Interview: David Boyd of New Politics

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Denmark’s New Politics is a fabulous combination of loud rap and even louder rock. The rock elements tend toward grunge and punk, and the way singers David Boyd and Søren Hansen position their vocals balances all these aspects effectively. Their debut, New Politics, was one of 2010’s very best, including ten leaping songs that are catchy and great. Hansen and Boyd co-write all lyrics and music, and have been working together for about five years. I saw them last year at El Corazon and was fascinated by their fervor and accessibility. That show and their CD were a couple musical high points of my year. Boyd can break dance – for real – and rap and sing. Hansen screams his vocals (he can sing traditionally as well – check out “Die For You,”) all the while tearing his guitar apart. Boyd, who is part Danish/Swedish and half American – and an occasional prankster – talked with me today from the Bay Area while visiting his dad’s family. New Politics will be in Seattle this Monday, March 7th at El Corazon.

I saw the video of New Politics participating in a hotel trashing contest. That looked very fun.

David Boyd: That was in Atlantic City. It was. That was once in a lifetime, unless we get really messed up one day and cause havoc for a night.

Did you win?

DB: We did.

How did you start dancing? You can really break dance.

DB: I honestly just love dancing. That’s what I used to do. A lot of my friends would skateboard, and I wanted to dance.

In the video for “Yeah Yeah Yeah” you literally climb up a wall. Have you had any injuries yet?

DB: I haven’t gotten any severe injuries yet. If I’m practicing I could get a bruise. But I’ve never broken a bone.

I love the cover you did of Bad Religion’s “Generator.”

DB: Bad Religion had a thirty-year anniversary. So Spin magazine and MySpace needed to get a compilation of artists to cover their songs. They reached out to us to cover the song “Generator”. We didn’t know of them because in Denmark they weren’t a popular band. I’m sure there were people who knew about them. We’d heard the band name, and we listened and thought they were amazing. It sounded to us a lot like Green Day. You could definitely see they were a very inspirational band for punk and rock, the rebel generation or movement. We were able to do “Generator” and it turned out pretty good. We shot the video in one day. It was different with the little reggae breakdown. We didn’t want to do it too different or too weird. You can never outdo an original song.

“Monkey Funk,” another song of yours that I love – so far I can only find it on YouTube. Any plans to record this one?

DB: It’s funny because a lot of people have commented on that. There are a couple songs we had that never made the album. I think we wrote thirty songs for the album and ten are on the album. Our plan is that eventually we will release B-sides – we’re going to do something – maybe a mixtape. Do something funny that shows another side of our music. Hopefully we’ll get the time and the chance. We’re starting work on the next album now. Once we’re not on tour we’re going to write again.

It’s probably impossible to write on tour.

It’s a little bit hard. We put together ideas and write down a couple things but you can’t intensely write, and that’s how we usually do it.

Where did you and Søren meet?

DB: We met in Copenhagen doing our own sort of thing. We hadn’t given up on music but we didn’t know what to do with our individual music, and we had a mutual friend. He wanted us to record a song at his studio. During the lunch break we both started to talk and found out we were both writers and singers. We decided to meet up, and we ended up writing three ideas for songs that were really good. We would meet up whenever we had the chance, without ideas – kind of went back to the basics of enjoying it as a hobby. We just thought, fuck it, we’ll just write music and that’s it. If nothing happens with it, it doesn’t matter as long as we’re having fun. So we did that for about three years. After three years we had songs like “Monkey Funk,” “Yeah Yeah Yeah”. “Yeah Yeah Yeah” we had just done at the end when we decided to form a band. We actually wrote “Monkey Funk” right before “Yeah Yeah Yeah”. That’s where we got the “Yeah Yeah Yeah” idea from – when “Monkey Funk” breaks down and we started talking. . . this is the anthem!


New Politics‘ Søren Hansen and David Boyd [from left to right]

I was reading that you two have already written three hundred songs together?

