Voodeux talk about their techno horror

Voodeux talk about their techno horror

19 June, 2009 | 8.39AM

• Written by: Zack Rico
• Filed under: Music News: dirtybird, mothership, voodeux

Why do we dance? For many of us, it’s simply because it’s fun. Case studies on dancing from various global traditions has shown that people also dance to express national, political, local, gender, religious, or sexual identities. But you can bet, we sure as hell, don’t dance when we’re scared shitless.

That didn’t stop Tanner Ross and KiloWatts from experimenting with frightful techno under the name Voodeux. The duo’s debut LP ‘The Paranormal’ will make you paranoid: it’s full of dark and evil sounds that contrast quite uneasily with rhythms that your body is more used to. It wears a techno mask, but it also wields a knife, covered in blood, above your head.

Yet despite its psychopathic tendencies, the music on ‘The Paranormal’ is intended for the dancefloor, and its creators do not want to do anything to your body except make it move. “We just started noodling around with tracks and then I met Claude VonStroke and he thought our ‘Voodeux’ music was suited for Mothership,” explains Ross, about how their LP landed on the San Francisco-based label.

We decided to study Voodeux under the spotlight, to see exactly how their minds work. Here’s an interview with Tanner Ross.

You’re releasing a scary ass album in the middle of summer. Bad timing?

Ha. Well, you gotta shake things up a little. Maybe it’s bad timing, but it’s nice to have a mixture in life, don’t you think?

For sure. But where does the dark sounds, artwork and band name come from?

Both me and James [KiloWatts] like darker music sometimes and we’re both into Nine Inch Nails, Aphex Twin, and a lot of moody music in general.

This is our outlet for that, and it’s fun to make sounds that create a crazy reaction. That’s really our ultimate goal, and to make people dance.

The actual name Voodeux - we were just looking for a scary and kinda haunting name for this music we were doing. I saw this video of Screaming Jay Hawkins doing ‘I Put A Spell On You’ and he was dressed as a voodoo priest or something. And people had always said that when they listened to our stuff it sounded like we were casting spells, so the name worked out. Plus there’s two of us, so ‘deux’ means two in French.

Video: Screaming Jay Hawkins performs ‘I Put A Spell On You’

Isn’t it a strange sort of contradiction though? Trying to get people to dance whilst scaring the bejesus out of them?!

The thing is, people dance to this music. My mom loves it and she thinks it’s funky. But some people like to come out and just listen to the music and not dance at all. So it’s definitely a sound that causes a different reaction to most electronic dance music.

What sort of reactions have you had playing the tracks in clubs?

Overall, there’s been some great reactions. I will admit that we have to be careful to time the tracks for the right moment.

How so?

Well, you can’t open a set with most of it, but if people are really having it and you drop it at the right time they lose their minds. It’s crazy!

With people losing their minds, and others coming just to listen to it, have you built a bit of a weird following? A cult of undead?

Ummm, I can’t really say as we’ve only played one proper live show so far which was the Mothership party in Detroit. People were really into it there though, and there were all types there, although this music is certainly a niche sound.

Are you personally interested in the paranormal, and do you have a big horror movie collection?

Yeah, I have always liked suspense and horror. I was never really into the slasher stuff though, like the really crazy slasher stuff.

Beyond the haunting vibe, there is a cinematic feel to the album. Where does all that come from?

I actually did my thesis on music for film, and James has just finished doing mostly an ambient album so I think that probably affected the album’s overall feeling.

I just like spacey music so that direction got sprinkled in there a bit and created the right vibe. It’s not just a flat signal for six minutes.

Quite the opposite, in fact, it’s very danceable. Have you got any tips on how to create the perfect groove?

I think it’s all about listening to good grooves and dissecting beats. Try to remake grooves exactly how you hear them to see what makes them work so well. If you do that enough it will become cake. You just have to put in a lot of time.

How did you and James get into making music together?

About 10 years ago, I was a fan of his music and we used to both frequent this message board for music teck talk and such like.

I hit him up and told him I liked his music and asked him for some tips then a few years later we started making tunes.

‘Skeleton Key’ and ‘Bones’ have been well received in the clubs. Any other tracks from the album which are doing the business?

‘Just A Spoonful’ got single of the week on Carl Cox’s Kiss FM show, and Joe Ransom has been playing it a lot on his show as well. Konrad Black is really into the album, as is Heidi and Damian Lazarus.

Voodeux ‘Just A Spoonful’

How are the live shows coming together?

The first show was really well recieved. For the shows we strip down the tracks a little and re-twist them. We use Ableton for the performances.

I use a laptop and James has a Dbeat controller by Openlabs that is absolutely bad ass. It looks like a spaceship! As time goes on we will aquire more gadgets for our arsenal.

Did you guys plan your live performances much?

Well we have a set list, and then we just jam out in that order. I guess it’s pretty much improvisational.

James drives the arrangement and I drop sounds and twist them up. James and I naturally vibe well together in creation and performance, which is great.

Video: Voodeux live @ Detroit’s Mothership party

That must be a totally different experience to DJing.

Yeah it is. I love DJing, but playing live is rather amazing. It’s like being in a band, ya know?

I enjoy them both but I think right now I like playing live more because it’s so fresh to me.

What’s the scariest thing that has ever happened to you?

[The wind blows. Clouds drift slowly above a hill, illuminated by a shadowy moon. A barn door bangs against its broken wooden frame. An unidentifiable scream hollows from the darkness, and as if my magic, Voodeux is gone.]

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