TAS Interview: Holy Ghost!

James Murphy and LCD Soundsystem might be saying adieu this week with a series of sold-out shows at Terminal 5 and Madison Square Garden, but playing a handful of blocks away on April 1 and 2 is a fresh, DFA Records duo that Murphy has nurtured and mentored on tour, Holy Ghost!. 

The dynamic, electro-pop team of Nick Millhiser and Alex Frankel, who finally release their much-anticipated, euphoric debut album digitally on April 5 and physically on April 12, have kicked off a North American tour and not only play two sold-out Terminal 5 shows with Cut Copy on Friday and Saturday, but will be, rather poignantly, playing on the same night as LCD Soundsystem's final hurrah on April 2.

When Millhiser chatted with The Alternate Side over email, he admitted that the unfortunate conflict between Holy Ghost!'s gig and LCD Soundsytem's final show was an accident of miscommunication He's confident that their set will end early enough so that they can jump in a taxi, make it to Madison Square Garden and "cry" on the side of the stage with the DFA family.

Vocalist/keyboardist Frankel and drummer Millhiser's melodic, disco-affectionate dance tracks have been making waves in clubs for a while, thanks to singles like "Hold On,"  and deft remixes for Friendly Fires, MGMT, Phoenix and more. The long gestation of their self-titled album has served the duo well and Holy Ghost! is a powerhouse of crafty, 80s-splashed  singles, like the burbling sway of "Do It Again," the sleek "Wait and See" and the sweet groove of "Jamming For Jerry," an homage to their friend, the late drummer Jerry Fuchs of The Juan MacLean, Maserati and !!!.

Even better, download "Wait & See" here. 

TAS:  Is there a New York sound, especially for electronica/dance, that you find discernible in the same way that, say, the UK has a definable Bristol or Manchester sound?  How does Holy Ghost! fit into that equation and what NYC bands/artists excite you?

Nick Millhiser: I think it big part of what defines any current "New York Sound" is the fact that a lot of us - Holy Ghost!, James/LCD, Juan, Midnight Magic, Escort, etc - came to dance music from playing in bands. Obviously, we share a lot of the same reference points as artists from all over and our love of Chic or Bohannon hardly makes us unique. But for us and a lot of the bands I mentioned, the starting point of the project was a group of people sitting in a room together holding instruments as opposed to a single musician sitting in front of the computer.

I'm not knocking the latter method of making dance music as certainly MOST good modern dance music has been made that way, but if I had to find something we all have in common it would be that much of our music is a result of people playing things by hand, often together, which results in something a little rougher around the edges.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVyaQYxO-E4]

TAS: Your debut album captures all of the effusiveness and jubilance that fans have come to expect from your singles and remixes, but what was the main challenge in making a record that felt that it was a cohesive whole? Were there certain tracks, like "Say My Name" or "Static on the Wire" that felt like the heart of the album?

Nick: The biggest challenge was trying to make a larger body of work that felt both varied and, as you said, cohesive. We've spent so much of our time with our previous singles or remixes for other artists thinking about songs as standalone bodies of work but making the LP required a bit more thought. We couldnt just write 10 ten singles.

For example, as proud as I am of "I WIll Come Back" and think it's one of the strongest things we've ever done, having ten "I WIll Come Backs" would make for a pretty boring LP. For some songs we had to turn off the part of us that's always wondering, "Is this going to work on the dance floor?" and, in some cases, tried to write things that were decidedly not "dance" but at the same time still shared a common aesthetic with the things we'd done before. Finding that balance could be difficult, but "Say My Name" was definitely one of songs that felt like a strong middle ground where it wasn't a club song at all, but it still sounded like us.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBhvC79vFA8]

TAS:  "Wait & See" is such a perfect, effusive mix that acknowledges influences in a really refreshing way - there seems to be coy nods to Chaka Kahn and Rufus, maybe even Tears for Fears rippling just under the surface. But the track sounds purely contemporary and very Holy Ghost!.  How do you and Alex compartmentalize your influences so that you write with creative clarity?

Nick: Good ear! Rufus/Chaka Kahn and Tears For Fears are all names that come up regularly when we're working. Often when Alex and I are working we will start with a song we really like or an element of a song we really like and, just as an exercise, try and copy it. Inevitably we fail but in failing come up with something new. Sometimes that's just a good way to get the ball rolling.Perhaps that's the Holy Ghost! sound: trying to sound like our influences but failing miserably in a way that - hopefully - ends up sounding somewhat unique.

"Wait & See" was the last song we wrote for the record and it came together very quickly. I came up with the bubbly sequences and programmed the drums around an iPhone video I had of our late friend Jerry [Fuchs] playing the drums. The drums are just the audio straight out of an iPhone with a LinnDrum kick and snare added on top. The original idea I had was a more kind of meandering, chugging disco thing with really loopy live bass which I played for Alex and he really liked but couldn't think of any vocal ideas for. So we stripped it down to just the drums and the sequences and he came up with a new chord progression on a Juno and wrote around that.

That's a pretty common way songs come together: I'll come up with a basic idea that's maybe more in line with our remixes and then we'll strip them down to it basic, uh, groove (for lack of a word I don't hate) and Alex will come up with a chord progression which makes it easier for him to write to.

TAS:  During the making of this album, what were you both listening to? What figures more prominently - influences of the past or what's caught your fancy in the past month? 

Nick: Hmmm, I mean the record was made over such a long period of time that it would be a pretty tiring to list EVERYTHING we listened to throughout the course of making the record. In the past month I've been listening to a lot of 80s Fleetwood Mac like "Tango in the Night" and "Mirage."

