James Murphy - Dafter Party, Chicago, Aug. 2007
Photo credit: Shadow Scene

Last I saw James Murphy was over the summer in Chicago. He was thoroughly enjoying himself at the Ed Banger and Throne Of Blood “Dafter Party” following LCD’s Lollapalloza performance. Between launching DFA Abroad, the bands heavy tour schedule in support of “Sound Of Silver”, and a DJ mix recently released on Fabric, its surprising he gets any downtime these days. I had a chance to catch up with him via phone on a rainy day in Brooklyn this past October. We chatted about his dog, Radiohead, Kraftwerk, mixers, and “acting on the phone”. Thought I would have a little fun and try something a little different with the interview, and set it to a soundtrack. I chose selections from his Fabriclive 36 mix, compiled with band mate Pat Mahoney. The tracks I selected contain a bit of contextual inference to the segment that follows, some obvious, some not so much. So, click, listen, and read on.

Still Going - Still Going Theme

TM: Hi there, James.

JM: Hello.

TM: It’s been a minute since we spoke last, wait, hold on, let me get this recorder on, I don’t want to miss any of this.

JM: I know, I’ve already said such great things, like, hello.

TM: Yes, right, maybe we should start over . . . Ok, here we go! So how are you, what are you up to?

JM: I’m good, I’m waking up, having my morning coffee, looking at my dog.

TM: Home in Brooklyn . . .

JM: Oh my god yes, I am home in Brooklyn.

TM: It doesn’t look like its going to be a very nice day today, weather is not pleasant

JM: Oh, it’s such a beautiful day . . . I’m home, it’s the most beautiful day I’ve seen in my life!

TM: So what do you think of this Radiohead thing?
Cowboys & Gangsters - Gichy Dan

JM: I don’t know enough about it, I haven’t been paying a ton of attention, but I like when they do something strange, I think it’s kind of amazing.

TM: People are saying this is a big fuck you to major labels, and a big step toward where the music industry is heading, what do you think?

JM: Defiantly no. I think it’s a big step, it’s a really interesting move, and it’s really wonderful, but it’s also so much more about what a giant cult band Radiohead is, rather than what the industry is going to do. No one else can do something like this really, you’ve got like – Radiohead, and the Grateful Dead. And those guys have some actual dead people in the band. I mean, I think it’s really awesome, but I don’t think it’s necessarily what people think it is, it doesn’t suddenly just change the model.

Pat Mahoney and James Murphy
Photo Credit: Fabric London

TM: I’m really into this Fabriclive36 mix you did with Pat, it’s got that Danny Wang track on it that I just love.
Daniel Wang - Like Some Dream (I Can’t Stop Dreaming)

JM: Yes! Which I want to point out . . . I did this mix, as well as an unreleased mix, about 3 years ago for a radio show at home, and it was on there as well, I’ve been haunting that track for a long time, I love that track, it’s the only time I’ve ever doubled up a track on a mix.

TM: Way to land a mix on the Fabric series, how did it come together?

JM: I’m not even really sure? Pat and I DJ’d there awhile back, I had a pretty amazing time. I don’t really know how it entirely came about? I think I was asked a long time ago to do one, and I kind of hate doing them, even though I like them. The process of doing them, I find very painful. Because you’re doing this thing that’s supposed to involve “somebody” . . . like a room full of people! It becomes completely arbitrary.

TM: Yeah, you have to fake it

JM: Yeah, I often refer to it like “acting on the phone” it just feels really awkward and empty. I’ve done dj mixes in the studio before, but this one was a different process, I found it more pleasant, I just got into my house and mixed a bunch of really long mixes, rather than worry about how long the mix was supposed to be, and picked what sections we liked the best, and made the mixes happen a little quicker, and did another mix that was short enough to fit in.

TM: I heard you used a Bozak mixer, where did you get the idea to go that route?
Punkin’ Machine - I Need You Tonight

JM: Well, I like rotary mixers, I like mixers that sound really good. I don’t use a cross fader, I don’t do that much eq’ing really. The Bozak is just a beautiful machine, I found one in NY, for a good deal, so it seemed like the thing to do. I was kind of curious to see if it would sound much better. I have the Rane 2016 Rotary Mixer, I was stunned at how much better it sounded than my other linear mixer. Then I heard the Bozak and that was much better than the Rane. So it’s been kind of like, up, up, up. I’m designing a mixer with a friend, hopefully soon.

TM: So what are you doing with the Bozak now? I imagine it’s one of those things you put under a glass case?

JM: No, no, not at all, I’m looking at it right now, it’s at my house, I’m sitting at my desk, I’ve got my turntables, the Bozak, and isolators.

TM: Are all your friends coming over to play with it?