DB: I wouldn’t say they’re complete. A lot of them are. We had a couple songs like “Stress” and “Remember Me” and we were an actual band. I read about this competition – we entered and found a drummer just to see what would happen. Next thing we know we ended up winning and people started paying attention. UK jumped on it, then America. When the labels out in the States started showing interest we just packed our bags and left.

I also found a video on New Politics‘ YouTube called “Dance Bomb“. It’s really very funny.

DB: I should do more of them. I think it was Gordon at RCA had an idea of doing this dance bomb thing. Go into the area, dance and then walk out like nothing happened.

I also saw in an interview where you mentioned reading some books that seemed very sociological or economics-oriented.

DB: I’m not the best reader but I definitely like it. I think knowledge in general is vital – the key to power. I haven’t always been the best. When I’m on the road I try to read as much as I can. At that time I had just read Ruled by Secrecy by Marrs. I don’t know how factual any of it is. It’s sort of investigative, looking at society from a different perspective. I’m definitely a firm believer that things aren’t exactly as we think they are. I think there’s more than what we’re taught to believe. There’s not just one way. You can walk across the street a thousand ways. Mankind always does things in the hardest way. Something is not being done correctly or smartly. Our lyrics sometimes might seem rebellious. We’re people. We have our disagreements, our questions just like everybody else.

What’s the response been to New Politics in Denmark?

DB: We never had the chance to build anything in Denmark. After we won the competition things just kind of bubbled for us. We didn’t even have an album out. Having the opportunity to move to the States and sign with a major American label – International label – there was nothing to think about. We’ve played two concerts there since. It was good coming back there. The album only got released there in February.

Are there songs you’ve written that came out completely different from what you planned?

DB: Definitely. I think there’s quite a few. It’s also sort of the writing process – working off each other. “Dignity” had that effect . . . and “Yeah Yeah Yeah”.

interview by Dagmar

Show Preview/CD Review: DeVotchKa Brings 100 Lovers to the Paramount, Sat. 3/5

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If DeVotchKa did not exist, the world of music would be a much paler, less interesting place. It’s comforting to know that from time to time – most recently every three or four years – Nick Urata and his multi-instrumentalist friends and bandmates will put something new out there, something that’s been quietly aging like a nice whiskey or a bottle of good rum. DeVotchKa’s newest full length, 100 Lovers, (officially released March 1) is a stunner of a record – expansive and wild, but perhaps their lightest and most playful record to date. Which isn’t to say the band has lost their poetic seriousness – it’s still there and quite intact in “The Alley” and “Ruthless”. But the joyous streak that runs through all of DeVotchKa’s records is a little closer to the surface, in all its heartbreaking beauty. “The Man from San Sebastian” is cinematic with a dash of post-punk (Echo & The Bunnymen-esque, even). The complex album is still sinking in, but those of you in Seattle and Portland can see the band this weekend when they hit the Northwest. Get tickets to the Saturday, March 5 Seattle show at The Paramount HERE and for the Thursday, March 3 Portland show at The Roseland HERE. –J.Price.


Cover art for 100 Lovers

Interview: Praga Khan of Lords of Acid

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Lords of Acid has remained one the best bands to emerge from the ‘90s. They began as a project of the equally sublime Praga Khan [Maurice Engelen] and have so far released four albums, Lust, Voodoo-U, Our Little Secret and Farstucker, as well as several compilation/remix albums. Lords of Acid’s next CD is set for release this year – I cannot wait to hear it. They’ve maintained a permanent spot in my musical pleasure and the band returns to Seattle this Sunday, March 6th for a show at Studio Seven. I saw their Seattle show last year and it was one of the most important shows in my life. The driving force behind and in front of Lords of Acid, artist Maurice Engelen, aka Praga Khan, talked with me the other week right before starting the 2011 SonicAngel Lords of Acid Tour. Talking to the man who wrote some of my favorite music ever? Wonderful.

What do you think is behind Lords of Acid’s and Praga Khan’s popularity in the States?

