Drlkt Freddie
Derelict:
–adjective1. left or deserted, as by the owner or guardian; abandoned.2.neglectful of duty; delinquent; negligent.—Synonyms
2. remiss, careless, heedless.
Continued from Parts One and Two. . .
Why “Drlkt Freddie”? Does it have something to do with Zoolander? What’s the deal?
Van: I love Zoolander! But . . .
Jad and Van: Nothing to do with Zoolander. [laughs]
Van: No closed deals going on up in here!
Jad: Nope! [all laugh]
Van: I’ll take on “Freddie.” We were trying to come up with a name, and “Freddie” comes from Freddie Mercury. We are inspired by these classic, glam rock, arena acts musically, conceptually, fashion wise. . . They were beautiful beautiful bands that had beautiful voices and made beautiful music!
Jad: They were so eclectic across the spectrum. I mean, who else, other than Queen, has such a range of performances and songs? They go from rock and roll, blues, and heavy metal to arena rock. Then the performances themselves just rocked arenas around the world. Freddie Mercury was a true showman.
Van: That’s who we aspire to be.
Jad: Also, when Van was a little kid, his family used to call him Freddie.
Van: I don’t know where that came from, though! We couldn’t just stop with Freddie though, because that’s a very polished name. In addition, even though they were kind of underground in terms of style, everyone knows Queen. We needed something to address our underground roots and our upbringing in the clubs where the straights, and the gays, and the trannies were all hanging out and having a great time, all connected with the music and whatever was moving them.
The word “derelict” has a negative connotation, but we flipped the script and made dereliction positive. It’s an underground connection to music that is not widely accepted by the general public, especially in the United States—even in New York City. Europe “gets it” a little more, [and this type of sound is popular in Berlin, Barcelona, London, and other cities.
Jad: It’s also a form of expression. For example, when you go out, what do you want to be? Do you want to be a square, or do you want to be derelict and just let it all out? That’s what dereliction is.
Van: Letting loose and just being yourself.
Jad: Drlkt Freddie. I imagine this [puts on British accent] English bloke walking around London. He’s a dapper chap, but he’s completely derelict. [all laugh]
Van: Being busted, but owning that! Someone we were talking to once said that our music is a little dark and that we needed to lighten it up, but to us, our music is not dark.
I find some of the tracks dark, but in a very good way. It’s like you two can take certain tracks that are a bit lighter and darken them up in a way that makes them a lot more danceable. For example, the Sia remix that you did. I think the darkness that you add really helps the song, to be honest.
Van: I like to say “moody.” We like it moody. If you look at our original songs, even though they may sound a little “harder” than most people’s productions, “Airtight” is about the love of music, going out, being with your friends, and loving the city. “Blood,” which is a very aggressive song, is about passion, sex, and primal desire. “Boys and Girls” is about freedom to be who you are, freedom of expression, and just owning it.
So they’re all positive messages in our songs, even though we started with a more moody, funky, underground nasty vibe. Keep your booty shakin’.
Jad: When I went to Louisiana, and I wanted to hear good dance music, the only places I could go to find it were gay clubs. For me, I really understood from an early age. I remember being like 17 and the drag queens would look at me and say, [rolls eyes to demonstrate], “Ok…you can go in.” I’d be totally underage, but they didn’t care on Bourbon Street! I’d go in and it would be totally derelict! There was a lot of crazy shit going on in there, and here I am, this 17 year old, so it was great. I would hear awesome fresh music and really just…let it out.
It was the same way when I went to university. There was this one club, way out in the middle of nowhere, where we’d go out and they just had amazing music. To me, it’s about the music connection, and “Boys and Girls” really celebrates that. Everybody’s in the club and nothing else matters. It’s all about a celebration of dancing, music, sexuality, and openness.
Van: We like to think it’s sexy too.
I think “Blood” was the first Drlkt Freddie song that I heard, though I am not sure if that’s the first one of the original songs you released. What was the first song you produced and then put out to the public as Drlkt Freddie?
Van: The first song we put out as a group was “Airtight.”
Jad: “Airtight” is instrumental. It’s the gift that keeps on giving!
Van: It’s one of our prettiest songs. It’s got a lot of synths in it and it’s kind of “dreamwave.” It’s based in synths and there’s a great bassline in it. The melody is really accessible. People understand that.
Everything we do is musical and based in the music and the melody. But we are working on some new stuff that involves synthesizers, a lot of prettier, indie, avant-garde rock, basslines, and live guitars. We’re going in a different direction, but we are not going to abandon our roots. We’ll still have some club bangers with vocals spritzed in there. We have a new song, for example, called “Jack,’ that references Chicago and Detroit house (and even Berlin). We’re expanding our horizons and accessing everything.