JM: No, it just looks like a couple of knobs, it’s a pretty un-glamorous piece of gear in a lot of ways, it’s very unassuming.

TM: Right, not very sexy looking, but very sexy sounding, and that’s all that matters

JM: Exactly. Plus, my DJ nerd friends are not that heavy that they’re coming over asking (in a DJ nerd voice) “Can I look at the Bozak”.

TM: Have you seen the Reactable? I’m obsessed with it.

JM: Yeah, yeah, I’d love to play with it. I love to play with toys and instruments. I think, like most technology, I would rather try to use it to make a pretty traditional sound first.
I think that’s the way the way you find out what a machine is all about. Sometimes you get into a machine like that (Reactable), and you’re like, that is what it naturally does, it goes “wuh, wuh,” and then you get driven around by the machine and it’s needs.
I prefer to try and wrangle machines into doing kind of simple things, that’s what Kraftwerk is about, you listen to Kraftwerk records and you realize that its all these simple things, it not presets. They are calling up presets on a synthesizer and making them happen . . . it’s a lot of work to make all these simple things happen.

TM: Is it ever possible for the US to have a dance music institution like Fabric?
Life Is Something Special - NYC Peech Boys

JM: We have some solid music institutions here in the U.S., they’re just different, we still have the loft party. It’s just a different kind of thing than a Fabric. The music is just so segregated over here to have that kind of thing.

TM: It’s a cultural thing.

JM: Yeah, dance music in America, in the popular sense is really seperated out, it’s not integrated into other parts of music or peoples lives as much. In New York you have tons of amazing things that fade away as time goes on. Like Paradise Garage. But eventually it would close because of laws and things like that. However, I wouldn’t be anywhere else but New York.

TM: So what are you listening to right now?

JM: Oh my gosh, NOTHING. I’m home, I don’t want to hear anything! My ears are fried. The other day I very quietly put on Credence Clearwater Revival.

TM: Thanks James, we’ll catch you on the road soon.

###

And on that note, while not on the Fabriclive 36 mix comp, I felt it quite appropriate to end with the following . . .

Travelin’ Band - Credence Clearwater Revival

LCD Soundsystem Fall 2007 Gigs

10-20 Dublin, Ireland - Tripod
10-21 Manchester, UK - Academy (was Apollo, tix remain valid)
10-22 Glasgow, UK - Barrowlands
10-23 London, UK - Brixton Acadamy
11-03 Toronto, ON - Cirque Sublime (james murphy DJ gig)
11-10 Creamfields - Buenos Aires, Argentna
11-13 Via Funchal - Sao Paulo, Brazil
11-14 Bela Horizonte - Electronika Festival, Brazil
11-16 Circo Voador - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
11-17 Marina Hall - Brasillia, Brazil
12-01 Corona Music Festival - Azteca Stadium, Mexico City
12-08 Zoukout Festival - Siloso Beach, Singapore

FABRICLIVE 36 - Mixed by James Murphy & Pat Mahoney is available now

01. Peter Gordon and Love Of Life Orchestra - Beginning of The Heartbreak - Lust/Unlust
02. Baby Oliver - Primetime (Uptown Express) - Environ
03. Donald Byrd and 125th St, NYC - Love Has Come Around - Elektra
04. Instant Funk - I Got My Mind Made Up - Salsoul
05 Chic - I Feel Your Love Comin’ On - Atlantic
06. Was (Not Was) - Tell Me That I’m Dreaming - ZE
07. GQ - Lies - GQ
08. Mudd - Adventures In Bickett Wood (Layne’s Head Stash Re-roll) - Rong
09. Elektrik Dred - Butter Up (Gimme Some Bread) - Sounds Of Florida
10. Lenny Williams - You Got Me Running - Geffen
11. Daniel Wang - Like Some Dream (I Can’t Stop Dreaming) - Daniel Wang
12. Gichy Dan - Cowboys and Gangsters - ZE
13. Still Going - Still Going Theme - DFA
14. City Of Women - Tablakone - Sähkö
15. Babytalk - Keep On Move - Stickydisc
16. Love Committee - Just As Long As I’ve Got You - Salsoul
17. Mouzon’s Electric Band - Everybody Get Down - Mouzon
18. Punkin’ Machine - I Need You Tonight - JC Records
19. LCD Soundsystem - Hippie Priest Bum-out - DFA/EMI
20. Junior Bryon - Dance To The Music (Dub) - Vanguard
21. JT - I Love Music - Vanguard
22. Jackson Jones - I Feel Good Put Your Pants On - Jackson Jones
23. NYC Peech Boys - Life Is Something Special - Island Def Jam
24. Peter Gordon and Love Of Life Orchestra - Don’t Don’t - Lust/Unlust