TEED discusses Facebook rants, sex tapes and his debut album

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs: 'Artists should speak out'

April 05, 2012 by Jamie Cockburn

TEED discusses Facebook rants, sex tapes and his debut album

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Tickets

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs has been turning heads in the dance world and has made a name for himself as one of the dance world's most innovative new artists. We are sitting on the edge of our seats waiting on the release of his debut album 'Trouble', which is due for release on 11 June, 2012.

We caught up with the man behind the spectacular hats of TEED, Orlando Higganbottom, to see what he thinks about socail network rants, his upcoming album and if anything good can come from the tabloid hacking scandal...

Hello TEED. Deadmau5 recently made headlines with a Facebook rant about Madonna. Do you think artists should be more careful about what they say on social networks?
I think it is really important if you feel strongly about something in this industry you should be allowed to say it. You are going to upset people whatever happens unless your ****ing useless and your the most run of the mill boy band in the world and your out to make headlines for your coverage. Deadmau5 has fans who absolutely adore him and if he feels like he needs to say something then he should.

The Black Keys recently called Sean Parker an 'asshole' for his role in Napster and 'stealing from artists'. Do you agree?
That was kind of before my time. I think to disregard someone else’s work and property is bad. File sharing and the idea of it being ok to rip someone's album is bad. People didn't regard how much work people would put in to making a record. It hardly costs you anything to buy it now anyway. I certainly enjoy investing in musicians I like although I'm not going to go around and call people arseholes.

Your current single is called 'Tapes And Money'. Is there still any money to be made from selling music?
Yes and rightly so. I don't see huge amounts of money being made from it but I think people like buying things, I like buying things. It feels right to buy a track off an artist. I think the MP3 format is doing really well.

Watch 'Tapes And Money'

What are your thoughts on the recent Tulisa N-Dubz sex tape controversy?
My girlfriend asked me this if it was a promo thing. I think it's kind of funny. It's tragic and it's funny. I don't know where your head is at to do that kind of thing. But look out for my sex tape in the near future.

Your new single is 'Tapes And Money'. Do you think people can ever have an emotional attachment to an MP3 as they might vinyl, a tape or even a CD?
I think the easiest answer is no, although I think people still get attached to a particular track on their iPod. CD's are pretty shit, they used to be cool, but the thought of putting a CD on now is pretty weird.

Your new single is 'inspired by the phone hacking saga' - how did that come about?
I had already written an instrumental version of the track and it was already called tapes and money. I was needing lyrics and I took inspiration from that. It was kind of vague like most of my songs are.

Do you think something good will come from the tabloid scandal?
It would be nice but I don't know how. When one thing closes down another opens up. I think it's great that everyone has rallied round and said that's wrong. I don't think it will stop the way people will get stories.

What can we expect from your debut album, '2000 and Teed'? Surprises? Collaborations?
I'm happy to say there are no collaborations on there. It's quite long and it took me a long time to finish it. What it has ended up being a collection of some of the stuff I have written over the last year. It is something to get a hold of and if you listen to it, there is enough on there to get really in to.

You have a lot of live and festival dates lined up. Which on your calendar are you most looking forward to?
At the moment I would say I am really excited about Bestival and Camp Bestival which I am so happy about playing. I'm also doing a festival in Serbia which I went to when I was 19 and it was just ****ing mind-blowing, it's not like any other festivals. There is nothing I'm not excited about, I'm just excited about doing stuff I never thought I would.

Do you think the success of Joe Goddard and other indie dance acts will pave the way for your music?
Perhaps yes. There has always been a scene for electronic indie and it's something a lot of people have been in to. Certainly recently there has been people like Joe and myself who is in a similar corner of of the music scene. A lot of people are into dance music at the moment, it is what people are interested in.

Is it time dance fans looked for something a little more inventive than the standard chart-dance sounds?
I think if you are actually into dance music, you are not into chart dance music, you don't listen to people like David Guetta. There is a difference from what the mainstream press think is happening to dance music to what actually is happening to dance. David Guetta is never played in clubs and chart-dance music is never played in clubs. Sure there played in cheesy high street clubs but that is not clubbing. Dance music isn't about hits.

Did you get any feedback from Lady Gaga on your remix of her 'Marry The Night' single?
I don't even know if she even heard it. It only came out on a 7” vinyl. When it went up online a lot of her fans were like “What the **** Lady Gaga. What are you doing?” They either loved it or hate it. The people who follow me were quite into it. It's not the best thing I have done anyway.

What attracted you to working on a track as massive as Gaga?
I think she has done some cool stuff and she comes up with some cool ideas. She is really flamboyant, she is an individual. I like the kind of pop star she is, unpredictable.

Who would be the dream artist to get phonecall from asking for a remix?
I think when doing a remix, you want to add something new to the track. When it is someone who you really really love, you don't want to do it. If it is one of your favourite bands and it is one of your favourite tracks, you don't know what you could bring to it. It's not my place to add anything.

If you could choose any acts from any era to support yourself on a headline gig, who would they be?
People I would love to play with would be maybe Grimes. I would love to play with some massive DJ's like Larry Levan and people who I would never get a chance to play with. The list is just endless. I don't know how I could possibly pick.