Coachella’s first weekend has come and gone. With many music fans headed home from Indio, and just as many looking forward to the second weekend, now is the perfect time to look at a few of the performers in more detail. Daily Bruin’s Leah Christianson spoke to the members of three groups ““ The Airplane Boys, Nero and We Are Augustines.
Email Christianson at lchristianson@media.ucla.edu
Beck Motley and Bon Voyage of the Canadian hip-hop duo, The Airplane Boys, spoke to Christianson at Coachella to talk about their views on the rise of hip-hop, touring with Snoop Dogg and their opinions on music’s larger purpose.
The Airplane Boys
Daily Bruin: This year, there are a significantly higher number of hip-hop acts performing at Coachella. How do you feel being included in this move toward more hip-hop at Coachella?
Bon Voyage: It’s amazing. Hip-hop in general is growing, and to be a part of that wave at Coachella, one of the biggest festivals in North America, really surprised us.
Beck Motley: We don’t think there should be any barriers that say, “This is a rock show,” or “This is a hip-hop show.” Rock bands should open for hip-hop crowds, and vice versa, just to educate people about music. The more open-minded you are, the more eager you are to learn. So being here, it’s great to see the presence of hip-hop because it proves hip-hop’s relevance. It’s not just for radios, commercials or clubs; it’s for people that actually want to recite lyrics.
DB: You tend to do some really unusual things with your music ““ for example, sampling Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” on your track “Born to Be.” Where do you get the idea for things like this in your music?
BV: Well, Arcade Fire was doing a great job representing their music and themselves, being from Canada. We just loved the song.
BM: It was funny ““ we were sitting in the studio and that track wasn’t meant to happen. We meant to work on an upbeat track. … We wanted to sample Vampire Weekend, but decided too many people were doing it. So we started thinking, “What bands do we like?” since we were really looking for organic instruments. We had been playing “The Suburbs,” and that one track particularly we wanted to flip. Michelangelo, who’s originally from Calgary ““ so it’s Canadians finding Canadians flipping Canadians’ music ““ found a live version with this epic bit at the end. The rest was history.
DB: You’ve toured with Snoop Dogg before. How does it feel here at Coachella in your own right, rather than opening for him?
BM: He was sitting down with us last night talking about how beautiful it is that so many things came together for this weekend ““ not just us, but him and (Dr.) Dre, too. For them to come together represents something bigger. It’s the same for us ““ we may want things on our own, but the beauty of coming together is doing something bigger than ourselves.
Nero
Daniel Stephens and Joseph Ray of British electronic group Nero spoke to Christianson about where their inspiration for their music comes from, the differences between the U.S. and the U.K. crowds, and the excitement of having a No. 1 single.
Daily Bruin: It seems that every year there are more and more electronic artists at Coachella. How does it feel to be included in that trend?
Daniel Stephens: I think electro is worldwide now with all festivals. If you don’t have a big electronic lineup, then you’re probably going to suffer ticket sales, as electro seems to be dominating the scene right now. It’s a very strong movement. … After seeing other stages, there’s a kind of party, rave-y kind of vibe, and it’s really fun to be a part of that.
DB: Where do you find the inspiration for these melodies?
DS: We listen to a lot of different kinds of music. I think you draw influence from the things you listen to by bringing them all together, but we have already been a very melody-driven group. We do like pop music as well, and we are fans of that “pop craft” that uses really good melodies and progressions, so we’ve naturally always tried to put that into what we do.
DB: This has been a really big year for you guys with your single, “Promises,” debuting at No. 1 on the U.K. album chart and being named “Hottest Record in the World” back in May. What’s your reaction to this positive attention?
Joseph Ray: We had a really big 2011. “Me & You” started getting played loads on U.K. radio, and it has certainly crossed over into the mainstream. We did the Dubstep Symphony with the BBC Philharmonic and played a live show together, which was a new experience for us. We also did a lot of touring. Now, we’re going back to the studio to work on album No. 2.
DS: We’re pushing in the (United) States more as well, since obviously it takes a while for things to catch up over here. It was very unexpected to get a No. 1 single on the U.K. charts, so now it’s about getting around America and making sure we get our music out there. We’re very lucky that “Me & You” got picked up for a “Beats” commercial.
DB: What are the differences that you’ve noticed on this U.S. tour versus performing in the U.K.?
DS: The crowd is definitely different. The U.K. is into moshing; half the dance floor is one massive mosh pit. But it hasn’t happened so much (in the U.S.). Here it’s more of euphoric, hands in the air, glow stick kind of thing, which doesn’t happen at all in the U.K. They’re very different, but they’re both equally great crowds to play to. Both are very excitable, but in extremely different ways.
We Are Augustines
Billy McCarthy and Eric Sanderson of the Brooklyn-based alternative band We Are Augustines spoke to Christianson about their opinions on creativity, capitalism and producing an honest album.
Daily Bruin: This has been a huge year for you, with your album “Rise Ye Sunken Ships” being released and then named iTunes’ “Best Alternative Album” of 2011. Did you think that this past year would lead to performing not once, but twice, at Coachella?
Billy McCarthy: I think I underestimated Coachella a little bit. So I’m very honored to be here, but it was a surprise. It’s kind of a big deal. We’ve been really busy as well, so our itinerary has been morphing a lot. We’re just trying to live it down really and embrace its success.
DB: What is your musical process and your source of inspiration?
BM: I’m from a small town with basically no record stores, so I was pretty much stuck with pop radio growing up, so a lot of my melodic palette probably comes from Casey Kasem Top 40 Radio.
Eric Sanderson: We draw from experience in our lives. Currently, a lot of our inspiration comes from being on the road. Not in a generic rock “˜n’ roll sense, but in really trying to dive into the communities and cultures that we travel through. It’s getting harder these days with all the capitalism and marketing that we confront, but that’s another part of our culture that we have to accept. We then funnel and channel that (experience) through our sense of individualism by blending the two and seeing what comes out.
DB: Can you expand on the idea of capitalism stifling creativity?
BM: I’ve come to realize that, being a creative person, your imagination is so very dear. It fuels creativity. It strikes me that so many countries now have giant billboards, television screens everywhere. … I think that we should question this constant advertising presence. … Sometimes I wonder, “Wow. How do I protect my creativity? How do I protect that innocence that is needed to make work?”
ES: It’s almost like a cup. If you think of your brain as a cup, if 90 percent of your cup is filled with information that someone’s ramming down your throat, you only have a bit left for your actual self. The more you can get out of it, the greater ability you have to access your sense of self within the world.
DB: Can you think of one feeling that you would like listeners to take away from your album as a whole?
BM: Honesty. This is probably the most honest I’ve ever been in my life. Maybe the next record will be conceptual, but for this moment in time, honesty was my goal.