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"Maybe a variety of elephants, some Indians and some Africans." This is Death From Above 1979 bassist Jesse F.Keeler, detailing a vague band plan to increase their ‘elephant in your living room’ sound once they start an upcoming UK tour in larger venues. Keeler is laconic to the point of embarrassment - mine not his. Sarcasm is indeed a joy to savour, but when there is several thousand miles of phone line between yourself and your Toronto-based interviewee, raised eyebrows become somewhat difficult to discern. On how the band has managed to do four tours in the UK since July, the drawling voice says, "I don’t know. I could’ve toured there more…" These Canadians clearly understand the meaning of irony. Al-right!
To say DFA1979 have been whipping up a storm would be something of an understatement. Keeler and vocalist/drummer Sebastien Granger have been touring so hard that, certainly in the UK, a serious buzz has been building around their album, ‘You’re a Woman I’m a Machine’ which came out in the States at the beginning of September. The UK has to wait until the end of January for its release, but word is it’ll be worth it. According to the band, the hectic touring doesn’t even register.
"It’s sort of like, there’s someone at McDonald’s and they’re like, ‘Man, I can’t believe how many burgers I flipped today!’" Keeler chuckles. "They probably don’t pay attention. I have no idea how many shows we’ve played but we have to play to people, we can’t keep playing the same spot everyday."
Adding to an ever-increasing list of two-piece bands enjoying success such as Dresden Dolls, DFA 1979’s blistering and surprisingly full sound has torn a hole through the idea of the traditional four/five piece outfit.
"I had the idea to do a band that had two basses and a drummer," says Keeler of the band’s origins. "I wrote some songs thinking I’d have one bass, two guitars and a drummer, real boring stuff but we couldn’t really find anyone else to play with that we were into. I’d written songs on the bass thinking that there’d be other parts at some point and then I was working on the amp sound I was like, ‘Well, I want to practise but I don’t just want to hear the bass so why don’t I wire some things together?’ And it sounded like a full band – cool! A full band playing in unison."
As the need for a guitarist was dealt with and with Granger already in line to sing vocals, all that was left was someone with a decent sense of rhythm to bang the drums. Once again, the minimalist approach took hold.
"Sebastien was originally just going to sing but he came through one day and said, ‘Yeah, I might be able to play drums and sing at the same time,’" says Keeler. "So, he comes down into the basement, I plug my monster in and it worked. We were like, ‘Shit that sounds great, we don’t need anybody else!’"
What resulted was a killer mix of sound that requires unprecedented levels of pretentiousness to describe to the uninitiated (punk-dance-psycho-trash-rock anyone?). The band showed demos to some friends at a record label who put it out and the rest is touring history.
"I’m on a break right now," Keeler announces brightly after reeling off his upcoming schedule. "It’ll be 25 days in its completion." It’s easy to visualise some sort of Torontian lair complete with minions plotting evil until he says what he’s actually doing. "I’m sleeping a lot, with my girlfriend, playing with my computer and recording bands in the evening, doing remixes and producing people’s records." Such as? Cue another wicked laugh. "I don’t want to give the bands I’m working with any play ‘cause they haven’t paid us yet."
The evil plan idea starts being marginally more believable when you take a look at merchandise on offer. Scarves, pins, hats, tees – with such an extensive wardrobe to sell on tour, is world domination an option? Keeler drawls, "There’s a lot of people on the Earth and I don’t know how well we’ve been selling in China or India, but there’s large markets left that maybe need a scarf." He laughs again, getting into the idea. "Maybe we’ll make a sari."
T-shirts are one thing, CDs quite another. While DFA1979’s tracks have been making waves on the radio ( With downloading becoming ever more widespread – "Acquisition for those of us who use Macs, that’s such a great program" - it’s not surprising that DFA1979’s site offers excerpts from the album. The furiously danceable ‘Little Girl’ is currently on offer, with ‘Pull Out’ available from January 10th.
"I usually buy records ‘cause I feel like I’m getting something for the money," Keeler muses. "I remember when CDs replaced vinyl and cassettes because ‘they cost more’. They (the labels) talked about them being so great but they’re just so much cheaper to make than records. They see it as a way of making money but in the end it’s just real frustrating. For fifteen bucks you’re really not getting much of a package, it’s just like ‘We’ll put the little piece of paper in here and stamp the art on that, put it in the same plastic cases as all the other ones.’"
Forget CDs then. Back to touring?
"After Japan it’s totally done. Then it’s just festivals all summer. I think we’re playing all of them. If you name one we’re probably playing it." SxSW?
"Yup. Twice." Glastonbury? "Uh, I don’t know." Aha! "Reading and Leeds though. We’re working on new stuff, but it’s sort of hard to put things out into practise because when are we going to have time to rehearse? I’ve written a bunch of songs while sound checking ‘cause literally that’s the only time I have to play that isn’t just playing the record y’know."
Keeler goes on to inquire as to how long I think the band will last: "I’m always curious." With indie chart success already acquired and a growing number of seriously impressed fans, it’s sure to require yet more tours, elephants and scarves. This is a band to pay attention to if you value what music you put in your ears.