Praga Khan: I think it was the fact that we were doing something unique. In those days there were two different two styles of music – you had dance music and industrial music. What we did was a mixture of these two, so we were using European dance beats but we were also using guitar lines. I think that combination made it special. On top of that we had these erotic lyrics that added a flavor to it. It was just a combination that wasn’t around. Sometimes you have dance stars trying to copy other bands and you don’t sound unique. I think that sounding unique was part of the success.

Your dad was an academic. Did you parents want you to go into music?

PK: No, not at all. He was really against it. Also my mom was really against it. In those days in the record business you didn’t make a lot of money, especially in Europe because there was not really a big record market. They thought I was going to end up a busker. It turned out fine. Now my mother is really proud – she follows everything I do.

She should be proud . . . I read that you toured in India early on and that’s where you selected the name Praga Khan?

PK: I was touring in the East, and Japan. It was always really difficult when I used my real name, Maurice Engelen. I always had to repeat it twenty times. So I thought maybe I better call myself John Doe or something. In India Raga Khan is like the most common name, but then I went to the offices of the composers society they had about fifty people with that name. So I said put a p in front of it – and they said, we do not have that. I said, okay, that is going to be me from now on.

What was traveling there like – have you been back?

PK: I’ve been to a lot of Eastern countries – it’s always a long flight of course. It’s very different from our Western society. There’s a lot of rules that need to be followed. I remember one of the first concerts I did in Japan – people were not reacting at all. When the show was finished they all gave me a standing ovation for ten minutes. That was really strange. During the concert I was wondering, what am I doing wrong? It’s their way of showing respect – not making noise between the songs. That’s just one of the things – there are dozens of things.

Have you finished the new Lords of Acid album?

PK: At this moment I’m working on the album. What I’ve experienced over the years is that it’s always very good to do a tour just before you go back into the studio. There’s a lot of fans you can talk to and get feedback. I always appreciate what they think of it. When you’re on tour you learn a lot.

What’s behind the song “I Sit on Acid”?

PK: It’s something you can see in different ways. You can see it in a sexual way, but you can see it in a drug way. We just wanted to play with the lyrics. Like the song “Pussy,” when you’re an innocent kid there’s nothing wrong with it, but when you’re an adult and you listen to it it’s something else. That’s really what I like – teasing people and trying to check out how far I can go. The good thing about Lords of Acid is that, over the years, we could always play all ages shows. Other bands who would copy Lords of Acid – because it was successful and they thought that’s what they had to do – would take it a little bit further. But when you take it further, then it loses the humor. That’s always been very important to Lords of Acids – that it’s not over the top. It’s tongue-in-cheek humor. When you’re a band and you try to copy Lords of Acid and you take it further then it becomes cheap. It needs to be funny. It was a problem – we didn’t do a lot of concerts in Belgium or in Europe because people all came out to see a sex show. If you want to see a sex show you better go to a sex club. With the shows we’ve always tried to create a social experience. People get dressed up and they’re part of the show.

Do you think the lyrics in Lords of Acid songs are empowering for men and women?

PK: A lot of people have told me over the years, that by listening to Lords of Acid they could express their sexuality. There’s nothing wrong in singing about sex. At the end of the day sex is the most normal thing in the world. It may be one of the few things that we all have in common.

Which Lords of Acid and Praga Khan albums are your favorites?

PK: They all sound quite different from each other. It’s not like we were a band that had a typical sound we tried doing over and over. There are a lot of bands that do that. I always want to be innovative. I always want to take it to the next level and I’m not afraid to change styles. I think that’s what keeps it interesting. When people hear the new tracks they’re going to be extremely surprised. The last thing I want to do is copy one of my own albums. You have to take some risks in your life. A fan who’s followed Lords of Acid all through the years is a real fan. Not the fans that keep nagging about the first album. When you follow an artist, you follow his career. That’s what makes it interesting, that it’s not always the same. There are a lot of popular bands nowadays who are using the old sounds again – the ones we used in the early ’90s – like next month there’s this new movie coming out called Sucker Punch. On the trailer they used “Crablouse” and new fans think it’s a new song. It was recorded back in 94. It sounds so up-to-date – that’s because people like Lady Gaga and Ke$ha are using these sounds so it’s like a cycle in time. We’re back where we started. They have virtual synth and we have the real ones.

