INTERVIEW: Chemical Brothers

Interviewer - Verbal (V) Interviewee - Chemical Brothers (CB)

V:Nice to have you! Long awaited album "Further" obviously not many of us have heard it so can you tell us a little about the album?
CB:It's like a psychedelic free album, if you hear it you'll definitely recognize it as Chemical Brothers music but it has depth to it. It's good to listen to it as a whole album, we conceived it as a whole. We have vocals on it but we don't have so many guest vocals that we used to be quite well known for. It's a record that we're really really happy with, and I think it reflects exactly the record we wanted to make at this time. It feels authentic, it feels from the heart.
V:Would you say its more minimal production wise? Than the previous albums?
CB:No I think sound wise its probably more involved then records before because it doesn't have these big iconic vocals, we haven't worked with a Q-tip or Noel Gallagher or someone, there's a lot more space for the music. It's very involved musically. I quiet like music that when you hear it first you think its simple and the more you listen to it you start to understand the nuances and the layers and different things going on. So it's definitely not a more minimal approach.
V:How did you select the vocal or guest appearances this time?
CB:Either some songs, Tom sings or we have this girl called Stephanie to sing stuff that Tom had written. The words are much less like a song its more like how we would use a sample. There's more of a freer kind of structure. Swoon has a very nice kind of romantic refrain, message. Vocals just happen when they happen. I think that was the good thing about the record it felt less need to make a fully formed pop song. We have had those before and have been really exciting to make but its jus a new way for us to make an album.
V:Swoons got pushed back few days, everyone's dying to get it before tomorrows show! Did you know about that it got pushed back?
CB:I don't know. Were happy for people to hear it right now
V:Is it like the Japanese strategy?
CB:I don't know, who knows what's going on. It's been in England, I thought it had come out but we got some nice remixes coming about. We got some nice Boyz Noize mix of Swoon which is great.
V:How do you select these remixers?
CB:It's just whose music we like to play when we DJ. Things that we play out and we like something in the production or something in the idea and if its in our record box we think there's a song that can work then yeah then we'll give them a call.　
CB:We've been playing a record by Boyz Noize for a long time. We played something he done with Errol Alkan that we really like it so it just seemed like a natural fit. There's also a guy called POPOF who's remixing for us. It's one of the good things that's come out of still deejaying that we hear producers that we really like and we'll play their records and they'll just blow us away when we play them as DJs and then we try to get them involved some how in what we do.
V:You brought up Noel Gallagher for a second but you've known him for a long time and from what I understand from the first time you met him and spoke about doing something to the time when you actually did a song was like a couple years or something right? It took a few years until you guys finally hit the studio.
CB:It's not like we're friends and hang around each other all the time, he's just been really good with us, we did a remix for him couple years ago, he's always been happy to come and sing with us. When they became famous OASIS and saw his face on the magazines we said that's that guy! Because we'd seen him a lot in clubs in Manchester, so we recognized him but we never spoken to him. Then he came up to us in Glastonbury one year and said he'd like to be on our record after Tim Burgess was on the first album that we did. The two songs we did with him have been great! We love em! We played recently, we played some shows in London and we played "Setting Sun" which the first song we did with him and it sounded excellent. It's really good to give a song a rest for few years, and we played on it on the encore. It's a good one.
V:Would you say meeting people at clubs that kind of brings this karmaratory and your like why not won't you sing. Did you ever select anybody cause you guys were drunk?
CB:We don't necessary get drunk but Tim Burgess and Beth Orton who were on the first album they were people who came. We used to have this residency in London Called Heavenly Social and they both came to the club a lot. And we were playing records that formed our sound and at the same time we were making the first record and so it was that moment when everything kind of started coming together for us and they came to sing and it seemed very natural. They seemed to be coming out of the same thing we were in.
V:Seems like Heavenly Social was the spot that all these cool people hung out right?
CB:It's just a PUB. It was great time for music and London was swinging and it was a Sunday night thing and it was part of Heavenly records they put it on. Tom and I been deejaying together for quite a while in Manchester we had a quite specific sound that we was in to and it was the first time people in London will come. And the connection with Heavenly people like bobby Gillespie, Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher used to come down. It wasn't like a VIP type of club it was like a lot of people crammed into this place just jumping up and down to music and those people happen to be there.
V:So it was literally like a pub?
CB:It was just a pub! Anyone can come in. It was two pounds to get in. It's not somewhere you'd wonder in to, it's like in a "No Man's Land" of London.

