The electronic
music wave is in full effect at this point, but before most hopped on the band
wagon, there was UK duo You Love Her Coz She's Dead. Their music might resemble
Crystal Castles to the untrained ear, but if you really listen to their self
titled debut album they are creators of originality.
Formed in 2006,
the road has been anything but smooth. After a turbulent history that brought
the band to breaking point early 2012, Jay Dead re-evaluated the situation. Now
with a new front-woman, Poppy Dead, You Love Her Coz She's Dead is reborn and
supercharged.
Read the
unfiltered and untold stories from one of UK's hottest up and coming
electronic, unclassified duo, You Love Her Coz She's Dead.
NEXT IN SHOW PRESENTS
AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH
YOU LOVE HER COZ SHE'S DEAD
How was the name conceived?
"YOU LOVE HER COZ SHE'S DEAD" was chosen to
express that most artists, musicians, whatever, become
more
famous in death.
Summer is here. What are you doing to make sure
everyone in the world knows about YLHCSD?
The opposite of what you might expect. We've been reclusive
and only playing low key shows in London to test new
material. Despite almost no release activity apart from some
commisioned
remixes and a collaboration with SLDGHMR in Miami, there's
been an steadily increasing new-found interest around the
world since I found and recruited new vocalist, Poppy Dead. Rather than keep
hammering the
same vibe, we decided to reinvent the sound to a degree,
which I knew would take about a year at least, but now we're excited about what
we've created, and have been able to hear and see what's
working, and what isn't, from testing new songs club and festival environments.
What
we've been doing is trying to keep to YLHCSD roots but
throw in more dirt, and even more melody! I'm a
hook-liner but i
love dirt & distortion, but besides being a composer,
when it comes to being my own producer too - it takes awhile to get that
sounding right!
YLHCSD will be playing out more material pre-release
(label yet TBA) August 17th 2013 with Mat Horne (Gavin & Stacey) at Queen
Of Hoxton, London.
How do you feel about people like Kanye Wests method of
showing
projections all over the world to promote his album?
I have no feeling about it. Totally off my radar, but
sounds like a nice gimmick for those who can afford it!
Superheroes is such a dope song. Do you plan on creating
an official visual to go along with it?
Always wished I had, but the song was hi-jacked online on sites like youtube with millions of plays across uploads long before it ever occurred to me to do an official video, and now 5 years later it seems maybe a little late to be concentrating on that song anymore.
You have awesome merch available via big cartel. What
inspired you to start branding yourselves in this way?
Thanks. I'm a graphic designer just as much as a musician, so
it's just another expression of what YLHCSD is.
Some of the designs recently cost so much to make that we
lose money, so most of the time our merchandise at http://ylhcsd.bigcartel.com/ is limited runs, with no plan to reproduce, and we've
been lucky to have a fan base that then treat those items as collectable, so
rare sales eg. on eBay have occasionally seen other people making much more
money, more easily, than YLHCSD ever did from previously sold out vinyl and
clothing. That's cool though because we made it all for the crack, and not to
make money. There are much easier ways if riches are what we seek.
What is your project that you are currently working on?
Apart from the new YOU LOVE HER COZ SHE'S DEAD stuff, single/EP and
inevitable album release, I've also been working on a new
SUCKER TWIN release, so anyone who wants to be the first to hear that stuff -
get onboard and join the mailing list. We don't send many emails unless there's
something to say, and you'll be the first to hear of new stuff: http://ymlp.com/xgeujhmwgmgb
Where did YOU LOVE HER COZ SHE'S DEAD come
together?
Musically 2006 with an ex-girlfriend in Bath, but in 2007 life
went totally sideways, and I really feel to this day that
I lost the love of my life that year. Burying myself into music really seemed
like my only option at that point. I've never spoken of it as publicly as
this before (and frankly who'd give a fuck), but fuck it, it's true, and for
anyone who's interested that split has a lot to do with the band name on a
personal level, and why it went from being a song title, to being possibly the
most unmemorable and unmarketable band name ever.
