Sacramento band !!! (pronounced “Chk Chk Chk”) has been channeling and revitalizing the disco-punk music of the early 1980s New York noise scene for over 10 years. Eight members strong, !!! is touring in support of its most recent album, “Myth Takes,” released in March. Garnering widespread attention for its politically charged 2003 single “Me and Giuliani Down by the Schoolyard,” !!! has taken its brand of free-wheeling dance-floor fanaticism back and forth across the Western Hemisphere.
Following a free concert at Amoeba Music on April 26, !!! is scheduled to touch down in Indio for a set at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Saturday. In a recent interview with the Daily Bruin, lead singer Nic Offer presented his opinion on the reemergence of disco-punk music, chasing that one elusive groove and the eroticism of dance.
Daily Bruin: How has your tour been thus far?
Nic Offer: It’s going well. We’ve been in France for the last few days. It’s been really nice.
DB: Did you take another biking tour?
NO: (laughs) No, actually. I left my bike here with my friends. It got stolen. …
DB: Oh no! You have to watch your belongings when you’re traveling through Europe.
NO: I guess so.
DB: When I was in Europe, the thieves were rampant.
NO: It’s a different way over here. It’s not mugging. It’s pickpocketing.
DB: And the pickpocketers are often children, very furtively wandering around. I’ve seen videos of it on the Internet.
NO: Of little kids doing it? That’s wild.
DB: I’ve noticed that !!! sounds influenced by the New York noise scene of the late ’70s/early ’80s.
NO: We got all of those bands secondhand through Sonic Youth. They were probably our biggest New York influence. We studied it later on and saw where they ripped a lot of people off. Really, I thought they did all of those bands better. There were other New York bands as well, underground bands, … (but) I never loved those bands like I loved Sonic Youth.
DB: Do you think bands like !!! and The Rapture brought back that style of music?
NO: Yeah. I think that it seemed like a strange thing when we did it in Sacramento 10 years ago. … It’s just a matter of the tide. All music becomes fashionable and then becomes unfashionable, totally uncool and nobody can talk about it for a few years. After it rests for awhile it becomes fashionable again. I think we were lucky. But we just followed the music that we liked and it turned out other people did as well.
DB: Were Europeans more receptive to !!!’s brand of revitalized disco-punk?
NO: We had to educate Americans. Europeans already got it.
DB: You’ve mentioned that you’re always chasing that one elusive groove. With “Myth Takes,” are you any closer to finding it, if you haven’t already?
NO: I definitely think this album has got the best grooves we’ve ever done. I think we’re closer. I don’t think we’ve found the one I want yet. Maybe I don’t want to find that one. Maybe you don’t want to get to the destination.
DB: What example would you give as an elusive groove?
NO: The song I always offer up is “˜More Bounce to the Ounce’ by Zapp. It’s just like the most monster groove. The groove is so magical you can do whatever you want over it and it sounds great. We’ll know we’re done when we write a song like that.
DB: When I told my female coworkers that I would be interviewing you, they screamed in unison, “Ask him why he’s so hot!” Can I ask you that?
NO: (laughs) What’s my answer supposed to be to that?
DB: That’s why I didn’t ask you the question. I asked you if I could ask the question.
NO: Yeah … it’s really tough being so hot. We just do what we can. We wear really hot sweatpants and, you know, I have to bite my tongue and act cool, as if everything is normal, but it’s not. We all sleep on the bus in very close quarters. It’s tough for us.
DB: Do you think dance music is erotic?
NO: I think so. You see certain bands that are like RAWR … (imitates heavy metal singing), that are very male. … I like that we’re a band that both boys and girls love. Dancing is one of the most ancient mating rituals that there is.
DB: Who is the best dancer in the group?
NO: The best dancer doesn’t want me to tell you that he’s the best dancer because he doesn’t like to show off. But there’s definitely a best dancer.
DB: Would you say you’ve made it your personal mission to make critics dance?
NO: (laughs) No. I’ve made it my personal mission to make critics go fuck themselves.
DB: From comments you’ve made in previous interviews, I’ve come to think that you’re the type of person that admires musicians who are constantly reinventing their music. Does that inform your own songwriting?
NO: We’ve always liked the musicians that are growing and changing and never making the same record. Those really are my favorite artists. To me, it’s always the classic question: Do you want to be Blur or Oasis? Oasis made two good records and then 10 records that sounded like versions of the first one. Blur is continually changing and each new record is a new event. That’s the kind of band I want to be in.
DB: Your music is very percussive, focusing more on rhythms rather than a particular melodic arrangement. Have you been trying to incorporate elements of world music, specifically African rhythms, into your songs?
NO: We’re into everything. My whole theory got shot out of the water by bands like The White Stripes. I always thought rock ‘n’ roll has been based on the blues for so long it seems like infertile territory. To us, it seemed like we could find new music through untouched rhythms. Really, it’s a very normal thing for a punk group to end up doing, like the Talking Heads. It seems like the natural evolution.