Recently, the parisian public vibrated on the Fischerspooner's live performance at the Pompidou Center, hosting a monthly electronic music live show...
Fischerspooner is more famous in Europe than in the U.S.A. This may be due to the fact that the German label "International DJ Gigolo" was the first to edit their first album, called #1, probably a play on word to mean their first album, and their strong desire to be on the top. Their european fans also know the band's music over its feverish performances, focusing the attention of the media, including the main stream ones.
Warren Fischer is presented as the brain behind the band, initiated to the methods of advertising and married to a marketer, staying in the shadow of the backstage. Casey Spooner, the Northern demigod, defines himself as an extrovert dreamer -which may seem contradictory- in search of the spotlights. Their roles are so very contrasting... but complementary.
Deliberately rare for interviews to keep the hunger of their fan without making them starve, Warren Fischer expresses here on the approach of their project and Casey Spooner does not fail to make some clarifications.
"Warren likes to serve my needs and desires. The more he turns me into a recognized super-star, the happier he is [...] I'm pretty simple, really. I like to learn and hone my skills to perform."
Casey, the public was quite serious tonight. What effect does it have on the performer who you are?
Casey: I had fun at this show. It was a real challenge to play with the public and finally lead it where I wanted to! And I succeeded! At the end of the show, everyone was standing and curtain calls had the effect of an explosion! It was a very intense experience to win this shy public!
Is Electroclash a real particular artistic movement and music or was it invented by journalists in search of hype?
Warren: At first, the word "Electroclash" should not characterize a musical movement. This word is born of an idea from Larry Tee. In early October 2001, he created the festival "Electroclash" in New-York to bring together nu-electro artists and he completed his line-up with some other artists. Journalists often use this word in an inappropriate way to describe many artists with different music styles. But I do not dispute that designation, because when I was younger "grunge" artists who complained of the word "grunge" irritated me. In any case, the artists grouped under the name "Electroclash" are mostly good artists, with personality.
Do you think Fischerpooner is a leader in this wide and various scene called "Electroclash"?
Warren: I do not like the word leader. I do not think we're leading anything. The word "spearhead" would be more appropriate. We did what we do before Electroclash, and we'll do what we do after Electroclash. Our approach is individual. We do not claim to be from a movement, even if we accept to be included in it.
Casey, does your role in the group enables you to accomplish an egocentric dream or do you just play a pre-defined role in the Fischerspooner strategy, a role for which you may have some predispositions anyway, don't you?
Casey: No, I did not realize an egocentric dream. I am born a star!
Warren: I think that Casey is himself on stage. He believes in it. He is a bit megalomaniac, he likes to delude himself, he needs to have something to dream about. But that does not raise a problem, because we have a kind of master/slave domination relationship...
With a whip? People may like that you'll show that on stage... Really, your collabatotation is not more symbiotic ?
Warren: I just tell him what to do. He likes authority. It's a dynamic between us.
Casey: Actually, it is quite the opposite. Warren likes to serve my needs and desires. The more he turns me into a recognized super-star, the happier he is. He likes to create a world that I can reign on. But, I also serve him in that I do things that go in the direction of his fantasies and what he thinks I should be. It's complicated. We are fully bonded to one another simultaneously. Me, I'm pretty simple really. I like to learn and hone my skills to perform.
Warren, do you think your music goes into the background because of the attention given to your shows?
Warren: Most of artists do not have a show which publisizes them as much as ours, so the attention to our shows is very positive! Sometimes I like to see some more simple shows, with only projections, but our performances are deliberately more spectacular! I think it surprises people especially these used to the techno scene. People like to talk about our perfomances, because they are visual so they can relate them. But we did a lot of interviews exclusively on music and we received many emails from people who had never seen our shows and have really enjoyed listening to my music in parties. The attention to our shows does not bother me. It all started with my music after all!
Would you like to use the reputation of Fischerspooner to publicize some artists who have for a long time a style similar to yours like Miss Kittin and The Hacker, Doppler Effect, Console?
Warren: We did a performance with Miss Kittin and The Hacker, but our goals are different from these artists who we love. So we try not to limit ourselves by partnering with them. We try to be as independent as possible.
Would you invite them in the first part of one of your concerts some day?
Warren: Miss Kittin and The Hacker and DJ Hell (NoJ: DJ Hell's label, International DJ Gigolo was the first to edit Fischerspooner's album "#1") are friends of ours. But some artists want to stay in the underground and our goal is the opposite. We want to drive away the methods of the underground, because we think it does not really exist.
You bring me to my next question. In the past, many techno artists used several aliases and wanted to stay quite anonymous. This could be a good recipe for last. What do you think of this approach?
