Since Phoenix’s first record, United, the band has not been afraid to mix different styles and influences of pop whether it be Michael Jackson circa Off The Wall or 10cc, which wasn’t very popular at the time in indie music. I think you helped open the doors to the open-mined atmosphere that exists today. What are your thoughts on this?
Thank you, that’s a compliment. It’s true when we did United there were worlds between every genre. There were rules in indie music like you could not use a saxophone, you know? We were forbidden, but we knew it was possible to do something cool with the saxophone. Before it was impossible to have a saxophone, so for us it was more subversive to do this.
What music was the band listening to during the recording of the new record?
We were listening to, how do you say, minimalist? Steve Reich (composer), Lou Reed and French music like Serge Gainsbourg. And Dan Deacon, my brother loves his music. And Sebastian Tellier, he’s a very good French artist.
You played SNL a month ago. How was that experience for you as a band?
It was crazy, it was very crazy. It was when we got there that we realized how huge it was to play it. We are like kids from a different planet right in the middle of the American entertainment. It was very exciting.
I have never heard a band sound that amazing live. It sounded better than the recording. Does the band always sound this good live?
We have special tricks in terms of technology in terms of our live sound. We worked a lot to have the definition of the live sound we have now.
