It's Not A Fetish

It's midway through a week of SXSW promo in Austin, Texas but Chromeo are on. The Canadian disco-soul duo attack each interview with the verve of new young things trying to win their first wave of media attention. Propped up in the first floor lounge of the Hampton Inn, P-Thugg (Patrick Gemayel) is blinged out and relaxed into a giant sofa chair while Dave 1 (David Macklovitch) sits excitedly on the edge of his matching chair. Both stylish in black, both in love with their new album White Women.

The pair see their fourth album White Women as their most collaborative effort to date – working with Solange and Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig as well as upcoming production duo Oliver.

Having previously worked with Solange as she was reinventing herself as a hipster pop princess, Chromeo refuse to take credit for her newfound coolness. “We didn't help Solange in any way,” says Macklovitch. “She was already killing it – she's the total package.”

But he will take acclaim for another act's sudden hipster cred. “I'll take credit for us and Hall & Oates,” boasts Macklovitch. “And Daryl [Hall] would be the first to say that 'coz we went to war with that band's name. People went 'What! Hall & Oates!' for so long. We went to war.”

One track on White Women in particular seems to cement Chromeo's musical nostalgia, the slow-burning Old 45s. But Macklovitch argues, “This is not us listening to old records but listening to a record like the Drake single – which is the same 100 bpm tempo – and, it's like, this is a great groove, we should do something at that tempo too. It's dancey but in a different way.”

The last song recorded during the White Women sessions – finished the day before mastering began – is a collab with Oliver. Macklovitch continues, “They have the same sort of hip hop/funk/disco culture as we do. They actually wrote that song… And it's got that George Michael thing – kinda '80s rockabilly effect on the voice, the chorus gets real big and the guitar solo is pure Roxette but it sounds modern. My parents like that.”

Ahem, there's that nostalgia thing again. Macklovitch disagrees, “The thing with us is it could be Leo Sayer or it could be Blood Orange. We're not fetishists for old music. Our whole schtick was that we were gonna draw from this whole obscure part of the musical canon that people overlook. Once that's established we're in dialogue with… You know, we'll listen to an Andre 3000 record for inspiration.”

But Macklovitch does admit they are best known for being inspired by an '80s sound, “I think everybody knows that we went to war for this kind of music. When people thought that the '80s began and ended with New Order. And we went to war for the codpiece.”

They are also aware the sound they drew from that inspiration has itself inspired imitators – especially in Australia. “We're aware,” says Gemayel pointedly. “I don't wanna call them imitators,” interrupts Macklovitch. Gemayel adds, “It's the whole point of what we do – to get it out there. The more the merrier – it's great to have a little scene, a little competition.”

In fact, Chromeo believe they owe Australia some kudos for influencing their own sound. Macklovitch is keen to express his love for “dope Australian underground, slept on '80s group Flash & The Pan”. It seems they were put onto the Australian pop duo (made up of iconic Australian musical team and ex-Easybeats, Harry Vanda and George Young) by French electronic producer Philippe Zdar. Macklovitch recalls, “He was like, 'Dude, it's so crazy, you sing like one of my favourite singers in the '80s, Flash & The Pan.' But because of his French accent I could never understand what the group was. It took me four years for me to be in a room with him and YouTube it – 'Flash & The Pan… that's what you were saying!'”

He's hoping they can hook up with Flash & The Pan next time they are in Australia… Which will be when? Well, they're not exactly sure. “What we would like to do in Australia for once is to do a string of hard ticket [headline] shows – it's just very hard financially,” muses Macklovitch. Gemayel adds, “We usually go out there for festivals.” Macklovitch: “But we will probably do that again, it's fun.”

And there is one stop they have to make when back here. “The Palazzo Versace is waiting for us on the Gold Coast,” confesses Macklovitch. “They're waiting for P to return all the stolen pillows…” Gemayel adds, “…And glasses and ashtrays and towels.” Macklovitch laughs, “There's stolen merchandise from the Palazzo Verasce that needs to be returned. So just for that reason we will return.”