I would like to discuss your individual projects a bit more now. Is the music you listen to at home, on your iPod, or when you go out different from what you play out or is it pretty much the same at this point for you?
Van: For me, it’s the same. I listen to music that I play out when I am getting ready. So anything that I am playing that night is a set of my favorite songs. That’s what gets me pumped up, and I like to believe that whatever gets me pumped up is what’s going to get the people pumped up.
So I’m in my room dancing and trying on different outfits for at least an hour. And even when I am not going out to a gig, I listen to music multiple times a day—on the train, in my room. I don’t know what I would do—God forbid—if I were deaf. Music is my access to connecting with myself and others. It’s a big part of the love I have for myself, and I really don’t know what I would do without it.
Van, I love that you just summarized one of the key points of Retail DJ! What about for you, Jad? Is your music that you produce and play different from what you listen to outside of working?
Jad: For me, music has been such a deep part of my life since I was a kid. I listen to all sorts of music, and there’s no way that I could listen to only one type of music or certain tracks constantly. I’ll download things from blogs and Beatport, for example, but what I download regularly is eclectic music from all over the world—everything from Afrobeat and deep house to punk and new ska. That’s really what’s on my iPod mostly.
I listen to a lot of drum and bass, ska, punk. It has nothing to do with the music I make, but the thing is the music I make is the distillation of everything I absorb and it comes out in that. It’s sort of a different process. What I play is more of the harder, minimal sounds from Europe and from the West Coast.
Both of you collaborate with plenty of artists. What has been your favorite gig(s) with those other performers?
Van: My favorite gigs that still give me chills are whenever I get to work with someone who really inspires me and whom I admire and pull a lot of influences from. That rocks my world every single time. And even though it’s just another gig for them, it touches me beyond belief.
The first one that really, really got me going was opening up for Switch, who is now a part of Major Lazer. I have been listening to him since he first started. He really defined a movement in England, then Europe and beyond.Now it’s touching the States with Major Lazer. Pre-Major Lazer, I opened up for him in “One Step Beyond” at the Museum of Natural History in 2008. That blew my mind.
Jad: That was an amazing night. Actually, a lot happened that night that really redefined my life.
Van: Yeah, that was really memorable. Switch showed up late, actually, and I spun longer and into his set. He rolled in and was real cool. I danced to his set a little bit, and I was like, “Wow, this is it. I’m doing it!”
The other gig that got me really excited was opening up for Lykke Li, whom I adore. I LOVE her music from front to back. I love her vision. I think she’s really an ingénue in what she’s doing. She’s pushing boundaries, but she’s still accessible. She’s beautiful, and her videos are amazing. I connect with her music.
So I listen to the hard stuff I play out, tech house and whatnot, but I’m on the indie tip. I’m listening to people like Lykke Li, Grizzly Bear, and The XX in the morning, so indie is really where my head is. Lykke Li I saw in concert three times before I played for her. I never thought I’d play for one of her shows.
Jad: This is oldschool, but playing in New Orleans was incredible because there were like 3000 people in this old theatre. Music was booming out of the sound system and the kids were just going crazy. I mean this was a rave. They even tried to shut that gig down using the “crackhouse” law. There’s even a movie made about it. Those parties were just phenomenal. I opened up for Lady Miss Kier, DJ Missile, T-1000, Keoki. This was back the early 2000s, the heyday of raves and electronic music culture. That was all pre-Serato, etc., so gigs involved my trying to keep the turntables steady and playing on vinyl! [laughs]
Thank God it’s gone away. I don’t use vinyl really anymore. I still have turntables, but I use them mainly for listening to other records. But in terms of other memorable gigs, I would add going to Houston to play for the Splash Festival. I opened up for DJ Missile, a big techno act from Chicago. I was actually playing live, and had my MPC-2000, etc. Those times were incredible because those were some of my first big performances. I was really cutting my teeth playing out.
Van: I’ve also gotta give it up to Larry Tee. He gave me my first major break. Not a lot of DJs start off, for their first gigs, opening for over 1000 people in a major club in New York City. I remember the feeling I had before playing for this amount of people. I was SO nervous I thought I was going to lose it! I used to get really nervous—and still do—for certain gigs, but then when it happens, it all comes together and everything works out. That gig led to my playing for Patricia Field, and that really put me on the map, so I’ve gotta give it up to him.
What are the differences in some of the crowds you’ve played (and presently play) for? We are dealing with completely different regions here, but I know you two also play for a variety of different clubs and venues, so what are some of the major variations between groups?