Do you have a lot of keyboards/synths?

PK: I have, like a museum of them. It’s funny because these youngsters come into the studio and see these real synths and ask, is it real? They didn’t even know it existed. They’d only seen the virtual versions of them on their computer screens. It’s weird. It sounds almost the same but it’s virtual.


Praga Khan [Maurice Engelen] – photo from Lords of Acid’s facebook

How did you come up with the name Lords of Acid?

PK: In those days acid music was big in Europe, and on the other hand acid the drug was big in Europe. We just made the combination of the lords of the acid movement and also lords of ecstasy.

I was looking at some of the Praga Khan videos, like “Love” and “Tausend Sterne“. What do you remember about making them?

PK: These are cool videos. The thing about videos is that it looks amazing but when you have to do it, it’s something else. It’s either a really long day . . . [for “Love”] it was extremely cold, in the evening and I had to jump around in the rain with my feet tied up. It looked amazing but it was extremely unhealthy.

You’ve started your own label, SonicAngel. What does it involve?

PK: It’s a new business model. Nowadays young musicians don’t get a lot of opportunities to release their material. It’s such a shame because they’re really talented. We came up with a new business model where we put the artist and the fans in the middle of a musical ecosystem. The fans can buy a share of the artist, and in return they get a free download. On top of that, they get a share of the profits when it turns profitable. It’s working extremely well. In Europe we’re now in our fifth month and so far we’ve had sixteen bands realize their dreams to make an album. We’re bringing the business model to the States so we hope there are going to be a lot of young American bands to come onto the platform. It’s a new way for launching new artists as an answer to the dying record business. The first artist we did in Europe – fans who invested 10 euros got a 26 euro profit. We were the best investment of 2011. After four months there are so many talented artists who are getting the opportunity to work in the studio. I hope that we can do the same thing in America.

That’s awesome. . . In the song “Kiss Eternal” there’s a lyric, You just don’t know how sweet it is/To die from a vampire’s kiss.Are you interested in vampires?

PK: About 10 years ago a good friend of mine was the leader of the vampire community in New York, Father Todd. In those days he had a very interesting website called Sanguinarium. I don’t know if it still exists. He was always coming to the show and that’s why I came up with the idea to do a vampire song. Now it’s extremely popular – vampires are everywhere now. In those days it was really cult. Now if you’re not into vampires, you’re not part of society anymore.

Will there be more Praga Khan albums?

PK: I think we’re going to do an album next year. Right now Lords of Acid is my main concern. I want to make an innovative, great record that everybody’s going to say we had to wait ten years but it was worth it.

Do you see a lot of live shows?

PK: I can go to a rock concert or I can go to a dance venue. I’ve always been like that. I remember back in the early ‘90s, in Europe – not in America, because I think people are so much more open minded in America than they are in Europe when it comes down to music – it was impossible for a dance band to perform in a rock venue or in a festival. If you were into rave you had to perform in rave festivals or in discotheques. When you had a rock band you played in a rock venue or a rock festival. Now people listen to everything. I’m really happy that it changed.

Lords of Acid had a cameo in a porn movie. What movie was it?

PK: It was called 54. We were the house band. A lot of crazy stuff was happening around us, in between us, everywhere. Just yesterday my ex-guitar player in Lords of Acid [he’s working in the studio now] said I’m so thankful that you asked me to do that movie. That was so crazy. That’s probably one of the craziest things we’ve ever done.

Not many bands can say they’ve done that.

PK: No, that’s for sure.

interview by Dagmar