Warren: We find that the attitude of supporters of the underground is simply arrogant. In our view, the notion of underground is a bit pious. This idea that they are older, they hold the truth and they are deserving, it's very select. With Fischerspooner, we try to drive out these methods by building a project as popular as possible. This is not opposite to the idea of fringe artists, as we have grown out first outside of the main stream production system.
Even for 3 years, the faces of Ritchie Hawtin, Jeff Mills adorn their album covers. The "star system" seizes the techno scene! But these artists did no egregious compromise in their music.
Do you think the public, meanwhile, wants to find a human relationship with the musicians? Do you want to explore this desire? And the stars sell more!
Warren: When I was a teenager I had posters of Jimmy Hendrix in my room. I liked to know someone I could sentimentalize. I think the image of an artist is very useful for developing a dynamic relationships with the public. We try to exploit this as much as possible. Especially the nonchalance of Casey. And it seems that it works!
Did you have some images in mind when you composed the musics? If yes, do they look like this in the aesthetics your shows now?
Warren: Not really. What I love about music is that it can be particularly abstract. These are just sounds arranged in time. It creates a new world, which is really exciting! Sometimes images come to mind when a sound starts. Casey hung some pictures he took of the horizon, of the ocean and some sounds make me think of those images for example. But in general, my music is an abstract world.
Usually your music comes before the words of Casey?
Warren: Yes, most of the time. I submit a music, then he began to write lyrics. There may be some back and forth until we put the voices on the music.
Would you be concerned that Casey would write some committed lyrics for your songs?
Warren: That's interesting, I'm torn on this subject. When a situation is well defined, an artist can contribute to a movement against something. This can be useful as a protest song by Bob Dylan. But I think it is rather to create a song for people who already believe in what it says already. It helps by showing them that they are supported and encouraged. This can be useful in this case. But I think that musicians are not reliable sources of information about geopolitics. Some positions annoy me. For example, Cold Play denounce the liberal economy. Why should I believe them?
You do not like that one want to convince you and so you don't want to convince the other?
Warren: In a way, yes. And also some artists political commitment is simply used as a style. I'm not sure everyone really care about what they are talking about.
"For the Fischerspooner project, it's true, we behave like real businessmen!"
The lap-top live performances are not very spectacular. Do you like this kind of performance? Fischerspooner's show is it a reaction against "musicians silhouetted against a laptop" ?
Warren: Yes, our project is a reaction to the annoying boys in front of their laptop and DJs too. I still love the DJ, but they become mythological heroes in an exaggerated manner. We wanted to use the pre-recorded music. Our new album is coming soon. Anyway, for the album "# 1" we wanted to create synthetic music and that's what we did. But then, there must be something going on stage, because there is a gap between the music and seeing someone push buttons and launch sequences, even if that is what I do in the studio!
Is the fetishist aesthetic really in your daily life, or is it just a kind of provocation in your shows?
Warren: The fetish is really part of my life. But I only fetish my family and my children!
The aesthetic fetishist never appears in the way you dress?
Warren: I would have to show you my underwears!
Now that you're famous, you must often be approached by people such as dancers or designers who want to participate in your group. How do you choose the members of your band? Primarily through a network of friends?
Warren: Sometimes we are approached by people outside our network of friends, but mostly members of our group are part of our knowledge. New York is a so creative metropolis. Our friends are friends, but also incredible people who can do crazy things. We're lucky!
I saw the names of your collaborators on your website, among them are there any new first generation immigrants? It is also the richness of the New York scene, right?
Warren: Yes, our web designer is Polish and Casey works more directly with Italians. It's true, New York has some very cosmopolitan renewals.
The approach of your group is a global art project with music, pictures, shows etc... Is this due to a marketing approach to communicate with the maximum possible media, including TV, or is this your usual artistic approach?
Warren: The idea of this project is to make something public. This is an experiment to see if we could satisfy both needs by creating a project that could be seen as "ready to eat" or considered in a more complex way. But by creating something like this, we invested a lot and now we believe in our own hype!
Do you consider that you are an artist businessman?
Warren: There is definitely a business side in what we do. We have taken it seriously from the beginning. As I make commercials for TV, I learned early on that we must define the business relationships very precisely. For the Fischerspooner project, it's true, we behave like real businessmen!
Are you afraid that Fischerspooner disappear along with its hype. Have you ever thought about your artistic renewal to last?
Warren: We make a musical journey that evolves. We are not afraid of disappearing. Anyway, we enjoy it while it lasts. But maybe tonight will be our last show, you never know ...
Are you a fan of new technologies and mobile technologies, particularly for making music?
Warren: Yes, I'm a fan of new technologies. But I do not use mobile technology to make music.
Electro music lends itself to the world of machines, would you include robot-like characters in your shows?
Warren: No, I do not see the need now.
You prefer the flesh ...?
Warren: Yes! And champagne!
