“You know the iPod has been great. He shows up for practice, doesn’t drink too much. He’s actually the most consistent member of the band,” Roake said.
Sex on the Run recently joined me for an interview to chat about new developments, including the recruitment of Travis Adamrac who replaced the iPod. We’re not sure whether he too stays in line.
CW: The band has had quite a few line-up changes. How did everyone get involved?
Chris Buck: I ran into Tom all the time out at Broken Record and Trapp Door and he found out I had played the drums.
Rob Roake: Tom said the band played something called “electro,” which I had never heard of before, but I was certain it was much better than panhandling. It turns out the two are actually quite similar.
CW: Who are your musical influences?
TB: That’s what’s funny, our main influences—we probably don’t sound like them. Does it Offend You, Yeah?, Justice, beats from M.I.A. and a lot of French electro.
RR: My favorite band of all time is Soul Coughing. M. Doughty is the funkiest white dude on the planet. I also get a chubby whenever I listen to Hendrix, The Pixies, and Beck.
CW: Some people dubbed hip-hop as a fad in the early ’80s and the same is being said about electro now. Will it stick? What do you think sparked it?
TB: I think people are finding out how fun it is to dance again. The last big trend was the emo/scream/hardcore stuff. Everyone tried to sound so serious all the time, so it’s really fun to do these songs that sometimes don’t mean anything at all, other than: dance.
CB: Well if hip-hop was just a fad, then I must be out of the loop because I love it. As far as electro goes, there is so much intensity and feeling in the music. Whether you hear it at a concert or at the club or in your car, you can’t help but want to just move. It’s definitely a fun style of music to play and I think it will stick around. And what sparked it? I don’t really know. I always liked drum n’ bass and break beats in my late teens and electro has a lot of similarities to me. Maybe an off-shoot from dance music? Just some guys that wanted to do it more indie-like I guess.
RR: I think that is total bullshit. I mean, these are probably the same assholes that said that disco wouldn’t last, and we all know how that panned out, right? For real serious though; electro is disco with fake breasts.
CW: Describe a typical Sex on the Run live performance.
TB: We usually play short sets. We’re not one of those bands that talks a lot. We try to make it all flow together, kind of like a DJ. People rushed the stage at our first show and we try to encourage that behavior. We like to meet everyone. We try to buy drinks for people and have a good time. A lot of dancing and a lot of loud, loud electronic sounds.
RR: My general philosophy about playing concerts is that a performer should leave every ounce of energy they bring with them (and artificially imbibe) on the stage. The way this generally translates to a Sex on the Run gig is a lot of sweat and blood. I mean, damn, we play dance music, not that shoe gazer shit. If we want our audience to shake their booty, we damn well better be shaking ours on stage.
SEX ON THE RUN
Trapp Door, 615 W. 100 South, Thursday Dec. 18, 9 p.m.
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