Van: I’ve leaned a lot in DJing in New York City. I’ve learned a lot about people—a lot that I don’t like, and some that I do like (not the people necessarily, but the themes I am getting and what’s really going on). Even this party I played last week at Rebel made me realize something. Why am I playing mostly straight parties? Why do the straight crowds get it, the vogue queens get it, and the people in the underground gay scene get it? They are typically on the most opposite ends of the spectrum. Why is that they get the same music that I play, and why do a lot of the other people not get it?
They want to hear lyrics, pop stuff, vocal stuff—stuff that’s on the radio. And even if I play a remix, they won’t even know it’s a remix because it’s not the original heading. It really bothers me, but I realized that what connects all that I mentioned before is that underground, “derelict” connection. That’s what I’ve noticed when I’d been playing at mostly straight gigs at Tribeca Grand, Studio B (where I was doing a residency), and even Cielo. They are all predominately straight places. But unfortunately, a lot of people don’t understand the deepness of the music.
There’s a big misconception about the gay community. A lot of people that because someone’s gay, he knows what’s up with fashion, they know what’s up with music, and they just generally know what’s up. But the truth is that if you live in New York City, a majority of them now don’t. They don’t know what’s up with music. They want to fit into a mold and be accepted, and they don’t understand the real music that moves people. They want to listen to pop music, and if they don’t hear pop music, they’re leaving the room.
Jad: I have a problem with a lot of the club owners actually. I’ve opened up for various DJs, and one of the things that I found really disconcerting was the attitude the club owners have here in the city. Club owners will take ownership of the music, and they’ll tell you what to play, and thus really ruin it for themselves by mixing crowds that don’t “get it” or by booking parties because they just want to get people in there to drink, even though they won’t necessarily understand the music. Then at that point, you’ll show up with your equipment, etc, you’ll play for the crowd, but the crowd is like, bankers and shit. It makes you wonder what the hell is going on.
You may even be opening up for an electro DJ, and you think, “Ok, I will throw in a little electro, minimal, etc,” but people are very genre snobbish here too. It’s one of the things that you have to be really conscious of as a DJ. People are very into their niche. If you’re not playing the latest whatever, people will filter out of the room. In New York City, you have to either play mashups or radio stuff. That’s what crowds here seem to really understand. One thing I have to give it up to certain crews here, including some record labels, for doing is throwing off the wall parties and really trying to keep the underground scene alive.
What is in the works for you as individual artists and then as Drlkt Freddie?
Van: Right now, I’m set to release a single called “Lay Me Back” with Streetlab. It’s coming out April 20th. It’s based in rap/hip hop and it’s about the music hitting you and laying you back, the bassline knocking you out. It’s a song I really like. I collaborated with them on three songs, and I think all three of them will be released at some point. I also did a song with Ashleigh Luxe. She is doing some shit that’s between Lady Gaga and Ke$ha, but she’s got her own spin on it. She’s really sexy and she sounds great. I’m a feature vocalist on her song called “Glamour Kills.” I’ve been doing live shows with her to promote the song. I did one at Cabanas a couple weeks ago. So yeah, that’s what in the immediate future for myself individually.
Jad: I have several tracks that I am working on for an individual EP for Kinetika. That’s going to be more minimal/deep-tech/house-influenced. I’ve got a couple of songs coming out as part of a collaboration with Jesse O and Jen Luster. We formed a trio. Jesse is a badass R&B vocalist and Jen is a very good, super accomplished DJ. Her production is phenomenal. That’s all I have to say. What she does with Ableton and ProTools is incredible. I’ve been engineering for them also. We’re going to do two separate mixes of Jesse O’s vocal tracks and I am hoping to funnel those to other labels. Also, I have three songs on Deepa Soul’s album that’s coming out.
Also, there’s a guy name Michel Metta. He used to run Crobar and used to be the lead singer for Liquids. He’s an extremely accomplished piano player and vocalist. I’m doing some French chansons, in a way, in the style of Charles Aznavour. No one really does that anymore. He decided to take the chanson, but then take it to the next level musically with electronica. So we’re going to fuse electronica and French folk music. He’s been wanting to release these for a very long time. He’s recording everything right now and we’re going to bring it to the studio, put the electronica on top, and go from there.
Van: We are very excited about what we’ve been working on together. We’re working on a remix of Casey Spooner’s (of the group Fischerspooner) new song, his solo project. It’s called “Faye Dunaway”—beautiful track. When we make a remix of a song, we end up memorizing all the vocals because we listen to it on repeat. And this is in my head!
Jad: I think we listened to it 600 times on loop! [laughs] But what we’ve done to it is take it to the next level.
