Freakin’ Disco
... is a band that conjures up deep, psychedelic and groovy music. Their live performances have an elemental power that catapults the audience to space. They have just unleashed their third album, TOTEM, featuring multi-Grammy Award winner Steve Dub, producer of The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy and many more.
TOTEM is more cohesive than their earlier albums and holds a special significance for them. This album is a masterpiece of dedication and passion. TOTEM is a spellbinding album that transcends the ordinary.
Freakin’ Disco have returned with “Totem” and they have done so in an impressive way. My favorite tracks on the album are “Freak out”, “Wolf” and “Face yourself”. Which 3 songs would you recommend to our readers?
We are really proud of “Toad” featuring Ian Siegal, a great British blues singer. Also, “Gekko” is a great album and concert starting tune, while “Something” is definitely something we recommend. Sit down and enjoy the music for almost 20 minutes. Also, check out the videos of “Face Yourself” and „Freak Out” on Youtube.
How did you choose the songs for the album? Did you have a pool of songs to select from or did you work on a concept to create exactly 9 songs?
We didn’t have a pool, so we started from scratch. The only concept was the album title, Totem. We talked a lot about what it means to us, then we started to write the songs. At the end we stopped at nine. It was a long process with several stages in many studios and a lot of home editing, but at the end we are really proud of it.
One of the tracks on “Totem” is “Something”, which lasts almost 19 minutes. I think it’s a great piece of music, but how did you end up with such a long duration?
We had a studio session for which we prepared with 2 songs, “Gekko” and “Plant”. And there was “Something”, of which we barely knew anything, so we decided to just improvise and play with it. We recorded a 25-minute-long improvised session, and this is basically what you can hear now with some structural changes. It got a bit more compact, got a few new layers, but that’s it.
The whole album sounds extraordinary, with a fine blend of electronica, experimental and psychedelic elements. How much time did you spend on finding the right sounds for each song?
On rehearsals we spend a lot of time on finding the right sounds. Every rehearsal has its sound finding-tweaking 40-50 minutes. And it doesn’t stop with the recording. The drum sounds are the hardest to change, but anything else can be further developed. And we are doing it until the last moment before the deadline. The songs on “Totem” create amazing moods and atmospheres, which I think would make for a fantastic live show. Do you have any plans to perform on stage?
The whole album was totally planned for both the studio release and the live shows. We have been playing these songs live since the beginning of summer. We really love playing live. The audience always fills us up with energy and this power impacts the songs in a very positive way.
If you could pick a special location for a gig, where would you like to play?
We have an old plan to put on a show in the woods without any stage. It would be just the forest, the instruments and the audience. And we would love to share this music with people abroad as well. We feel that “TOTEM” and the music of Freakin’ Disco should be played on stages all over Europe and beyond.
And finally, what can we expect from Freakin’ Disco in the future?
We are planning to release more music videos for the album, which we are releasing on double vinyl this autumn. There will be new music on the D side, which will only be available on the LP. And we hope to come to your country to play concerts soon!