TAS: If you could name your five essential Holy Ghost! albums, what would they be?

Nick: Overall, I would say 5 essential Holy Ghost! references/Influences would be: 1. Talking Heads: Remain In Light 2. Michael Jackson: Thriller 3: Various Artists: The DFA Remixes Volumes 1 & 2,  4: The Roots: Things Fall Apart 5: Gino Soccio: Outline

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfRHLUjkV18]

TAS: Thinking on the tumble of words in "Hold My Breath," one of my favorite tracks on the album, do you think that there's any difference in writing lyrics for a dance song as opposed to other genres?

NIck: I'm not the lyricist in the band, so I can't really speak too specifically about the lyrics, but I think, generally in dance music lyrics are kind of an afterthought and with our record Alex put a lot of thought and care into them. My girlfriend has had the record for a while now and has been listening to it a lot and was just telling me how much she loved the lyrics which was really nice to hear.

I mean, again, I didn't write them but I think Alex's lyrics, or good lyrics in general, are what distinguish a good song from a dispensable novelty. Of course that's not to say there isn't a time and place for lyrics like, "Everybody dance! Doo doo doo doo, clap your hands! Clap your hands!" or "You should dancin'! Yeah!" I love those songs and obviously they've withstood the test of time in spite of being kind of silly. Sometimes dumb is best.

TAS: What do you think makes a great dance track? 

Nick: Oh man, so many things have to come together but I guess the key ingredients are tuff drums and strong production. I mean there's no universal specific thing I can think of but all truly great dance tracks old or new have really great drums and usually really interesting and adventurous production. Like I said, great lyrics aren't necessary but they can help.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB30ZXGdenw&feature=related]

TAS: What track on the new album do you personally feel you both challenged yourself on ... and went to the next level?

Nick: The most challenging song on the record was probably "Jam For Jerry." The music came together first and musically it just felt really happy which made us feel a little uncomfortable. Weirdly, it wasn't until Alex started forming lyrics that it all started to feel right to me. We didn't set out to make it a song about Jerry at all. The instrumental was actually something we started with him in the studio. But we were kind of simultaneously struggling with this kind of weird, unfinished, out of place, upbeat pop song and how how to address Jerry on the record and combining the two kind of solved both problems.

I'm really happy that the song about Jerry is kind of the happiest feeling song on the record and that we weren't tempted to write something really precious, dark or melancholy. I also love that it's called "Jam For Jerry" which may be the dumbest song title ever.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhKxikJymzY]

TAS: A rather broad question, but how do you and Alex work together - an even-handed sharing of ideas? Do you each come up with bits and pieces and create an overall texture to the track? Sharing of lyrics?

Nick: I guess I kind of talked about this before but, yeah, it's a lot of back and forth. And I don't mean to imply that I ALWAYS start the songs. Sometimes Alex starts something and brings it to me and I strip it down and try and make it dumber. Sometimes we start stuff together. But, yeah, it's always a constant process of back and forth, building things up and breaking them down, recording tons and tons of stuff and then stripping it down to what we feel are the strongest elements. At some point the dust clears and there's a song. If we're both happy, it's done.

TAS: Your mentor, James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, is saying farewell with a set of final shows in NYC - the very last one he plays one of the nights you're headlining Terminal 5. What does that decision mean to you and how were you both affected by it? 

Nick: Oh, it's bittersweet for sure. On the one hand I think it's tremendously admirable and even somewhat graceful to bow out like this. They're going out at the top of their game before it gets so big it feels weird and impersonal. For me, purely as fan, it would be strange if LCD was the kind of band that HAD to play venues like MSG when they toured. "The big tent" just isn't their medium I don't think. Likewise, as someone who likes neat packages, I think it's really cool that he's given fans a definitive beginning, middle and end to the band. There's something kind of elegant about it, like The Smiths catalog or something. But unlike The Smiths, he's actually letting fans be part of end and going out with a well planned, good spirited bang.

The only other artist that I can think of that's done anything like this is The Band with "The Last Waltz" which, you know, turned out pretty well. On the other hand, as a fan and friend, of course I will miss seeing them play. They are without a doubt one of my favorite bands ever and, as someone who's seen them play easily near 100 times, knowing that's over is sad. As a live band they are, for my money, the best who ever did it. If you never got to see Pat [Mahoney] play "Movement," James play the timbale solo on "Yeah," Nancy [Whang] rap on "Get Innocuous" or the whole gang lock up for the peaks and valleys of "All My Friends," you f**ked up. But James isn't going anywhere. He's got plenty of tricks up his sleeve and will, without a doubt, continue to record and release frustratingly great music. It won't be the same, but the dude doesn't really fail, does he? 

TAS: What's the best bit of advice Murphy ever passed on to you?

Nick: Best piece of advice? Um, "Hit harder" or, "Run it through a Space Echo."

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwnuRkZqApE]

Holy Ghost! Tour Dates  

03/28 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade*

03/29 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club*

03/30 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club*
03/31 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero* 

04/01 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5* 

04/02 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5*

04/04 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues*

04/05 – Montreal, QC @ Club Soda*

04/07 – Toronto, ON @ Sound Academy*
04/08 – Chicago, IL @ Riviera*
04/09 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue*

04/12 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox Sodo*

04/16 – San Francisco, CA @ The Grand Ballroom*
04/17 – San Francisco, CA @ The Grand Ballroom*
04/18 – Los Angeles, CA @ Echoplex

04/20 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater*
04/21 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s*
04/22 – Austin, TX @ Stubb’s*

04/23 – New Orleans, LA @ Republic*

04/29 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

*opening for Cut Copy