Chicago’s very own, Midnight Conspiracy return with a solid electro remix of Destroy. These guys are currently on a 40 city, 2 continent tour. You can find a date near you here. MoneyPenny is an electro outfit that has released a number of original songs, “Destroy” so far being the most popular.

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[audio:http://OhhSoFamous.com/Music/MoneyPenny - Destroy (Midnight Conspiracy Remix).mp3]

@OhhSoFamous

Last month we were introduced to the next chapter in music from Chromeo. “Don’t Turn The Lights On” is the second single on their LP set for release on September 14th entitled Business Casual. They are currently on a tour until the end of August in support of the upcoming release. We got a chance to chat with Dave on the phone before his set last night in Boston about the album, the state of music, and cultivating their brand of imagery.

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You guys have a new album coming out soon, “Business Casual”. What can we expect and do you have any personal favorites on the album?

In both our cases, our personal favorite is “J’ai Claque la Porte”, which is the french ballad on the album. It’s sort of a new “Momma’s Boy” if you will, being something different from our more traditional sound that we’re really proud of and happy with.

I could tell from the video it had more of an upper class feel to it.

Yea, exactly. We just put out another video yesterday, we’re just trying to go somewhere we haven’t gone before. There’s something a little more darker and sexier about it. The last record was really bubbly and fun.

Is dancing a big part of you or was it something you learned for the video?

My friend, I’m going to disappoint you greatly and if you hang up the phone I completely understand but there’s a dance double in that video. He’s also 1 foot and a half shorter than me and when we finished the video, Pete and I were convienced that everyone was going to be able to tell. Sure enough, nobody was.

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What’s the wierdest thing that’s happened to you guys while on tour?

Recently, we went to Serbia and played an amazing festival over there, it was one of our favorite gigs. But the whole experience of getting into that country, our crew waiting at the border in the middle of the night for hours and having to bribe people to get in. This wierd hotel which was really chic but in a very sorta soviet post communist era way with the hookers in the lobby.

That was slightly surreal. A little David Lynch meets Soviet block. Not to mention the fact that you couldn’t get ketchup at the restaurants.

What gear and do you guys use for recording and live setups?

A bunch of 80′s and late 70′s analog equipment. Anything from the Moog and even more modern emulators of those vintage synths. We definately try to keep everything vintage.

Chromeo has a very defined artistic style. What are the main inspirations behind the visuals of the band?

All the 80′s and 70′s iconography. We would sit and look at record covers for hours and obviously in the 70′s and 80′s they had different technologies. Something that would be more on an arcahic technologoy of creating album covers where you would have to actually do some collages, manually cut, superimpose stuff and get really striking results.

There’s a design company called Hypnosis and they did a bunch of really classic early 80′s album covers. That’s a huge influence on our aesthetic. Anything from that all the way to Classic ZZ top, Micheal Jackson, Robert Palmer movies, to 90′s Hip hop actually.

Anyone recently you would say you grab influence from?

No, I think we admire other comtemporary bands that are equally as stylized as we are even though there style is different. That could be anyone from Daft Punk, to Kayne, to Justice, to Vampire Weekend. They all have really defined styles and make strong stylistic choices even though it looks nothing like us. That’s what we really respect.

What kind of animal are you and why?

A girraffe cause I’m tall and skinny.

Today with electronic music, just about anyone is able to produce a track in his or her room and throw it up online. Do you think with music being so available, it has decreased the shelf life of singles, albums, and the artist’s overall time spent in the lime light?

No, I don’t think so. I think it’s great from up and coming musicians to make their stuff available and heard. I think we all benefit from it because we hear stuff that we never had access to before. I don’t think it really hurts established artists because first of all, they have a bigger promotional machine behind them for better or worse so they can afford to stay in the lime light longer. Obviously there is a huge amount of information out there but I think it’s up to us to learn how to filter through it and select the stuff we deem the most interesting.

Where did the name Chromeo come from?

I came up with it one morning quite a few years ago and it’s a mix between Chrome and Romeo.

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[audio:http://OhhSoFamous.com/Music/Chromeo - Night By Night (Midnight Conspiracy Remix).mp3]

Other than getting Lindsay Lohan out of jail, what is the most important thing we need to fix as a society?

Education system and Health Care.

Is there sense of a brotherly rivalry between you and A-trak? Has it been a driving factor for your career choice?

No, there’s no rivarly, we’re extremely close and we work together on everything.

What is the best advice you an offer to upcoming musicians?

Perseverance and integrity. I don’t want to get preachy but if there’s anything that anyone can learn from the career we’ve had is that if you keep doing what you do long enough people might not take you seriously at first but then there’s an enormous amount of respect that comes with that perserverance and continuity.

Favorite Saturday morning cartoon as a kid?

I didn’t watch alot of them. I guess Roadrunner.

~Ohh! So Famous!

Photo by: Tara Pholharath

In early January MIDNIGHT CONSPIRACY hit the electronic music scene full speed running. This trio made of Graham Cody, Louis Kha, and Mikul Wing have been passed around the blog circuit, played multiple music festivals and are currently on tour. Recently, we got a chance to sit down with them and get an idea of what these guys are all about.

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[audio:http://OhhSoFamous.com/Music/Crystal Castles - Crimewave (Midnight Conspiracy Remix).mp3]

Why the name MIDNIGHT CONSPIRACY?
Why not?

Who, what, when or where inspires your sound?
As far as the remixes go, it depends on the track, it might be watching American Psycho or listening to Eddy Huntington, mostly its whatever the track sounds like in my head that i can capture as accurately as possible, otherwise it might be a synth patch or a snare drum, or a new plugin, it changes constantly.

Interested in collaborating with anyone?
Tons of people, like Trent Reznor, Trentemoller, TEPR, Innerpartysystem, DJ Funk, Elijah Blue Allman, Depeche Mode, Soulwax, any of the guys we listen to and go “damn, thats cool how did they do that?”

Recently Hayley Williams had someone “hack” her twatter and “the hacker” posted a picture of her titters. What’s your take on it?
Is that the chick from Paramore? Are they good looking?

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[audio:http://OhhSoFamous.com/Music/Chromeo - Night By Night (Midnight Conspiracy Remix).mp3]

What is the meaning of life?
To enjoy what you do.

Who, Living or Dead, would you want to grab a drink with?
Alan Wilder or Twiggy Ramirez.

What is the MIDNIGHT CONSPIRACY five year plan?
To be invited to join the Illuminati.

With 2012 fast approaching I have to ask, since I figure you guys would know best, what kind of bullshit is going to go down?
We’ll have to see what the Nebadon commission decides.

What do you want your music to be remembered for?
We don’t want our music to be remembered, if it’s being remembered then we’re dead.

Recently M.I.A. has come out and said things some people believe “controversial”. What’s your opinion on artists expressing their views so candidly?
I wish more people actually had opinions to express, too many people have nothing to say, bring on the controversy.

On June 22nd, MIDNIGHT CONSPIRACY will be releasing their Lucky Date remix, soon be followed by remixes of Editors and Crystal Castles. You can also catch them on the DEAD FAME TOUR.

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[audio:http://OhhSoFamous.com/Music/Esser - Headlock (Midnight Conspiracy Dubstep Remix).mp3]

~Ohh! So Famous!