GOLDFISH INTERVIEW - CONTINUED

Perceptions of Pacha is so entitled because of the fact that you have recently signed on to the record label Pacha, which is also part of the massive overseas nightclub group, Pacha (in particular centred around the club in IBIZA called Pacha .) In addition, Perceptions is a series the label does each year and it’s your turn this time around. How do you feel you compare to previous artists who have made a Perceptions album with the label? And how does Perceptions of Pacha differ from Caught in the Loop? How did you change and grow musically?
The last three years of touring solidly have had an enormous effect on our sound as Caught in the loop was recorded largely before we started performing live. I think Perceptions takes off from Caught in the loop and just cranks it up a notch!

It is a great honour to have been asked to do the perceptions album this year, we have also just finished a mix cd for the Pure Pacha release this year which is a double cd alongside Pacha resident Sarah Main.

Which song on your new album is your favourite and why?It changes daily I love them all as they are all special moments in our musical landscape.

Who are you listening to right now? What CD is in your car / Cd player or top on your iPod playlist?
Deadmau5, Koop – Koop Island, All the incredible remixes of the album that are coming in from all over the world and from the remix competition (www.goldfishlive.com) and Mix’n Blend’s Help is on the way mix (bootleg). Panic at the disco’s – 9 in the afternoon,

What is the craziest thing a fan or person in the crowd ever done at one of your performances? How did you respond?
Some drunk guy in Jozi decided to do a run and jump onto the stage and succeeded in snapping two of the double bass strings and one of the machine heads. We didn’t do anything we let the very large bouncers, who should have stopped him in the first place, sort him out…

Has anyone ever thrown panties onto the stage or at you? What did you do?No, but we had a massive Bra thrown at us at the Armchair theatre once, I hurled it back into the crowd.

How important is a slick media image to you as Goldfish? I am referring to the slick website design and the YouTube video Goosebump Productions created for you (both of which I like very much!). You have a very distinct style and you’re sticking to it. And when one compares your style to musical heavyweight, Kurt Cobain and the way he “hated” media exposure and being in the limelight, Goldfish and the way you handle the media tells a very different story. How do you approach or view the media? What kind of a relationship would you or do you seek to maintain?
Things where very different back in 1994 in the music world especially, people where still buying cds, at one stage Nevermind was moving 500 000 units per week!!!!!
That was part of his image and it worked for him.

These days it has become more accepted that music and media need each other to keep head above water. The internet has revolutionised all forms of media with those not able to move swiftly and adapt finding it the most difficult. We always wanted as many people as possible to experience our music and the only way we could achieve that was with huge media support.



Since signing to Pacha and thus becoming part of the Pacha lifestyle brand (owners of restaurants, hotels, record label, clothing label etc), what exactly does your contract entail? Do you have to wear the clothes and be seen at their hotels and clubs? Are you ‘slaves’ to the Pacha brand or are you still maintaining a certain amount of independence?
We have signed a one album deal with the record label which is associated with the Pacha brand as a whole but it doesn’t make us there gimps.

As a proudly South African band, why isn’t Goldfish registered on Load the Show – www.loadtheshow.co.za?

Everyone is trying to adjust to the internet revolution and coming up with new fancy ways to offer music to people but at the end of the day our strategy differs from theirs in this regards as we feel music is of value to people and we are all trying to foster this as a lot of people do not understand that if they download a song or whole album illegally they are making it harder for that artist/producer/dj/whoever to make more music in future.

On the other hand The load the show idea is great for up and coming bands who would have put their stuff out for free anyway and now they are earning some revenue out of it. We gave away loads of free music when we where starting out and it helped us progress faster to a point where our music was of enough value to people and they wanted to buy it. The music world has changed from a business model of Buy – Listen to nowadays where its Listen – Buy. So basically I am saying that there is a place for Loadtheshow and other sites like it but I don’t think we fit into it.

You (Dave) said on the YouTube vid that you take the studio into the clubs and play there live. How long does it take to set up the equipment? Is it stressful travelling around with your entire musical studio and all your costly equipment?
Yes it is a pain from time to time with airlines losing bags etc. but it is worth it in the end.

Our touring setup is not the same as our studio setup as we would need a small truck to move our studio around with us everywhere! Travelling is probably the main stress in our lives at the moment!

What’s the worst thing that has happened to you or your equipment while travelling to gigs? Do you pay for extra insurance on your equipment? Do you wish you could keep it all with you in the overhead compartments?
Definitely wish we could keep all our gear in the overhead compartments. Insurance companies don’t like insuring musical instrument so its very expensive…like each year you could buy yourself all new gear instead.

The worst thing to happen to our luggage so far was thanks to Air France and Charles De Gaul airport in Paris (avoid like the plague). They lost Dom’s bag with keyboard in and clothes and it never surfaced…other than that America is fun the double bass takes an extra day to pitch up each time as the TSA (transport security agency) thinks it’s a bomb or something suspicious! Come on didn’t these guys all go to band camp?

What legacy would you like to leave behind?A great catalog of amazing music.

What are your plans for the future? What are you currently busy with or working on?We just finished the Pure Pacha mix cd, we have also just finished the music video for This is how it goes which will be on our You tube site (www.youtube.com/user/goldfishlive ).