V:How do you guys do it? You guys have known each other since school or something right?
CB:University we met in 1989.
V:That's a long time. You guys don't get sick of each other? Take each other's girlfriends?
CB:None of that! It's like up and down we don't get sick of each other but we have intense periods when we're together and then we have different lives, Tom has a family that's the biggest part of his life and I have my own life and we come together to become the chemical brothers. And that's the way it works. What we do is fun whether it's making music or performing, traveling so all our experiences are enjoyable.
V:So you guys wont say that you're both "type A" because you'll rip each other's head off right?
CB:We argue. If we didn't have a conflict over things there wouldn't be a good collaboration if we agreed. We still argue but yeah its good to argue.
V: My impression of the Chemical Brothers is you guys release huge records over like a period of couple decades and you guys have hits but then you guys will go dig records and do your research on your own. You don't have like 20 assistants giving you advice.
CB:We were in Shibuya yesterday digging in the crates, we're still interested in records, still trying to find that perfect beat. We went to Guinness records. It's a great store, interesting stuff. We've been coming to Tokyo for a long time and lots of them (record stores) seem to disappear.
V:It's three, almost four years since you released your last record. Are you pressured? Do you feel like you have to take the number 1 spot again?
CB:nah, I think we're just glad to make something we're really happy with. And we're happy to share with people. We played the album live in London at a really nice venue and I was probably the most happiest in our careers. It was such a great experience playing complete new music to people, music that we're really proud of and with this visual show that we've worked with Adam our friend. So I think you loose interest in the number one spots and how many units and more in just the sharing of the music and the creation of being some part of something exciting. Life can be difficult at the moment, the world is quite down. There's like a "down-ness" to it with the economy and the anxiety, and I think just to be around part of the moment where people escape themselves and get absorbed into music with their friends is a really rewarding place to be. I think that's the most meaning part of it for me.
V:Would you think this bad economy alters the way you make music?
CB:It doesn't. It's not so much connected to that. We live through some very buoyant times where there was kind of an optimism and now there is a generally a bleakness and it feels good to provide music that has a transcendent quality. When we perform we see people abandoning themselves. Even that simple thing of putting your arms in the air and dancing, your in a moment your away from reality. Its good to be a part of.

V:You guys used to be residents at Liquid Room when it was still in Shinjuku right?
CB:We loved playing there! Once we did like a seven hour set in Liquid Room. It was awesome!
V:You guys have been around for a long time. What do you think of Japan, about how it's been changing since the first time you started coming to Japan?
CB:The first time we came it was 1995. I don't now if it's because we're used to it now but the first time we came to Japan it just blew my mind! It was like a new experience kind of thing for the Japanese people and for us. You felt like you where in a completely different kind of world. We loved it it was amazing we just got so caught up in it all. Excitement of the music. It was exciting for us because we made this music at home in our bedroom and suddenly we're on the other side of the world playing music and people know the songs in these tiny little clubs in Tokyo and Osaka. It was a really exciting time. It just kind of grown. It's amazing now we're headlining for Fuji Rock and stuff so. Our relationship has changed because of what we do but its always something exciting to come to Japan.
V:Do you think the crowd has changed a little?
CB:I think the crowd consistently enjoys our music. I think the emergence of Fuji Rock has been quite a big thing in Japan and I think that festival culture seemed new. Very lovely place to go. Japanese people have a unique take on the festival, having a good time and enjoying a variety of music. I think that's the most notable difference we've seen is that it's playing our music in the festival environment.
V:Over the years what's the demographic of your fans?
CB:When we first started off we where playing in club Quattro to 300 people or something and now the NK Hall and it's a different thing. But still I think what we like is appreciation of music. We were talking about record stores earlier, we would walk into a shop and it would be completely all it will sell is dub reggae and you just get thousand and thousands of 7inch reggae music and we used to be in there for hours and hours and you think nowhere else have I seen a shop like this in the world and it just showed that kind of interest in music and sought of fascination in music which carries through to the appreciation of music. As a musician that makes it an interesting place to be.

V:Just to rap up. We just have to ask this but do you think you can make your hobby into your job?
CB:Yeah I think we're really lucky to do, as a kid in school in lunch hour I would go and try to program little BOSS Dr.Rhythm Drum Machines and play music with my friends that's what I did everyday. It's a really lucky situation where what you do for fun is also your job.
V:You think anybody could do that?
CB:I don't think everyone can get enjoyment out of making music.
CB:Just have an idea and do something and you will never now until you try and do it. All the bedroom producers there's no difference to the tools you have everyone has access to these things these days you can make a song on your phone, it's just the idea that's the crucial point and if you have that idea play to your friends get your friends excited and get more friends, more excitement and keep going.