Digitalism Q&A
Author: Shell Heaven Lee
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Digitalism originally started out as a hip-hop outfit. Do you guys still listen to and produce hip-hop-
Yeah, we still listen to hip-hop and widen our instrumentation and sounds, and it is always a part of what we produce these days.
The name of your album is called Idealism. What does Digitalism define "Idealism" to being-
I would say 'Idealism' is for both of us, building upon a realisation of an ideal, changing your ideas, making them better and seeing it relate with other things. That is what 'Idealism' is. Making it perfect as well.
The album is out on three labels: Kitsune in France, Astrawerks in the US and Toshiba-EMI in Japan. How do you accommodate to these three diverse cultural markets. Has Digitalism had to compromise their sound and image to accommodate this-
No, I wouldn't say that we have had to. Playing in Japan was crazy. We find all the world's dancefloors to be the same and we are lucky to have just done what we have and people like to dance to it, so that's been good.
You're on the Kitsune label, responsible for the rise of many big electro artists. Have you had the opportunity to collaborate with any of your label mates-
No, we haven't worked with anyone yet. We tend to be doing stuff by ourselves. We get emails early in the morning, with a theme or an idea for something and that is that. We get to do what we like and so far it has been good. We get to try many things and sounds and the people are happy!
Jens, your partner in Digitalism, has a solo project called 'Disko Palermo Machine'. Is the sound of this the same or different to Digitalism's signature Electro-Rock sound-
Disko Palermo Machine, I would say, is very classical Italian House sound, compared to Digitalism's sound. OH! I've just come up with a genre for Digitalism - it's 'Electro Punk'.
Got any songs or artists you would like to plug at the moment-
Well yes, there is this Bulgarian group who posted a message on MySpace and I haven't stopped listening to it. It's really, really good, I've forgotten the name, but their songs are really good.
Have you done any remixes for anyone lately that we should be listening out for-
Yes, we have a remix coming out in a few weeks. I can't tell you much more, but that it's a new band, with an '80s singer, very famous singer. You are going to have to search out for it, a really well-known singer! No secrets!
Digitalism's sound is widely embraced around dancefloors worldwide, a sound that is particularly compressed with an array of spectacular synths featured. Any new sounds that you're focusing on for your upcoming work-
Yes, we've been busy in the studio trying new instrumentation and sounds, which you will have to listen out for. I'm not telling you any more than that, but it will have different sounds included.
'Zdarlight' was a phenomenal track, highly praised by listeners and clubbers of all different genres. Any secrets you can tell us behind the track that we normally wouldn't know about-
Yes, there are plenty of hidden secrets, but as one part of the band, I can't tell you. You will just have to keep listening to it more to get to understand them in 'Zdarlight'!
Finally, you are coming down to play at Parklife. Is there anything in particular we should be looking forward to in your live performances-
We have a few things planned that you will be surprised by. After this interview, I'm going back into the studio and we are finishing a few things on the remix, and hoping that the things we have planned for Parklife will be able to be realised. So we look forward to playing in Australia and seeing you all on the dancefloor! Tags