Van: It’s going to be amazing. It’s going to get blog love and love from all over the world! It’s a certified hit.
Casey is an amazing guy. I should add a little history here, though. I knew of him through the whole electroclash movement. He did the whole Larry Tee, Fischerspooner, Peaches thing in Williamsburg back in the day. I met him randomly in person finally a few months ago here at BEast. It’s so funny—I met him right in this hallway. I was like, “Casey? Van Scott. Know you, love your music.” For his last tour, he would take my first song “Nightlovers” the JFK remix and each his sets with it. He would finish out with “Emerge,” then Lauren Flax would mix in “Nightlovers” so he’d start singing my song, “Make some noise, make some noise, make some nooooooiiiiise!” He would rock out to it.
So when I saw him, I was like, “I’m ‘Nightlovers.’ What are you working on? I want to work with you.” So he said he wanted me to give a “Nightlovers” treatment of his new song “Faye Dunaway” for his side project (though he’s still with Fischerspooner). We’ve worked with Sia, Princess Superstar, Larry Tee—
Jad: –and we did them right!
Van: And now Casey Spooner. He’s someone I really look up to.
Jad: I love him too. He’s awesome.
Van: I really love what he’s doing now. It’s heavy in guitars and really indie—totally different from Fischerspooner, but great. So we’re doing that right now, and next we’ll be doing a remix for The Fire and the Reason. We’re working on an original track for Ashleigh Luxe, and we’re also working on a whole bunch of new original material that goes across the spectrum from club bangers to indie stuff. We have a lot of songs, and we’re deciding which one should be our next single after “Boys and Girls,” which will be released in April 2010 on Kinetika, with remixes by Killer on the Dancefloor, DJ Wool, and Sickboy. That’s going to be a big release for us.
We’re also getting ready for our live performances. We plan on putting on a show. When you go out to see a group, you want to see a show.
Jad: Especially an electronic group.
Van: We don’t want to just be up there standing on the stage with a keyboard and me singing. I don’t want to go too far into detail, but there will be some dancers and there will be costumes.
Jad: We’re going to be dancing!
Van: There’s going to be lighting. It’s going to be really exciting. I am not going to do something unless I feel it.
Jad: We are going to make it interactive with the crowd too. A big part of our songs is vocals. From being in bands and whatnot, you begin to realize what works—like call and response, for example, and leaving space for people to interact if they know the words or whatever. That makes things fun. You can’t just go out there and blast people with music and then, ok, Thank You. You’ve got to include them.
Van: It’s like a one-night stand. You do ‘em and you leave. [laughs] We don’t want our show to be like that. It’s got to be interactive.
Jad: Yeah, it’s all about give and take and the crowd has to be included. People want to feel something. We’ll take them up and take them down. That’s what our music is about. You can’t be static. That’s why “Blood” and “Airtight” have those moments where, whenever we’re sequencing, I can see Van, arms outstretched, singing “Can you feel it? I know you need it!” [all laugh] with lazers shining behind him and people are mesmerized by him. That’s the point when their minds are etched with this picture.
Van: What comes to mind is Michael Jackson’s video for “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough.” I’m no Michael Jackson, but . . .
Jad: I love Michael Jackson. That’s how I learned to dance, straight up!
Van: Speaking of Michael Jackson, one of the remixes we worked on for Sickboy involved some synths that we put in and couldn’t figure out what they sounded like. Then we were like,”Oh, that sounds like ‘Thriller’!”
Jad: Van was like, “We’ve got to finish this track tonight!”
Van: We were on a tight schedule, working on a remix per week.
Jad: We didn’t know what we were going to do. So I pulled up this bass sound, but then we ended up just kind of looking around. We went on YouTube to look at videos. And I said, “You know what this song really needs?” Then I mimicked this beat, but then Van was like, “That’s it! But where is that from?” and we both realized it was “Thriller.”
Van: That was the night before he died. We woke up the next day and we were just floored.
Jad: We saw the newspaper and were in shock.
Van: It was very coincidental, but it felt weird.
Jad: We pulled from that influence.
Van: We named the remix after him, “Drlkt Freddie Thrills ‘Em Remix.”
Jad: I don’t know if people understood that, but . . .
Van: It’s one of our scariest, darkest remixes. It doesn’t sound anything like Michael Jackson! [laughs] But there’s a sound in there, I swear to you, that connects to Michael Jackson.
Jad: He’s definitely another influence. If you could make a pyramid of influences, Michael Jackson would be the foundation, and everything else stacks on top of that.
Van: Absolutely. He’s the man.
- Retail DJ
Tags: drlkt freddie, what's good?, what's good? drlkt freddie
