Future superstars’ in the making without a shadow of a doubt. Signing from your native home’s label True Panther Records in The States to the UK’s festival supremo Rob Da Bank and his ‘Sunday Best’ label in the UK this year. What are the best and worst thing’s about living in your home town in San Francisco and your new home Brooklyn, New York?
“We miss the tacos in San Francisco so much we could cry.”
What is with the name?
“The name is supposed to be light. When we started the music was so conceptual and was filled with so much intense psychic energy that we thought we should have a friendly name. We think it’s cute.”
Who were your early musical influences, what artists were the people that put you on this musical road?
“Prior to this band, we all spent time within the DIY hardcore punk scene and certain elements of that continue to influence us. When we started, we were very into post-punk bands who were influenced by reggae, dance music and world music. A Certain Ratio, Liquid Liquid, PIL and The Talking Heads to name a few. We also were listening to a lot of noisy, improvised music like No Neck Blues Band and Sunburned Hand. We were also getting way into dance music. Dark Chicago Acid House, Grime mixtapes and early Digital Mystikz records. We also used to buy a lot of dancehall 45’s when the new rhythms came out. Dub, Samba, Rai, Salsa and Kaliji all got in there somewhere too as well as classic new age like Tangerine Dream and Ashra.”
What made you want to sign to Sunday Best in the UK?
“They seemed very honest and filled with love.”
Best album ever made?
“The ‘Ghostbusters’ soundtrack.”
What makes a GREAT group?
“A great group never loses inspiration and maintains a sort of chaotic balance between perseverance and total collapse.”
Best festival you have played at in 2009, I dressed up in a Morph suit all weekend at ‘Bestival’, couldn’t see a thing for 48 hours, great festival – was it the best this Summer?
“Ha. We have no idea what a Morph suit is. Is it one of the X-MEN’S? For us performing, ‘Bestival’ was not the best, though I think that it might have been a highlight for the UK in general. We got there just in time to play, sober, un-rested and starving. By the time we got into it, the set was over. ‘Primavera Sound’ in Barcelona was hands down the best fest we’ve ever played. Best location ever and incredible hospitality for artists.”
Where did you all meet?
“Alex and Callan met as kids in their hometown of Half Moon Bay, which is a beach town that tried to abolish homework. They separately met Ben in San Francisco, probably at a party, a bar, or a show, perhaps at the record store he worked at.”
What are the big tunes on the Lemonade Tour bus at the moment?
“We probably shouldn’t reveal this information, but this last trip to POP MONTREAL, we listened to Deep Forest and the Paramore cover of the Kings of Leon twice. When we are not blowing it, we have been enjoying lots of new UK stuff like Brackles, Shortstuff, Pearson Sound, and Joy Orbison. We have also been listening to rough unreleased Deloreanremixes which sound wonderful. ‘Sweetest Taboo’ by Sade is also a favorite, as are new cumbia digital releases from ZZK in Argentina and Bersa Discos in California. One big tune in the van is the MJ Cole track ‘Volcano Riddim’. Alex loves that track.”
Best club in New York right now?
“We would like the best club to be Santos Party House because the bass is deafening and Andrew WK and the entire staff are awesome, but we never really go there cause the booking isn’t the best. The best venues in New York continue to be warehouses, squats and strange loft spaces where people can party like they want to. We played an epic new space in Greenpoint, Brooklyn recently and hope to put on a party there soon.”
Who is the greatest vocalist of all time?
“The guy in Boyz 2 Men with the really really deep voice.”
You can invite 4 people dead or alive to a dinner party, who are they?
“Bill, Ted, Bernie and Bernie Mac. Alive and dead.”
What’s the next sound coming out of the Lemonade studio?
“Weirder rhythms, longer songs, shorter songs, heavier bass, luscious melodies, water sounds, ethereal chanting, pure moods.”
What is the Lemonade ‘guilty pleasure’ record you each have – what tune/artist do you play behind closed doors?
“We all love music that might be considered in poor taste, but there is never any guilt about it. The sooner you get over that, the sooner you can just enjoy the things you like. Like UB40 or Ace of Base. Love them.”
What are the best fancy dress outfits you have ever worn?
“We continue to be entertained by the term “fancy dress”, as we had never heard it until we started coming to the UK. We just say “costume”. One time Ben dressed up as a raver and it was very believable, pacifier and all, that’s kinda fancy dress right?”
Why should we buy your album?
“Because we spent a lot of time making sure it looked nice and sounded good. We also recorded it really quickly so it’s filled with spontaneous energy. “
Craziest thing you have ever seen in New York?
“As impressive as New York is, nothing is as crazy as anything in San Francisco. That city is filled with surprise levels of lunacy. We were pretty excited to see that the hasidic population in Williamsburg have their own ambulances.”
How do you think Obama is doing?
“Proper health care is still out of our reach financially, and that’s a problem. We had a lunatic president for 8 years who worked however he wanted regardless of public opinion… and now Obama is overly concerned with being bi-partisan. We understand what he’s trying to accomplish but it’s pretty frustrating and it’s likely that whatever health care we end up getting, will suck.”
Your self-titled debut album which was released in September was received to great acclaim, it takes in Grime, Dubstep, Dancestep and er, Acid House plus Alex’s Latin and Arab rhythms and Bassist Ben’s low slung, hypnotic bass grooves – talk us through the album, what are the big tunes on the album?
“The songs on the album are quite old for us at this point. It’s exciting because it reflects a lot of learning and discovery on our part. ‘Nasifon’ was the first song we ever sequenced. Everything was improvised live up until that point. ‘Sunchips’ was our first attempt at the sort of punishing bass that we loved in early dubstep. ‘Blissout’ was the first real ecstasy song we made. ‘Big Weekend’ is a big tune because it has the slippery synthline.”
What do you think of the Oasis split?
“I think as Americans, it’s hard for us to grasp how big a deal they are to folks in the UK. That song “Don’t Look Back in Anger” was really heartwarming.”
What is the best gig you have played at?
“Primavera Sound, 2009. The kinda show you just want to take your shoes off and climb into bed and cuddle with.”
Lemonade’s new single ‘Bliss Out’ is out on October 26th on Sunday Best Recordings.
www.myspace.com/bananasandecstasy