calms my patients.’ Which was very bizarre, so when we started on Black Cherry, we set out to achieve the reaction we were after in our live shows. It’s exciting when you respond to music by dancing, so it’s the ultimate compliment for us as musicians."
Whilst dance was the ultimate conclusion for the pair, it still baffled them when they found themselves up for nomination and awards in the dance music scene. Keeping in mind the blissful cinematic soundscapes they’d previously brought us with Felt Mountain and the transition of more ‘band’ based outfits being accepted on the dance scene at the time, it was difficult to shake their initial impressions of ‘dance music’. "I thought it was all totally bizarre. I suppose there’s music that you like dancing to and then there’s dance music, which basically conjures up raves, really extreme tempos, dense sounding tracks and monster bass drums - all very minimal. I mean dance music is a bit of a no-brainer sometimes really, it’s designed to bypass your brain and go straight to your gut or wherever. So I think that we got a bit confused that we were put up against the likes of Basement Jaxx and people that had been dominant on the dance scene, when we hardly considered ourselves a dance act at the time."
The Goldfrapp live experience has become something of an extravaganza in itself, that the band have become famous for. Taking their big band on the road, with a host of dancers, magical lighting, spectacular costumes and of course the seductive cheekiness Alison and her theremin are have excited men and women alike the world over. It’s an ever-growing cabaret that they’re trying hard to keep under control, as the ideas just get bigger and bigger, they have to remember to take it all one step at a time.
"It’s great, we’ve got the band, we’ve got dancers, we just always want a more, more, more" laughs Gregory "If the whole thing could be like a huge opera, that would be the ultimate. I’d say we’re just going to keep on pushing until we can get something like that going. We’re excited about the current live show, we’ve got lots of choreography worked out for the big shows and we’ve got a fantastic new lighting guy and a lot of new costumes and props. Alison’s great at planning for all of that stuff to happen, she’s the director of everything you see happening onstage, pretty much. She has really strong ideas about how she wants it to look and manages to make it all happen."
Like most popular dance duos, after they’d proven themselves with their successful second record. They were in increased demand for mixing, production and even film scores. They found themselves faced with the difficult decision to either keep going strong on the road and letting these fantastic opportunities slip away, or finding a way for one to go on the road with the band, while the other stays home holding the fort. "Obviously Alison has to be the one out touring the album and promoting it, so it has to be me taking on this behind-the-scenes roll. I did play on the road with the first album and I really enjoyed it, but the sad truth was, we didn’t get any work done."
Going into the studio this time round, it was a welcoming surprise to have an idea of where they wanted to go with Supernature and a new found confidence when it came to penning new tracks, trusting their instincts enough to run with the creative flow. "I don’t know why, but with the last two albums, we didn’t really write anything that we didn’t use. Whereas at the end of this one, we had to get the record company to help us to which songs would make it on the album." The whole process saw them in the solitary confines of their Bath studio, where they worked away five days a week for around 10 months straight. The only interruptions came when they were visited by drum programmer Nick Batt, who took on a bit of a producer role with the pair.
"He broke up the solitude really well, he’d come in and tweak the drums a little, tell us some hard truths about what we’ve done and give us an idea on what parts to work on. We also had Spike Stent (who mixed it), come in a couple of times when we were working on it and like a whirlwind of mad energy, he rushed around and took the tracks, stretched them, turned them upside down, made one part louder, another one softer, added more this and more that, giving them all a big old pummeling."
For a band that likes to be the sole creative force behind their recordings and has strong ideas about how they want things to sound and their own image whether it be aurally or visually, was this hard to take for the first time? "No, not at all. I think we quite liked it in a way, most of it we just kind of said ‘that’s interesting, but…no.’
When somebody does something like that, it just reaffirms your belief in what you’re doing when you don’t agree and refocusses your attention on what it is that’s not working on that part of the track. Sometimes we agree that something wasn’t quite working on that part they’ve focussed us on, but we don’t agree with their suggested solution, so we play with it until we find something that works. So I think Spike was perfect for us in that way, because he’d be in and then right back out and leave us to keep working while the dust is still settling. And because he knew our music intimately, he could come in and give us advice and knew what he was talking about. I remember when he was mixing and he looked up at me and said ‘Will this is base 12 I’ve got on this fader here’, it was becoming a bit of a mosaic really, so I had to come in and work on toning it down a little bit" laughs Will "I think it’s had a real helping hand in mixing this time. I think it’s chic, glossy and shiny and there are a few tracks that’ll really appeal to radio this time round" shares Will with a hint of confidence and all of the enthusiasm of a man who’s just finished the most exciting work of his life. |
|
|
|
|
;)
