ATH Interviews: Chromeo

A couple days ago, we had the great opportunity to speak with the Montreal electronic duo known as Chromeo.  Our interview was set up to preview the group’s upcoming show they have going down at Stubbs on August 24th.  After the jump you can read the full ATH interview with group member P-Thugg and get his thoughts on Chromeo’s European tour, what to expect from their new album, and what he looks forward to in Austin.  Follow the jump for full interview.

ATH: Ok so let’s go on and get this one out of the way… You’re new album Business Casual is hitting stores in early fall.  What can your fans expect?

P-Thugg: Overall better production and a lot more attention to detail as far as writing and structure. I pushed Dave on his vocals, to do more harmony and working on his voice a little bit more. More work put into chords, chord progressions. Basically, a lot of songs were written just with piano and vocals. If a song holds itself well with piano and vocals, there’s a good chance that it’s gonna work.

ATH: You do a lot of re-mixes and collaborations in your line of work.  Do you have any recent projects you’re working on or in mind for the future?

P-Thugg: We don’t do many remixes or collaborations, we mostly get a lot of remixes just because our music is different than anything that’s being done right now. If people get a kick out of making a dance version or something a DJ can play at a club, I think it’s because it’s different than what they do. Most of the time they remix stuff that’s already kind of what they do, like an alternate version, but we’re giving them a lot of tracks to play with. We do little collaboration; we will do it if it happens organically, if we know the person, maybe one to two remix/collaborations per year.

ATH: What would be a dream re-mix or collaboration for you?  Who would you kill to work with?

P-Thugg: It’s hard to say. We recently got to work with Daryl Hall at Bonnaroo; that was an amazing experience. As far as collaborating and making sound, I’d love to work with Rick James, Roger Troutman, Stevie Wonder, but I’m not sure if making a sound together would be a good idea…it would be more about picking their brains.

ATH: How did the Daryl Hall performance come about?

P-Thugg: I don’t really know exactly what happened, but his nephew knows about us and may have told Daryl Hall, and also we talk about them so much in interviews. I guess he came across our music and invited us to do the show. The show got good comments and ratings and was a lot of fun.

ATH: Hall & Oates seems to be on everybody’s “guilty pleasures” list.  What are a few you’ve got lurking around that you hope no one ever finds out about?

P-Thugg: Cheesy French music, because I grew up with it in Montreal and listened to it on the radio going to school every morning. Technically it’s cheesy, but it’s so good.

ATH: You just finished a big European festival tour this summer and are back touring the U.S.  Do you think you’ve grown a big following in Europe?  Any country or date of that jaunt stick out in your mind?

P-Thugg: Surprisingly I think we did. A month ago we didn’t expect too much going there, but we were pleasantly surprised I must say. We didn’t expect the presence and draw we got in Europe. I think people had forgotten about us over there because we were concentrating on America and Australia; we grew in Europe without even really knowing and without being that present. Serbia is buried in my head forever.

ATH: What happened over there?

P-Thugg: Just say the name “Serbia” and you can imagine many things, they’re probably all true. A lot of weird stuff over there. The crowds were amazing. The shows in Serbia were the most amazing shows we’ve done in the last year; it was a great surprise.

ATH: You were also in Spain right around the time of the World Cup Finals… Was the country in a total frenzy?  Did you join in?

P-Thugg: We watched the finals in the street on a big screen and we were right in the middle of it; it was crazy. The insanity that took place was 1/10 of what happens when their local team wins.

ATH: We’ve seen you in Austin before and are looking forward to your return.  Anything you look forward to when you stop in Austin..or Texas?

P-Thugg: I can’t wait to have Stubb’s BBQ.

Thanks again for making the time to speak with us P-Thugg.  We’re looking forward to seeing you guys in Austin.

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