Cut Copy
Cut Copy are super cool. This isn’t just opinion, its fact. If you want proof, how about a bit of this – (1) they’re on Modular Records, home of some of the best acts in the world right now (2) Their new album has been produced by Time Goldsworthy of LCD Soundsystem, reached Number 1 in Australia and got some absolutely spanking reviews (http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/49916-in-ghost-colours), (3) Their last album Bright Like Neon Lights was incredible and (4) Judging by how guitarist/chief sampler/bassist/legend Tim was on the phone when I interviewed him the other day, they’re all really nice to boot. We talked about all sorts, from Disco to the internet to how happy songs are really about pretty sad things and he was never less than eloquent, if a little bit sleepy…
Let’s start with a bit of blog-chat. You are definitely one of the most blogged artists on the internet, how much do you think it’s played a role in your success so far?
Tim- Blogs are a great tool I guess, I mean we track down music ourselves with them. It’s been great for getting us exposure, we just got back from Sweden and don’t have a record out there yet, but we had really good numbers down at the shows so most of the people must have head our stuff through those bloggy sort of websites or Myspace. Its funny though ‘cos the record we wrote isn’t really a very blog friendly album, its been put together with loads of interludes so I mean you’re either gonna get like a 20 second bit of the album or like a 12 minute track, so I mean I’m not sure how it’s gonna go sound-wise. Definitely it’s been good for getting exposure though.
So you don’t have a problem with your music, in essence, being given away for free on the blogs then?
Tim- It’s a double edged sword I guess, you know, you can get your music out there much quicker so the power has sort of shifted back into the hands of the bands as opposed to the record labels and you can give it out to everyone. Certainly we download music as well so it’d kind of be the pot calling the kettle black, we’re not on for any big Metallica-esque kind of rant about how we’re totally not into downloading
I was kind of hoping it wasn’t going to go that way…
Tim- Definitely… I mean I guess it’s kind of difficult when the quality of the music is bad
Like a Myspace rip or something?
Tim- Yeah exactly, you kind of hear it out in clubs- a load of kids downloading really bad quality mp3s and playing them out and, you know, when you spend so much time on the production of a record and then have someone listen to it through a bad quality rip it kind of defeats the purpose.
I was going to ask about that actually, what strikes me with all your work so far is the level of attention to detail you give the production, what part of the musical process do you prefer most; DJing, recording in the studio or playing live?
Tim- I’m not sure, I mean, we kind of try to put that level of attention to detail into all aspects of the band. Certainly our time in the studio has been a lot of fun, we’ve had to be in there a lot for this new album and it’s been a real kind of learning process for us, it was really exciting doing it in New York last year. We also try to put those levels into our DJing though, not just throwing out big club songs, trying to make them as musical as possible
From what I’ve heard your recent Album and DJ releases seem to have been influenced a lot by Disco, do you think that was from working in New York or is it more of a long term love affair?
Tim- Well we always listened to that Cosmic-Disco even before we went to New York but going there and working with Tim [Goldsworthy co-founder of DFA records and LCD Soundsystem] helped- Disco-wise his CD collection is pretty impressive! The way dance music was heading at the time was real sort of noisy stuff we weren’t really listening to, we’re more about the totally listenable dance music
So is the new release [In Ghost Colours] going to sound more Disco influenced then?
Tim- Certainly it’s more Disco formed, but we listened to a lot of different stuff like Kraut-Rock- that’s where we got the idea for the interludes, the whole album kind of runs into each other. I think we were listening to a lot of stuff… well it was ‘poppy’, but I suppose a more psychedelic take on pop music, more than the straight pop of Bright Like Neon Lights [Cut Copy’s debut album]. Just have to keep things interesting, you know?
Being Australian, have you noticed how big Australian dance acts are getting at the moment [they are by the way- Avalanches, Presets, Midnight Juggernauts and Bumblebeez are all killing it!]. Why do you think this is? Is dance music just a more universal genre than rock?
Tim- Yeah I think so, I mean when we started out rock music like The Vines or Jet was a lot more dominant in Australia, we struggled to get on radio or festival bills so we knew we had to get our music overseas where there was a far bigger audience for the music we were making. Also in Australia there’s such an emphasis on live music and that was a big reason behind why we make our music the way we do.
Do you find the whole live thing more exciting then DJing then?
Tim- Don’t get us wrong, I mean we really love DJing too but growing up we were really into that early 90’s guitar rock and going to shows with the whole engaging level of live performance and how they re-interpret their records to play live. We took that on board and definitely try to make our stuff a bit different live. When we saw The Avalanches for example their live show was like a punk set! We’d never seen that before and were like ‘that’s definitely the direction we want to go’. We don’t want to just be stuck behind laptops all the time
The Avalanches definitely seemed to prefigure the whole Australian dance revival, do you think they opened a lot of doors for you or was it mainly down to you?
Tim- Well I think The Avalanches were a massive influence on us. When their record came out at first it didn’t, you know, go gangbusters in Australia, it sort of became bigger here [in Britain] and then flooded back to Australia, a lot like what happened to us actually. Until we got good reviews and crowds in England and America they didn’t play us at home but then it started to work out. Overall we just had to rely a lot on our live show because radio wasn’t really there at the beginning. Our shows just had to be as crazy as possible
Another thing that comes through a lot with your music is a real sense of joy and celebrating life, was this through a conscious effort not to be another miserable band or did it just come naturally?
Tim- It’s funny as a lot of the stuff we write about is the ‘love-lost, love-found’ idea, so put in the pop music context we sound quite uplifting but most of the songs are about quite the opposite. Its like The Beach Boys, they were perfect at that- beautiful uplifting music but the themes of the songs were actually pretty depressing. Even ELO is a bit like that too, we just find the whole idea really interesting
Finally, any advice for people reading this in a band that wants to take their music onto the next level?
Tim- I don’t even know myself really… I think, never live up to other people’s expectations of what you’re supposed to write, be true to yourself and have some honesty about what you’re doing. I dunno… listen to Pavement. I think that’s is probably the best tip I could give really!
Theo Johnson
