Recently in Australia, playing shows around the country with Cut Copy on their sold out ‘In Ghost Colours’ tour, DFA signings the Juan MacLean took time out of their schedule for an in-store appearance at Spank Records in Sydney. We managed to get a recording of the set, and you can hear in on ITM exclusively!
Prior to becoming one of the most significant acts on the DFA label, John Maclean was a member of Sub Pop band Six Finger Satellite. Initially, Six Finger Satellite fit in with the remainder of the Sub Pop roster, but after one EP, they took a sharp turn into herky-jerky post-punk that was inspired by Devo, Big Black, and Suicide instead of Black Sabbath, the Stooges, and Led Zeppelin. By the time they went to record their final album, 1998’s Law of Ruins, Krautrock began to play a major role, and so did James Murphy, who produced, engineered, and mixed the sessions, in addition to running the band’s live sound. When the band broke up, Maclean’s aggravated emotional state and long-term drug addiction took him low enough to provoke a move from New York to New Hampshire and a drastic change in lifestyle. Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy, who were getting the DFA label off the ground, provoked Maclean to become interested in making music again.
