DECK d’ARCY of PHOENIX: To Be Different Sometimes Comes Naturally
An interview by Sarah Kidd.
They are Grammy award winning and they are coming to New Zealand for the first time ever as part of the mouthwatering Auckland City Limits line-up. Formed in the 1990’s in Versailles, France their sound came from a desire found deep within; while labelled as synthpop, new wave and even indie, there is really no other like Phoenix. The culmination of lifetime friendships with a dash of DNA bonds working fully to their advantage in every shape and form.
In 2010 they created one of those precious musical memories that live on for years to come as they teamed up with fellow Frenchmen Daft Punk at Madison Square Gardens, their outstanding performance leaving fans in the wake of waves of exaltation. Now with six studio albums under their belt, including their latest release Ti Amo, a charming and decadent piece of work, they are once again touring the world.
As Deck d’Arcy – both bassist and keyboardist – takes my call he apologizes that it is with a mouth full of sushi…
Have to grab lunch where you can! [laughs]
[laughs] “It’s pretty good actually!”
I must say, we are all very excited that you are going to be joining us in New Zealand soon for Auckland City Limits.
“Yeah actually it’s a big day for us, we have been touring for a long time but we have never played in New Zealand at all. You know there’s not a lot of places we haven’t played yet so that’s very, very exciting for us to come there!”
Well it’s very exciting for your fans as well!
[laughs] “I hope so! For us we are really, really glad to come!”
Now you guys first began as basically a garage band in the 90’s, how do you look back on your journey from where you basically started as high school friends to where you are today?
“Yeah we started very young, like twelve or thirteen years old and we were absolutely convinced that we would do what we are doing now; the thing is that we obviously had no idea what it would take you know to do this, so we weren’t really conscious of what it means. But yeah we were sure that we would do that for our life as a job, it’s not really a job but you know.
I think we didn’t really change the way we make music, we never really improved technically we are still not good musicians so in the terms of the beginning it was more about putting things together, and like more ideas than actually performance. It’s obviously a very different kind of music and each time we make an album, we try to make it sound very different but the attitude and the way we work and do it doesn’t really change that much.”
And that’s interesting in many ways because Phoenix still comprises of the original four members, which is a long time to be working and touring with the same people.
“The thing is we grew up together, we know each other from when we were really young, there are two brothers in the band [Chris Mazzalai & Laurent Brancowitz]. I met Chris when I was six and Thomas when I was ten. So we grew up together listening to the same music, we don’t really know any other thing you know? We never really played with any other band except our French friend Air. But again we played with them altogether as a backing band, we never really had any solo or you know beside Phoenix. Many people are like ‘Wow that is crazy’ but the thing is that’s all we know in a way [laughs] so to us it’s quite normal!”
So basically you’re like family aren’t you? A band of brothers!
“It’s more like brotherhood than friendship in a way. It’s almost embarrassing … but we go on vacation together as well.”
How did you find the music scene in France when you first stepped out?
“Oh, it was catastrophic, they hated us. The thing is we were singing in English and back then it was a big, big problem for record companies because there was nothing in France that was not sung in French by French people; probably for some very basic reasons like radio air play.
But yeah, nobody wanted us, the music we were making you know they were not really interested. We didn’t release our first [single] through a record company we just made it by ourselves, we set up a little label and put out a 7”; and back then 7” was not as cool as it is now, it was kinda annoying to listen to it, nobody had a turntable …
So it kind of created a little … oh you know, people started talking about it. We actually followed the track of Beck, because we read in magazines that Beck did it this way and he was successful with that so we did the same [laughs] it’s funny because we bumped into Beck, ten minutes ago in the radio station … so yeah, that’s a funny thing! So we followed his track and yeah, it worked out pretty ok, because we went the other way, you know like not like being one more tape on top of the A&R desk after all the thousands of bands on the desk so we preferred to try to be noticed by you know the other way.”
That is rather funny that you bumped into Beck, as you will be bumping into him again next week no doubt! [laughs]
“Yeah! Isn’t it! Yeah it’s funny!” [laughs]
That’s actually very cool that you were influenced by what he was doing and now you guys are going to be on the same bill together here in New Zealand.
“Yeah, I mean we have met him before and we played with him before but it’s pretty rare and we are all big fans of him obviously like everyone I guess.” [mutual laughter]
For you personally, who were some of your earliest influences when you were starting out and deciding that you wanted to be in a band; obviously we have established Beck as one of them…
“We started listening to … when we were kids we are listening to what the parents used to have, like the best stuff and a lot of crap stuff as well. And then we started having our own records, you know especially when you are around twelve. So yeah, you know it was My Bloody Valentine, Dinosaur Jr you know those kinds of bands like late 80’s … The Pixies actually, yeah The Pixies were maybe our most biggest influence for wanting to become and play in a band.
So it was that kind of music and then after a while we discovered actually a lot of French music too, but it came later on, when we were kids French music was a ‘wah-wah’ for us because there was nothing good, it was only the Velvet Underground … that’s it. And then later on we discovered that actually Daft Punk are pretty cool and they’re from France as well.
But when you’re fourteen, fifteen years old … well there was no internet back then” [mutual laughter]
So what inspired you to pick up the bass guitar?
“Oh the bass, actually I started piano when I was a young kid with my great-grandma who was a teacher; I’m more a keyboardist than a bass player. But yeah I picked the bass because there was a bass in what we were playing and I preferred it because it can move around you know [laughs] because keyboard you have to stay still behind your keyboard. So I started playing bass because of this … but yeah I play mostly keyboard in the studio and even on stage now I play half and half!”
What can fans expect with your upcoming New Zealand performance? A mix across all six albums or more from your latest release Ti Amo which is brilliant!
“Well thank you. Yeah, yeah probably, it’s going to be a mix, there’s going to be definitely new songs but we gonna play old songs as well. Yeah pretty much from every album, some versions are really new and some are really close to the original versions, it really depends on songs, but we always try to mess around or to mash-up or whatever. But some songs it doesn’t fit with those so we kind of try to play them as close as they are recorded on the album.
So yeah it’s going to be a mix of everything I guess [laughs], you know the set list? We always do the set list five minutes before a show … so I don’t know yet!” [mutual laughter]
Phoenix are one of the amazing headlining artists performing at this years Auckland City Limits festival, on this Saturday, 3rd of March at the stunning Western Springs Park & Stadium in Auckland. Tickets to the festival are still available from the Auckland City Limits Website, but get in quick as you don’t want to miss out!
