When Canadian thrash/punk group Death from Above 1979 disintegrated and split several years ago, you could hardly have suspected that member Jesse F. Keeler would go onto become an electronic music pioneer. But, paired with Alex Puodziukas, there’s no doubt the dance music duo of MSTRKRFT have contributed to the onslaught of electronic domination worldwide.
“It’s not so much about rock being finished,” Jesse clarifies. “I just don’t think we’re going to be making music with guitars forever. No one is like, wow, I want to make some music, I’ve got to get a harp. Instruments evolve, and it’s just a natural progression really. I think what we’re seeing now is the same kind of emotion and feelings coming out on music from the computer, it seems to be the most logical and that’s why is happening.”
At the time, abandoning a revolutionary punk band who had earned international respect, in favour of an unknown electronic production duo, may have seemed risky. Then again, the boys from MSTRKRFT have never been averse to taking a gamble and doing things differently, from remixing club anthems like Justice’s D.A.N.C.E. through to mainstream pop acts like Jesse McCartney and Kylie Minogue. But the boys reckon there’s more to success than just indiscriminately picking up every remix that’s thrown their way.
“We look for songs with good vocals,” Jesse explains. “If we don’t have vocals which can become a club anthem, then we don’t do it. We just did a remix for Usher, and I didn’t like the song, but I liked the singing so we could do it. But we recently worked with John Legend, and it was so hard, and we spent so long on making the remix something worth listening to, because the original was so well made. But we made it into a monster, and it’s all because of the vocals.”
But while MSTRKRFT may have become one of the most in-demand choices for high-profile remixes, there’s been a fair few dodgy requests that they’ve been forced to turn down. As Jesse tells ITM, “Sometimes people [including AFI and the All American Rejects ask us for remixes and we listen and we’re like, what the hell are we supposed to do with that? Why is this person even asking for a remix?”
That’s right, MSTRKRFT definitely aren’t exactly aiming for universal popularity at any cost; these masked noise makers are definitely interested in preserving their musical integrity. They received acclaim from every music blog around the world for their first debut record The Looks, and now they’re looking towards the future. The follow-up “is going to be very, very different from The Looks,” Jesse asserts. It’ll be a remix-free affair with 100 percent new material, and we can expect it in October. “We’ve taken a lot of time to do this record, it sounds different, because we are actually trying to make a record that plays more like the music we listen to in our spare time, that’s not dance music, and allowing that to influence us to the maximum.”
It wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that MSTRKRFT would have been influenced by some of the groups they’ve lent their laptop to, from indie rockers like Bloc Party to house legend Armand van Helden. But Jesse cites his hometown Toronto, and its proximity to the musical powerhouse that is Detroit, as the strongest influences on the group at the moment. “We don’t really listen to the kind of music people assume we might listen to. We listen to rap music,” Jesse put us straight. “Early rap music was invented in my lifetime… and I was a kid in that phase [in the early 80s] and I was like ‘Oh my god, this is the greatest thing ever!’”
This affinity with rap and hip hop is common for the new wave of electro stars like MSTRKRFT, along with Justice and the rest of their Ed Banger Records cohorts; but Jesse insists this coupling is not as unexpected as you may think. “A lot of people in America have never heard American dance music, and they don’t realise that all the old rap music was originally dance,” he affirms. “R’n’B was originally electro production. Originally, black music in Atlanta was electro, everything was disco and funk, which is more akin to dance to what they have these days.”
And this is coming from someone who, once again along with the France’s Ed Banger crew, have been credited for finally getting North Americans into electronic music. “I think that’s kind of hilarious, since electro music was born in America,” Jesses laughs. “Electro started coming from New York, that’s all American music, but this generation of Americans have grown up listening to European dance music… Americans have a really short memory about their music. They are more interested in what’s happening next than what has already happened.”
However, it aint no crime to have a healthy interest in what’s going on at the moment. Over the next few weeks you’ll get the chance to have a listen when MSTRKRFT return to Australia for another tour, and we’re told we’ll get to preview some final cuts off the upcoming album, as well as some ultra-exclusive remixes. With their relentless brand of dancefloor noise, and their special golden pairs of Pumas to match their threatening gold hockey masks, these revolutionary mixmasters are sure to continue their aggressive push to take nasty electro noise into the mainstream.
Catch MSTRKRFT when they return to Australia…
Fri 1st August – Boomtick present MSTRKRFT, Ambar, Perth
Sat 2nd August – Splendour In The Grass, Byron Bay
Sat 2nd August – Killer featuring MSTRKRFT with Ajax, The Arena, Brisbane
Fri 8th August – Killer featuring MSTRKRFT, Prince Bandroom, Melbourne
Sat 9th August – Killer featuring MSTRKRFT, The Metro, Sydney
And have a look at the ultra-funky disco/electro clip for Street Justice…
Mikey 684 says...
Can't wait for the melbourne show!!