We are also working on the Remix album and a live dvd release of our cd launch concert at Kirstenbosch gardens this year.

How do you feel about the Independent Armchair closing down? The end of an era in Cape Town...
We where devastated by it closing down as it had become such a legendary place with so many special moments for Cape Town and us. It is such a pity that the city council can’t see past all the usual crap and just open its eyes to how culture could be one of our biggest exports and without venues like that it is hard to foster truly creative culture.

And finally, how do you make a goldfish live for decades?Feed it.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH GOLDFISH

The Boys from Muizenberg, Cape Town have effectively taken over the house scene in Mzansi. Their ability to blend pulsating house beats with live instruments have put them in a league of their own, so much so that promoters from afar afield as Spain and South America have come calling.

The last time that Encore caught up with Goldfish, they had just dropped their debut album and were effectively stealing the hearts of fans in every city they hit. A year-and-a-half later, the duo who not so long ago were holding down a residency at mid-size clubs like Baraza and Ignite in Camps Bay have now graduated to big-time venues such as Kirstenbosch Gardens and opening for international headliners such as Fatboy Slim.

Our intrepid music doyenne, Larissa Focke, hollered at the guys while they were in Ibiza and got the inside scoop on their new album Perecptions of Pacha, their international record deal and much much more.

This is Part 1 of the interview; look out for Part 2 towards the end of the week.

So, is Goldfish ever going to slow down?
Things have snowballed so fast that I don’t think Gold Fish is going to slow down in the foreseeable future. Internationally things are just starting to heat up which could keep us busy for a long long time!!

What have you guys been up to in the 2 years since we last spoke?
We have been touring all over SA and the world. We spent the whole of last year recording Perceptions of Pacha and touring at the same time!! It was a crazy year, and this year looks like an equally crazy one with us just having completed a mix album for Pure Pacha release next month containing our original tracks as well as some exclusive remixes that we have done (including our Bob Marley remix!). We have been bouncing between the studio, the stage and aeroplanes!

Dave, you have such an amazing voice. Why don’t you sing live or sample your own voice more often?
Thanks! The new album has two more tracks that I sang on ( Just for tonight and Soundtracks and come backs). Being a live vocalist is another kettle of fish altogether, but you never know perhaps I will break out into song sometime soon?? Up until now we have been concentrating on what we do best, but we are always up for trying new things.



Does it ever irritate you when people compare your music to Cafe del Mar, Kruder and Dorfmeister etc? Sure, these artists may have influenced your music but you have your own style! Plus, it’s pretty much a fact that Goldfish’s sound cannot be put into a box. How do you deal with these comparisons?
Once again thanks, the comparisons are great as we are huge fans of most of the comparisons that are made. It would be a worry if we where being compared to Kurt Darren. Everyone always wants to pigeon hole music as it makes it easier to say to someone “I don’t like Dance music” or “I don’t like hip hop” it allows you to make generalizations and not be open-minded. My advice is listen first, pigeon hole later!

Is house music making waves all over the world? Do you see a trend emerging? Should the local scene jump onto the bandwagon and take advantage of house / electronica’s recent popularity? (Plus, is hip hop dead?)
House has been on the back burner and underground for the last few years but there are such Great things happening in the scene that it is once again starting to feature more prominently in all forms of media.

The internet revolution hit dance music the hardest when it arrived But it also made Dance music react first with websites like djdownload.com and beatport.com launching to allow anyone to buy music online legally. On top of this the explosion of social networking websites has been lovingly embraced by Dance music and allowed it to spread through areas that traditional media never let it in the past. Unfortunately like bob, hip hop isn’t dead, RIP soon I hope.

How was Up the Creek festival? And how do South African gigs compare to the international gigs you perform at so often?
We didn’t play UTC this year. We did have a spanking gig at Splashy Fen in the Drakensberg, What a great festival!

SA is our home and we have such amazing support that it is hard to compare the two, the main difference is that overseas most people haven’t heard of us yet but they are more open to new things and even when they see us for the first time they go mad!

What was it like opening for FatBoy Slim?
It was probably our best gig of 2006 and he is such a cool guy too. Had a couple of beers with him after the show and talked about fishing and just arb stuff!

Which international act (Pete Tong, FatBoy, Stereo MCs, Mr Scruff) did you enjoy headlining for the most and why?
I suppose Pete Tong as we landed an international record deal on the back of that gig! We are playing with him tonight again in Ibiza for the closing of the international Music Summit which has been amazing.

What is the coolest place in the world your music has taken you?
A hidden beach in a nature reserve on the Northern coast of Mahe, Seychelles, Eating freshly caught yellowfin tuna sashimi.

Is Kirstenbosch still the best place to perform in SA?
No in the world, by far!

Who is your favourite South African band?
New Academics, Plush, Dirty Skirts.

How important is it for Goldfish to maintain a South African sound ie to have Shangaan and Shona in the samples and mixes?
It is not about maintaining a sound it is just how we make music and how our country has influenced us over the years. We love having vocals on tracks and sometimes a track just screams for an African vocal.

To be continued.....