Shit talking, chain smoking, binge drinking Djs, there’s something we’ve never seen before! MSTRKRFT play their cards just right when it comes to making it in this genre. Heavy bass lines and sampled vocal tracks, whatever it takes to get the kids dancing these days. Not to mention their quasi-mystique quality based around the gold masks they wear occasionally (oh, what’s up Daft Punk?) and Jesse Keeler’s ex-rock and roll history as a member of Death from About 1979. On their latest LP Fist of God MSTRKRFT has taken their mishmash sound just a bit farther, incorporating live vocals from the likes of John Legend and Ghostface Killah embodying a more hip-hop or R&B style. I still think the best part of the album is its cover, which is a fist, comprised of ladies legs and asses, but that’s just me.
two.one.five: What can you tell me about the Fist of God LP you’ve got coming out?
Al-P: For this record we had a big idea to do collaborations with vocalists, I think only two tracks out of ten are instrumentals, which is different for us. Also, the artists we worked with are in the hip-hop and R&B realm so it’s a real mix of genres.
two.one.five: Who are the vocalists?
Al-P: NORE, John Legend, Ghostface Killah, Lil Mo. We also grabbed from our local talent pool up here in Toronto.
two.one.five: Do you feel like you played the role of producer on Fist of God more so than musician?
Al-P: I’ve always wanted to be a producer, and we just kind of got roped into being artists. Jesse has his history from his rock band days but I’ve always fancied myself as a producer.
two.one.five: What kind of equipment do you use in your studio?
Al-P: We’re in the process of updating our A to D converters, we used to use Apogee but now we’re going with Universal Audio 2192s. Our recording consul is a 1971 Neve 8016, which was partly used on Fleetwood Macs Rumors. We’re trying to get more of a dedicated mix room so we’re downsizing physically but upgrading technically. We used to have live rooms and vocal booths because when we first started MSTRKRFT we started with the intention of being producers.
two.one.five: What about a song makes you want to remix it?
Al-P: The first thing we look for is something we like, that’s a combination of lyrics and melody as well as the delivery.
two.one.five: Does MSTRKRFT reflect the type of musically you normally listen to?
Al-P: The kind of music we make and play is really dependent on environment, you can’t really sit at home on a Sunday afternoon having a coffee and smoking a cigarette and listen to massive electro club tracks. For me personally, it doesn’t really do me any good to listen to the kind of music we make and play.
two.one.five: So what are you listening to?
Al-P: The music I listen to at home for pleasure is disco, its one of my favorite genres of music. I’ve also been going through a musical study from more of an academic point of view with bossa nova and samba music. I’ve been listening to lots of Rush and Devo. When I go into the studio I always find I’m pulling ideas, directions, or concepts from all kinds of music I listen to for pleasure and recontextualizing them for productions in the genre of club music.
two.one.five: Why do you think that DJs are so popular right now?
Al-P: DJs never went away, they’ve just been subjugated to subculture until recently. I think a lot of it is that rock and roll is tired; nobody is testing any limits with rock and roll. It’ll be back at some point but right now it’s on a down string and nobody is doing anything about it. Also, the way that consumers are listening to music lends itself to club music and to DJs. Like, you can have songs on your Ipod, go to your friend’s house and play them at a house party. The kind of music that people want to listen to at a party is something danceable and exciting. They don’t want to go to a house party and listen to Coldplay, or something like that.
two.one.five: Does your music have a message?
Al-P: Having a good time all the time. Extreme satiation.
two.one.five: What happens if you’re having a really bad day and you have to play for a ton of horny drunk kids?
Al-P: When you DJ it’s not about you putting on a performance. I’m kind of bummed out when people view us like that. We’re just there to make an amazing party. When we finish playing we want people to leaving thinking “Wow that was an amazing party!” not “Wow that was an amazing performance.” We’re in there in the trenches with these kids getting wasted, having the best time that we can, and providing a soundtrack that will facilitate that. As long as you give people a certain amount of what they expect it affords you a freedom to do something they don’t expect. Which has been our philosophy since we started.
two.one.five: Why should someone go see MSTRKRFT DJ instead of a DJ Djing your music?
Al-P: We’ve played parties where the DJ before us played ten of our songs that we were going to play as well and we get pissed off at them. But, we know that when we go up and play those same songs the way that we play them is so different in the approach and in the layovers that it doesn’t really matter. We’ll kill it with our own tracks even though the crowd just heard the DJ play them right before us.
two.one.five: Any advice for novice DJs and producers?
Al-P: I always tell people to take chances. Nobody is ever going to remember you or recognize what you’re doing unless it’s something different. You got to have some sort of signature, and in order to do that you have to do something a little bit different.
two.one.five: What is MSTRKRFT’s signature?
Al-P: Our signature is taking things are far as we can take them and still getting away with it. It’s how big we can get something to sound. In our DJ sets it’s how many sick layovers can we cram into an hour and half. While we’re playing it’s how many bottles of whiskey can we drink, how many cigarettes can we smoke, and how many people can we fit in the club. We’re a real couple of gluttons; we want everything all at once.
Zero (MSTRKRFT Remix) - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
two.one.five: What happens if you’re having a really bad day and you have to play for a ton of horny drunk kids?
Al-P: When you DJ it’s not about you putting on a performance. I’m kind of bummed out when people view us like that. We’re just there to make an amazing party. When we finish playing we want people to leaving thinking “Wow that was an amazing party!” not “Wow that was an amazing performance.” We’re in there in the trenches with these kids getting wasted, having the best time that we can, and providing a soundtrack that will facilitate that. As long as you give people a certain amount of what they expect it affords you a freedom to do something they don’t expect. Which has been our philosophy since we started.
two.one.five: Why should someone go see MSTRKRFT DJ instead of a DJ Djing your music?
Al-P: We’ve played parties where the DJ before us played ten of our songs that we were going to play as well and we get pissed off at them. But, we know that when we go up and play those same songs the way that we play them is so different in the approach and in the layovers that it doesn’t really matter. We’ll kill it with our own tracks even though the crowd just heard the DJ play them right before us.
two.one.five: Any advice for novice DJs and producers?
Al-P: I always tell people to take chances. Nobody is ever going to remember you or recognize what you’re doing unless it’s something different. You got to have some sort of signature, and in order to do that you have to do something a little bit different.
two.one.five: What is MSTRKRFT’s signature?
Al-P: Our signature is taking things are far as we can take them and still getting away with it. It’s how big we can get something to sound. In our DJ sets it’s how many sick layovers can we cram into an hour and half. While we’re playing it’s how many bottles of whiskey can we drink, how many cigarettes can we smoke, and how many people can we fit in the club. We’re a real couple of gluttons; we want everything all at once.
Zero (MSTRKRFT Remix) - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
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