The folks at Gradient Magazine recently caught up with Luciano, Maayan Nidam and Frivolous to discuss everything from the Greatest Tits EP to the Shelborne in Miami! Here’s an excerpt…
Who are some of your musical influences today? What has their work meant to you?
Wow, that’s such a big question. It’s not like today something influences me, it’s stuff that I used to hear in the past, and I can go back to them. I think right now, musicians that I like to listen to are more independent artists that write songs, make their own music. This is something I was always more attracted to, and I think it shows in my material. People like The Black Keys.
I was listening to your Greatest Tits EP last night on vinyl and hearing “Merry Go Round” sent chills down my spine. What was it like working with Wolf + Lamb on the release?
Well, I’ve known Wolf + Lamb for a very long time, and there was a period where they were sort of wooing me to do something with them. I wasn’t sure at first, but we got to hang more in New York, Berlin, and at Burning Man. Afterward, I was very sure I wanted to have a release with them. It was also great timing because they really broke out and my release was right after that. To be able to do different kinds of music and for it to be accepted immediately is a lot of fun. Also, I’m still doing mixes for them on a regular basis, which is great. For sure [I hope to do more for them] in the future because the music world is definitely going in that direction. Wolf + Lamb opened a big door for everyone. But yeah, it was definitely a privilege.
Where do you see the current scene headed and why?
It’s very obvious that we’re going into an open-minded kind of sound. If you think about house, say 8-9 years ago, it was very focused on one sound – microhouse. You couldn’t hear 909 kicks, you couldn’t hear heavy synths, and you couldn’t hear many vocals. You know, it just went in ways of visiting deep house, going back to Chicago house with a lot of vocals, going to techno, and now opening to disco and just club music and 80s. Everybody just creates something a bit more eclectic, which makes a lot of sense if you think about it.
For the interview in its entirety along with more amazing photographs visit Gradient Magazine!