This post was submitted by Rohan

Chromeo are now three albums deep, as their latest 80s-inspired masterpiece Business Casual drops today. The band are just about to finish their US tour, which ran through in August with Holy Ghost and the incredible Telephoned. On their stop here in DC (actually the tour opener) I spent some time with P-Thugg discussing the new record, touring and hip-hop. Check out the interview and some awesome photos from my friend Valerie Paschall.

TNG: You guys have a new record coming out, and you have started your tour before it drops. What can we expect to hear during the shows? How many new tracks are you previewing?

P-Thugg: We’re playing five new songs. You know “Night By Night.” You know “Don’t Turn the Lights Off.” We’re playing two more songs from Business Casual, and another little surprise that you’ll probably know. Basically it is a greatest hits of our old songs, and four or five songs from the new one.

TNG: Is it tougher to play newer tracks before the record drops?

P-Thugg: Yeah, I mean they are here and they are fans and it is not like playing to a festival crowd who doesn’t know you really, it’s a bit harder. You are kinda curious to see what the reactions are.

TNG: How did this tour get together?

P-Thugg: Telephoned—we’ve known Sammy for a long time. We thought it was a great idea to have them open. Holy Ghost—we’ve known these guys from NY and being around the scene and we thought it was a great match for the tour and they were down.

TNG: What can we expect out of Business Causal? Is it a continuation of the styles from Fancy Footwork?

P-Thugg: It’s kinda a continuation, maybe a bit more musical. I worked a lot on my piano skills, and I pushed Dave to sing harmonies more, exploring his voice. Basically he started singing with “Needy Girl,” he wasn’t a singer before that. He’s just getting better every album, it’s such a work in progress. I push him to sing more. There is more attention paid to details and sounds. Even more chord progressions. We were working a lot before the song even begins, to have the songs whole before we started producing it. Basically it is a more refined version of Fancy Footwork.

TNG: There was a four-year gap between She’s In Control and Fancy Footwork, and now a three-year gap. Are you guys conscious to do lots of stuff in between so you don’t disappear?

P-Thugg: We have so much cool stuff between records we didn’t have time to disappear really. There was the Yo Gabba Gabba stuff, the Conan O’Brien, there are a couple of mix CDs in there, there’s the Live at Daryl’s house, there was Bonorro. A lot of stuff to keep people awake, and that’s what we want to do between records. With our schedule and Dave being in school it is going to take at least two, three years between records so we have to keep cool stuff happening.

TNG: Where are you living now?

P-Thugg: Dave’s in NYC, I’m in Montreal.

TNG: How often do you keep in touch?

P-Thugg: We speak every day.

TNG: Are you in NYC a lot?

P-Thugg: I go there at least once or twice a month. We are very close.

TNG: It must be hard to get time to record and tour. Do you trade ideas through e-mail?

P-Thugg: It is a bit harder. We have to watch out schedule. Basically weekends work.

We send stuff by e-mail. It is easy to keep in touch.

TNG: You recently collaborated with Daryl Hall. Any future plans with Daryl?

P-Thugg: Yeah, maybe more shows. We’ll see. Everything we do is kind of spur of the moment and it is not really stuff that managers set up for us. It is mostly artists we know and we’re close with. It is very organic. No label deals, like “you have to work with this person.”

TNG: How many vocoders do you own?

P-Thugg: Talk boxes. I have like three vocoders. Talk boxes I have a lot of.

TNG: Would you ever trade the talk box for straight auto-tune.

P-Thugg: No. We use it sometimes for Dave’s vocals, but basically we use all vocal manipulation technology. My favorite is the Talk Box because I can play it well and it is cool for live shows. it is better than the computer. We love the vocoder, the auto-tune, everything.

TNG: I know you are big into hip-hop, but what are you digging recently?

P-Thugg: Personally I really like the Roots new album. Teflon Don is great.

TNG: Thank you. I reviewed it for the site and I got called out because Rick is a fake.

P-Thugg: Ah, fuck that. Music is great. Like everyone shits on him for being a correctional officer. Maybe he was a correctional officer and he was the one helping the guys get dope or something, I don’t know. It’s not necessarily wrong. There are guys in there who are actually affiliated and they help transactions, so whatever. I also like Big Boi’s new album. For hip-hop that’s basically it.

TNG: Would you ever collaborate with a rapper?

P-Thugg: No, I don’t think it is a good match.

TNG: What about produce beats for a rapper?

P-Thugg: That would be cool. That could work.

TNG: Do you have any other dream collaborations?

P-Thugg: It happened man—Darryl Hall. Like I said, it is all organic, everything that is fake you can hear it. Whatever happens, happens.

TNG: How often do you get into new music? Do you listen to stuff when you are in the recording process?

P-Thugg: All the time, you know. That’s what iPods are for. You don’t have to carry your 10×10 ft CD case. Anytime off or during. Time off in sound check on the bus, the hotel, anywhere. Planes, cars. There is a lot of time. Music—you can sing it in your head.

TNG: Any quick last words for our readers?

P-Thugg: Stay funky and get the album on the (September) 14—buy it, download it, whatever. Come to the shows.

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