So, in 2007 I befriended Elle, (ex-vocalist) & Sammy
(ex-live drummer 2007-8). It was a progressive period and a lot happened in a
short space of time internationally. A bit of a baptism of fire, and the last
thing we expected. It was hard work, but a lot of fun, from what I can actually
remember.
Are you still currently signed to the French record label
Kitsune Music?
No, not now. Some people we've worked with in the music
industry really advised us to consider the fact it looked
as if we'd been what is known as "shelved" for the sake of a similar
artist on the label at the time who received the kind of support we'd been led
to believe YLHCSD would receive.
I have quite a few unanswered questions surrounding that,
because despite
the undisputed and usually unheard of success of a debut
in 'Inner City Angst', there was no discussion or opportunity for a follow-up
release.
But anyway it was nice to be given the ability to debut
YLHCSD alongside such acts as Hot Chip, Chemical
Brothers, Chromeo, Digitalism, Fischerspooner &
Gossip
with 'Wizards', & then 'Superheroes' alongside
Digitalism, La
Roux, Pnau, A-Trak & Streetlife DJs even before a
first EP
'Inner City Angst' (which to our surprise sold out a
twice on
vinyl). But even after sold out shows in the UK & EU,
plus one of our
favourite artists, M.I.A picking up on 'Superheroes' and including
YLHCSD on her iTunes playlist, as well as NME
Magazine highlighting 'Superheroes' on Kitsune Maison 6
compilation as the "recommended download" over
Fischerspooner, Pnau, La Roux & Digitalism - the label abandoned us really.
Whether you look at it mathematically or financially – from a record label
perspective that seems like an odd decision. I think we could have been much
more prolific and toured a lot more (what we want) if we had a more supportive
label. There's a lot of room for speculation from all angles, but I think
probably there's always been heavyweight
influences higher up the food chain trying to snub YLHCSD out ever since we
emerged. It's a gut feeling that's never gone away. So anyway, the outcome of
all this seems to mean we now have a concentrated but loyal fan base Worldwide
that keep an eye on us, rather than a generic massive following that constantly
needs reminding you ever existed.
Do you have complete creative freedom when it comes to
your projects?
Yes. I've done a lot to protect that as well.
I hate comparisons, but who would you say inspires the
music you make?
I know where you're going with that question but it's less other artists mate and more “life” and concpetual stuff.
If you want a list it would be endless musically, but to
cut down to the bone for you - anyone that knows of YLHCSD will know that at
the beginning there was some furious wankery online regarding Crystal Castles for
similarities in
arguably generic chip-tune influences of two producers of
a similar age and therefore cultural heritage, and even the girl/boy duo
comparison just
seemed to add fuel to that fire, which is unavoidable and
hilarious.
The debate sort of fizzled out when those Youtube users
either discovered masturbation or extended their world of
electronic music
beyond what music press was force-feeding them. Anyway,
the
negativity of the debate only seemed to exist online, and
more celebrated via other channels. Most people since seem musically savvy
enough to appreciate the differences,
and the non-musical heritage/influences, and didn't seem to know what
the fuss was about, which was nice when you consider some of the irony
surrounding the debate. I've heard so many times over the years that people
love both bands but that the big difference is that CC mentally sends them (for
want of a better word) “down”, and YLHCSD brings them “up”. That's fucking art,
to me. I appreciate both. And I also love that, because bringing anyone “up” is
the feeling I'm trying to produce for anyone. YLHCSD & CC have recently
shared the same backstage as well as the same festival stage, and there doesn't
seem to be an issue.
When listening to your music a close-minded individual
might only hear anger and noise. What message are you
trying to send to the world with your creations?
