They are legends. There is no doubt about it. The Chemical Brothers have seen it all – been through it all. They have touched on musical elements that most entertainers couldn’t hope to experience in a lifetime, let alone create. Visionaries, pioneers and generally an amazing duo, Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons are the encapsulation of everything that is exciting about modern electronic music. No less, few tag-team duos can lay claim to having the sort of commercial success that has been afforded to these two: Chemical Tom and Chemical Ed! Their story is one of constant reinvention and evolution; this coupled with their ability to stay at the forefront of an ever changing electronic music landscape has seen their music move people of every age, race, religion and creed from Bangalore to Ginza.
Ed recounts: “We met at university in the late 1980s and we started on the DJ circuit together. Our first record came out in 1995 and ever since I think we’ve had a really great creative partnership and a good friendship as well. Six albums and at least five round world trips later we’re still going strong really – I think that is the fundamental part of why we still enjoy what we do. We enjoy each other’s company and we enjoy making music together. We’ve been through a lot, experienced many different stages in our careers. There were hard times, times where we lived in each other’s pockets, but when we get together in the studio it’s always like old times. For us, it’s really a case of getting down and getting the job done. If you don’t do that, no matter what you do, it’s not going to be easy.”
Yet Ed claims they feel little in the way of pressure to continue to perform. They are justly considered some of electronic music’s greatest ambassadors and they feel they have a direct relationship between the people that buy their music and come to their shows. He puts it in most humble terms: “we don’t see ourselves as a vanguard of electronic music; it’s difficult but in particular we make sure we don’t make music for the sake of it. Both of us are pretty stern critics of what we do and if we both decide that there’s something good enough to give the world, we will! We’re as keen as ever to make sure our albums and shows are as exciting and fresh as possible but it’s all part of the same thing; there’s no point doing things half heartedly; in fact that’s been at the core of what sort of people we are.”
Indeed, their album from last year We Are the Night is what they consider to be their best work. “Whenever you put something out, you have to think it’s the best one; when we did Push the Button it reignited our zest and connected with a lot of people. The Galvanize single was exciting, and we sat down at the end after having drifted for a while and took it all in. It was the same with this project – we didn’t have a big conversation about it really. Key pieces of music just emerged and we built around the 20 ideas that we had on the go. We think the record is a bit looser and psychedelic where Push the Button was a bit like reality. It was a bit political and brittle where this is more rounded. It’s got some club tracks on it with a juxtaposition between that and making ideas work together. We want to fly the flag for music that flows for an hour, and once we commit something to CD I think it means we’re happy with it.”
Likewise, the latest album is just an addition to an already extraordinarily long and varied collection of LPs, EPs, artist albums, compilations, edits, remixes and exclusives. Whether it is quirky vocals, twisted instruments, filtered synthesizers or emotional attachments, the boys never fail to give their music that undeniable Chemical Brothers touch. And with dance music moving and evolving as fast as it has, the fact that they’ve been able to keep up with the current crop is a miracle in itself.
“Music is a funny business. You can never please everyone. There will always be someone who wants the same old, but you have to expand, move ahead, look forward, you know!” And it’s true; the people who got down to Block Rockin’ Beats might not have got into something they did just a year or two later. But as he says, you can’t please all of the people, all of the time. “Whenever we do something new, we obviously think long and hard about it. For the future too, we’ve definitely sat down and thought about doing another album but we both want to do something with our lives for a while and be less tied down. At the moment we’re very much embedded in the tour and we’re still enjoying each other’s creative dynamic quite a lot. There’s much more to explore and at present when we’re not on tour, we’re relaxing, maybe doing some production work. I’ve even done some DJ gigs here and there.”
And it’s a tour that is certainly eagerly awaited by many in Australia. We’ve seen the spectacle that is the Chemical Brothers live on several other occasions, which included two headline tours with the Big Day Out, but on this occasion they’ll be traveling with the Future Music Festival and they’ll be bringing with them a considerably amped-up version of their stage show that was debuted at Glastonbury in 2007. Yep, you can safely expect it to be pretty damn amazing. “We’ve kind of updated how we present ourselves on stage. We have a lot of analog keyboards up there but also a lot of technology as well. We play the same songs but differently every night and we try to create an exciting environment so that the music can be shared. It’s the only way to do it I think. When you’ve got a big crowd of people swept up in the moment we make sure the sound is pristine and the visuals are all crystal clear. There should be a sense of occasion; otherwise it’s a CD being listened to at home. There will be a few old numbers there but mainly it’s the new records. There is the temptation to rest on the old hits and get away with it but we’re very keen to present our new material because we really like it. We hope the fans will to!”
The Chemical Brothers will be blowing up at the following shows around the country…
Mar 1 – Future Music Festival, Brisbane
Mar 2 – Future Music Festival, Perth
Mar 5 – Vodafone Arena, Melbourne
Mar 7 – Entertainment Centre, Sydney
Mar 8 – Future Music Festival, Sydney
Mar 9 – Future Music Festival, Melbourne
Mar 10 – Future Music Festival, Adelaide
And for just one more time, here’s that amazing clip taken from Glastonbury last year of the Chemical Brothers performing their hit Do It Again...
locky says...
J-radical says...
That gig was off the hook, constant rain and mud but amazing!
Stephanie1987 says...
Wooo yeah!... Chem bros on the Friday night and Saturday at Future! Going to be a great w/e ! :)
tyson88 says...
massive flare
locky says...
I relise i'll get panned for this but fark it...The brothers are the beatles of electronica.
misscientist says...
...can I just say how GODDAMN excited I am about this Saturday!! Bring on Future in Brisvegas ;)
matzta73 says...
matzta73 says...
Would anyone like to buy 2 x Chemical Brothers Tix for next Friday 7th March 08 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. The seats are situated in Section 5, Seat DD9
techsta_girl says...
oh my god. So excited! Flying to Melbourne to see them at Vodafone on Wednesday night and then back to Adelaide for them at Future Musical Festival. I CAN'T CONTAIN MYSELF!!!
matzta73 says...
I have 2 x Chemical Brothers for sale this Friday at the Sydney Entertainment Tix for sale. Section 5, Seat DD9, DD10. $80 each. Ph: 0431932822