Recently, I had the chance to sit down with the three founding members from Montreal-based Funk/Swing outfit Static Gold, Zaynab Solange (vocals), Daniel Pombo (guitar), Samuel Chaco Kohn (keys). The group, composed of the founders, with Tom Pasto on bass, Owen Nelson playing the alto sax, and Louis “LoudHands” Souverain on the drums, is going to be working on a whole slew of new collaborations this summer, with potentials being rock band Alexei Martov on top of competing in the final rounds of Le National’s Battle of the Bands at Club Soda. Like them on Facebook (and us too) to hear more of their chiller electro gypsy swing vibes.
GRAPHITE: When did you guys form Static Gold?
Samuel: I would say we started last semester, our first official show was in November at le National, but we started Static Gold the summer of 2012. Our previous band disbanded, essentially. When we were with Galvao, the style was similar, but less focused, less polished. We played for four years with different lineups. We see it as figuring our sound out and getting to know each other, kind of like a bootcamp to get to this project that is much more serious.
How did you guys meet?
S: Daniel and I, we’ve known each other since high school. Zayneb, we met her on Craigslist. Actually, most of the musicians we’ve met were on Craigslist. It’s kind of the luck of the draw, I don’t know why she was roaming on Craigslists looking for like weird posts or something (laughs), but she found us and so did the bassist.
Daniel: There were auditions and man, there were some weird, weird people that came to the auditions. We had one girl that was a dominatrix, but she was really cool though. We had another girl, she hated gypsies and gypsy music but she still auditioned for our band even though there’s a gypsy-swing vibe to it (laughs). We met the Sax player at a party, he lived downstairs. He does Jazz performance at McGill, Owen Nelson. He was actually voted student of the year this year (for the Tribune).
Reppin’. What’s your creative process like?
Zaynab: The way we’ve done it most of the time is, you know, someone comes up with an idea either instrumentally and/or with lyrics/vocal melodies and we just work on it from there.
S: We used to write the music first. The lyrics would come after. We’d associate the lyrics with the vibe or the atmosphere that comes out of the music. But now, Zaynab also comes to us with her vocals and lyrics and we come up with the music from there.
How do you go about writing your lyrics?
Z: I have no clue. It just comes out of nowhere. A lot of songs end up being about love, even if it isn’t necessarily actually about love. Love and having a good time.
D: Her/our lyrics just describe what we’re going through right now. We’re young, having a good time. You hook up with people, fall in love with people.
S: We try to switch it up. It’s different stories. A lot of songs follow stories. It’s never really about us, but how we feel about something through a person. We play high energy shows. A motto for the band, picked by the sax player and also a song, is ‘Get Sum’. That’s what we do in the band. You could think it’s a sexual reference, and it could be. It’s more general, whatever your passion is, go with your inhibition and you know, get some. It’s about being yourself. The lyrics just follow.
How many original songs does Static Gold have?
S: Right now we have about 14. We’ve been writing a lot, we’re currently working on two more.
So is it exclusively your voice on the tracks?
Z: Yeah. They smoke.
D: Also cause we suck man! I mean I would love to sing, but I just suck man.
S: For me, the piano’s my voice, you know. I’m satisfied with that. I’m trying to whup out the accordeon on a song in the future. I just bought one. I’m not very good.
D: Can you please put that, ‘my piano is my voice’? So cheesy!
Z: I want to learn how to play bass, man. For me, my voice is my voice!
What’s on your iPod right now?
S: Static Gold. No, I’m kidding! I have a heavy Jazz background. One of my main influences is this Jazz pianist, Oscar Peterson. I listen to a lot of Caravan Palace, a French band, I think they’re the first ones to do this genre called ‘Electro Swing’, a mix of gypsy-jazz with electronic elements. I dig their style and sometimes try to reproduce that in the music that we play.
D: I have the new Steven Wilson album, that guy’s pretty cool. I have the new Justin Timberlake album (it’s not bad!), and this band called Snorky Puppy, some crazy fusion shit.
Z: What I’m listening to has nothing to do with our music, right now I’m listening to Lil’ Kim’s first and second albums. But at the same time it’s interesting to hear the lyrics that she wrote back in the day, they’re kind of rough. She was Biggie’s protege. And then he died. That, if not like Erykah Badu, then I’m listening to Raphael Saadiq, maybe Kendrick Lamar.
How has your sound evolved through the Montreal?
D: Being in the scene and talking to people who actually make a living out of music; since things have taken a more professional turn, you start seeing things differently. At the same time, there’s the business aspect of it. I just have a more realistic view of what being a musician is. And that it’s fucking tough.
S: I think Montreal is a great to be as a musician. There’s definitely a strong cultural and musical scene here; and contrary to New York for example, because it’s smaller it’s easier to stand out and know what’s going on around you, check out a bunch of bands. Under Static Gold, we’re trying to branch out of that and cater to as many people as we can. Cater to the diversity of Montreal.
What’s the most memorable gig you’ve had here so far?
S: We did a show at Absinthe bar in february for Valentine’s day. The sound wasn’t that great, but the energy was. It was an intimate space so we were close to the public, even took some shots with some people in the crowd.
Z: That was a significant moment for me because the people we saw in the crowd weren’t people we saw before, so it’s like new fans. It was interesting to see new faces and see that we could really create that awesome vibe anyway.
S: We’re planning to collaborate with other musicians, like Alexei Martov, we’re planning to play with them this summer. We also did Battle of the Bands at le National in March and we passed to the final round, so that’s gonna be Club Soda in May and it’s gonna be big. The prizes are big: free recording, promotion. We only have one recorded song and we don’t feel it’s representative of our music. We really want to record.
D: Once we release our first EP, before the end of the year, we’re gonna try to do a small tour on the east coast. The thing is, it’s only been 5 months.
What’s the dream gig?
D: Something like Madison Square Garden, or playing Burning Man would be fucking crazy. I’d love to play SXSW.
Z: Coachella. Fuck yeah.
S: What I’d really like to do is go on tour in a foreign country, like go play in Brazil, Tokyo. Rocking some foreign country. At that moment it’s like “yes, I really am doing what I want to do”: play music and travel.
What’s your favorite cereal?
S: I love that question. I’m the cereal man. I will eat cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You know the cereal is good when it’s the most artificial. It needs sugar and artificialness man, that’s my type of cereal.
D: I have some muesli banana nut crunch…
S: The Fruit Loops, the Reeses Puffs, the Count Chocula, all that crap. Cinnamon Toast Crunch.
Who’s the biggest joker in the group?
S: By far, the sax player. Owen is a ridiculous person.
D: Our bass player and our drum player, they’re like 40 man. They have families, and sons and shit. But it’s cool, it gives us a mature look when we play (laughs). Dude, old people are reliable -
S: We went for the older people because we had too many flaky musicians.
Z: Can we stop talking about ‘old people’, please!
We’re all young’uns at heart. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us, guys!
Interview by Etienne Delaune.