Depends which YLHCSD tracks you're listening to, but I
totally get you with that one because I was reared for a
while
on a strict diet of grindcore. Try listening to old
favourite bands of mine
Nasum (RIP) or Regurgitate – Their music has got a lot of
melody to my ears because I know how to play guitar and
bass like that having written a few albums within that
genre or similar. I
know for others it can be pretty hard listening for
longer than
a few seconds (a lot of grindcore tracks only last a few
seconds), but I guess it comes down to what a listener defines as noise which
determines what level, or sort of emotion it's interpreted as emanating.
What has the biggest struggle been throughout your
career?
Well firstly it feels weird thinking of it as a career. Unwanted/
unavoidable depressing circumstances & getting too
fucked
up as a result has unstitched members of the project
several
times when we knew we should've been touring but were
denied the chance to. Keeping a handle on reality has
been a
problem, and with no proper management when we needed it
most to keep things moving or inflict a little guidance,
momentum suffered a lot and put a lot of time in-between
releases. At the times when you'd have expected us to
tour off
the back of some of the big TV exposure, things were just
crumbling with no plan or guidance. We did play some
really
huge shows, but getting essentially shelved didn't help,
and I'd
just write every day, only eventually to realise maybe
someone wasn't making the most of what was happening. But
the project has lasted over maybe 5/6 years now and I
feel I'm
creating some of the best material I've ever done with
Poppy Dead and SUCKER TWIN. And it will
be released soon.
Where does YLHCSD go next in the master-plan?
Well as you might have gathered - There is no master-plan, as
a lot is down to other factors after we've done our bit.
Ideally, we
want to tour everywhere around the world, hitting all the
places
we never got to the first time around, until we drop down
dead. But this
will happen naturally if it's meant to after a new
release, and
I've had to try and force myself not to concentrate on
anything
but the music for the past year since forming the new
line-up,
as self-managing tends to kill creativity once you get
into it
too deeply. It's down to the people and how they receive
YLHCSD, but also down to the music industry to accept it. I'm burnt out with
self-managing the project so we're now looking for new management to build on
what's been done in
the past with the new stuff. It's a very different
project now with Poppy involved. For me there's even more energy in the music
so we can't wait to get the new stuff out in a way that will enable YLHCSD to
reach the people that want it live Worldwide this time. Those people are
everywhere, and have supported the project for years by buying the t-shirts,
vinyl, supporting the digital releases, and encouraging the continuation of the
band during the hardest periods. Anything we now release is as a result of that
support.
What is the most important thing you have learned about
the music industry?
I suppose there a few negatively tainted lessons that can taken
from YLHCSD's experiences, like getting everything “in
writing”. Creativity and the energy of playing live is
all
YLHCSD are in it for and that's the same today as it was
5
years ago, but along the way there are a lot of entities
pretending to be this or that who will make a young
project
think you need their help to further a release or
whatever,
in what amounts to daylight robbery for a job they don't
do or ever intended to.
The lack of action will croak a release or a project
completely
if you can't pick yourself up and wise up. I can't
divulge that this stuff has happened directly to YLHCSD but let's say we've
seen it happen. I think individuals that operate within the music industry
knows there is a lot of money to be made from other people's dreams (I looked
at the shit on TV and gave mine to a plumber) and because it can be so
competitive I think a lot of artists do get taken advantage of. So without
meaning to sound jaded or cynical, it's good to
learn to be smart to that. If someone's not do their job,
friend
or otherwise, sack them. If music is good it will become
known one way or another, and it's not about how many people you reach, more
what it means to someone else.
Thank you for your time. You Love Her Coz She's Dead is
Next In Show.
YLHCSD TOUR DATES (WTF - HOOK IT UP U.S. - This is like the Space Race all over again)
17th Aug 2013 - w/Mat Horne - Queen Of Hoxton, London
11th Oct 2013 - VILLA ROUGE - Montpellier, France
16th Oct 2013 - Moscow - Russia TBC
17th Oct 2013 - St.Petersburg - Russia TBC
1 COMMENT NOW OK!:
love what he had to say abt the diff between CC and YLHCSD.
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