TF Archives

Fischerspooner - That's Entertainment

Author: Dave Ruby Howe
Monday, May 18, 2009

3D’s Dave Ruby Howe talks to Fischerspooner’s Casey Spooner to get the skinny on where they’ve been for the past four years and why hate playing Emerge.

Casey Spooner is not in the best mood. The enigmatic mouth-piece of seminal electro(clash) duo Fischerspooner is feeling frustrated. “We’ve been in Europe doing some promo for the new album, Entertainment, and now we’re back in New York for just one day,” he says exasperated. “At the moment I’m packing my bag because we’re starting a new tour tomorrow, and it will be our biggest tour to date. I honestly haven’t had a single day off since the beginning of the year.”

Despite Entertainment marking the return of Spooner and his creative partner Warren Fischer after a four-year absence in recording, the dynamic performer is already feeling the strain. “Sometimes I think doing this job is really terrible,” Spooner admits, his previously frantic tone giving way to his trademark charismatic and candid demeanour. “Sometimes you just get over it. When we were in Europe we did some festival shows, and I always find those enormous festivals really weird to play because it’s difficult to connect with the crowd. All they want to hear is the big hits that everybody knows, the songs that are old and that you’re sick of. I can’t tell you how tired I am of playing Emerge every night,” he says with an audible grin. “I love the song, but sometimes I just want to bury it and never hear it again. We were playing it one night and I just got so bored with it that I stopped the song midway through. I know it wasn’t a cool thing to do, but I couldn’t stop myself. I made it, so I’m allowed to kill it,” he laughs. “I don’t know how Madonna does it, really! When you’re playing and you’re so excited about sharing new material that you’ve worked hard on and people don’t really want to listen to it. Sometimes I think I should just go and write a show or design something instead.”

This is precisely what Fischerspooner did following the release of their tricky second LP, Odyssey. Whereas most conventional acts would head back into the studio, Spooner and Fischer took off into other creative realms. “Releasing albums isn’t all we do,” Spooner remarks. “We’re performance artists so we could be working on stage shows, theatre pieces, ballets or installations. We never restrict ourselves to just one thing.”

Yet, after four years, something about the musical side of the Fischerspooner universe has lured the duo back for their third, and quite possibly their best album, Entertainment. “I think, in the end, Fischerspooner as a musical entity offers us a chance to incorporate a lot of different elements and open things up for collaborations,” Spooner explains. “For us, it’s never just an album. There’s a stage show we’ve got to think about and with that comes choreography, costuming, design as well as art and image direction. It can be difficult for to find the right people to work with though,” he says laughing. “Like, sometimes I’ll explain what I envision in my mind for a set or a costume and the person will look at me like I’m crazy. But some other people just get it, and they’re the ones we love to work with.”

WHO: Fischerspooner
WHAT: Entertainment through FS Studios / Inertia
WHEN: Out now
MORE: myspace.com/fischerspooner

Tags