Fresh from the stage of the FYF Fest in LA, Michael David of Classixx took the time to chat with Larry about the duo’s new record, meat pies and their upcoming trip to Australia as part of the Listen Out parties.
How’re you going, Michael?
Good, how are you?
Very well! Whereabouts are you at the moment?
I am at a studio in Venice Beach, California.
So I know you played at FYF Fest in LA over the weekend. How was that?
It was epic. We had an amazing time, and it’s our home town, so all of our friends were there. It was a pretty special moment.
It’s been such a big year for you guys, finally getting your full length record out there. How has that changed things for you?
It’s strange. I feel like the purpose of putting out a full-length record was sort of a mission statement for us. It gives people a pretty good understanding of what we’re about, and what we’re trying to achieve, and our musical sensibilities. So it’s been important for us in those ways, for sure.
What’s next for you, then? You’ve finally got that out, but I imagine that you haven’t stopped working on new remixes, and new material, since then.
Yeah, we’ve been doing some remixing. Mostly a lot of touring. We’ve toured the states, now we’re going to come to Australia near the end of September, and then we’re going to tour the states again for two months.
You’ll be down under for the Listen Out Festival, and there’s some great names on the bill. They’re trying to promote it as less of a festival and more of a party, and I’m sure that fits well for you guys.
Yeah! I think it’s a great concept. It’s going to be a very large party, and we’re very happy to be a part of it. [Laughs] The line-up is very impressive, and well-curated, so it’s a privilege for us.
How long has it been since you guys were last here? I feel like it was just at the beginning of the year.
You know, I think you’re right. I couldn’t tell you exactly, but I think it was the beginning of 2013.
And it’s almost September already, which is ridiculous.
Crazy to think about.
What were your experiences out here like, on that trip? I know you played the Future Classic Party during the Sydney Festival.
Yeah. It was pretty quick. We did some gigs in Sydney, but we mostly hung out with friends. And ate well, and really enjoyed the city.
What do you eat when you come to Australia? Is there anything you look forward to?
Yeah, I love meat pies. [Laughs] And that’s not very popular in the states. I also really like Bourke Street Bakery, which I went to a lot. For the meat pies.
Well it looks like you’ll have a little bit of time off while you’re down here — hopefully enough to fit in a few pies.
I hope!
Do you get much time off when you’re touring in the states?
Between when we land and when we play, there’s always downtime, so we get our fair share of time to enjoy the city. But we like to be home, so if it’s just a 3-4 hour flight home, we do that.
What’s the hardest thing about being on the road?
Leaving the cats, and mundane things like that. Also, sleep is a thing that gets pretty squeezed in, because of all the jumping between time-zones. And then you get sick very easily because of your immune system depleting. And also customs lines at the airport are the bane of my existence.
Well, the hardest place to get into is America, so at least you can skip that part.
Yeah, that makes it easier for us. Australia’s not too tough. But getting into Canada is pretty serious.
I understand that Canada and the UK are two places that get can pretty tricky sometimes.
For sure.
Are you going to get back over to the UK, and Europe in the next few months?
We were there recently, so we’ll probably hit the UK again next year.
It seems to me that Europe picked up on you guys very early. How have they treated you?
It’s interesting. Europe, we enjoy the experience, but [the response] is very regional. We’ll do very well in some cities, and then have more modest success in others. So I can’t speak for it as a whole, but in places like London, Paris, and Zurich tend to do pretty well.
Fair enough. Look, it’s great to get you back down here again. It’s very rare for an American group to come our twice a year. We’re pretty lucky. I guess the note to leave it on, is: what can we expect from the shows?
We’ll be playing instruments, so if you’ve ever seen us before, that’ll be different. And we’ll be playing a lot of material from our record, which we haven’t done in the past, either.
Do the two of you jump between instruments, or do you have other guests on stage that help round it out?
Just the pair of us, jumping between instruments. At FYF Festival, we had a bunch of guests, but I don’t know if it’s going to be possible for the Listen Out Festival, but we’ll see.
Great! We look forward to seeing you down here, and thanks for taking the time to talk to me.
Yes sir, it’s a pleasure!
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Hanging Gardens is in stores now. Catch Classixx at Listen Out. All the details are here: http://www.listen-out.com.au/
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