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INTERVIEW: FORD & LOPATIN
Written By: Christina Curry
INTERVIEW: JOAKIM
WRITTEN BY: CHRISTINA CURRY
INTERVIEW: DAEDELUS
WRITTEN BY: MAXWELL WILLIAMS
WHAT'S IN YOUR...
WRITTEN AND P HOTOGRAPHED BY: MATTHEW DEAR
TYLER, THE CREATOR
P HOTOGRAPHED BY: TONY K ELLY
WRITTEN BY: MAXWELL WILLIAMS
JUNO TEMPLE
P HOTOGRAPHED BY: K URT I SWARIENKO
WRITTEN BY: MAXWELL WILLIAMS
JULIE VERHOEVEN
WRITTEN BY: MAXWELL WILLIAMS
B ETTER LIVING
P HOTOGRAPHED BY: K ATE MARTIN
The setting is Echo Park, L.A.; the cab drops me off at the wrong location (despite the name of the band being
advertised outside the venue--fuck you very much, Echoplex) and points me toward a crossing where I will
inevitably j-walk my way down dark and dingy stairs that look like they belong in skid row or a cliché scene from
the '90s movie Juice. This is what gigs are all about. After coyly showing my ID (at the correct entrance) to the
reluctant bouncer to prove I am in fact not 16 years old, I molest my way through the eclectic crowd, and into the
dressing room where electronic duo Ford & Lopatin (consisting of members Daniel Lopatin and Joel Ford) have
found refuge before their show.
THE ART OF E MPIRE
P HOTOGRAPHED BY: CHANTELLE DOSSER
WRITTEN BY: L ONG NGUYEN
TESTIMONIES OF...
P HOTOGRAPHED BY: DAVID BELLEMERE
So you guys are getting ready for your show, do you still get nervous or ever feel you’re going to throw up
in your mouth a little?
Joel Ford: It’s definitely still exciting. I got nervous when we played at a festival called Primavera Sound in
Barcelona; it’s a pretty amazing festival. It was our first time out there, and playing our new set for such a big
crowd was kind of scary. But usually I don’t get nervous.
Daniel Lopatin: I get nervous a little right before and pretty much just feel like vomiting for the first few
minutes. It doesn’t last long though; once I’m into it, I just try and have fun.
You just kinda chill out with your pita bread and hummus [noted immediately as the only apparent thing
on their rider]--no pre-show prayer circles or rituals?
JF: Not really. I mean I just try and hang out and not be too crazy or whatever. No holy water.
As established and now signed artists, how do you feel about the L.A. crowds?
DL: Well, I’ve only played L.A. twice, and never with Joel really.
WILLIAM LEAVITT
P HOTOGRAPHED BY: JONATHAN HO
WRITTEN BY: MATTHEW BEDARD
WAR OF...
P HOTOGRAPHED BY: BEN RAYNER
WRITTEN BY: MUI-HAI CHU
MADE IN RUSSIA...
WRITTEN BY: G RIFFIN G OINS
JF: I’ve had different experiences every time I’ve been here. I haven’t scoped out if tonight’s lame or not, but I
just try and stay with my friends and keep away from it. We mostly play around New York where a lot of the
time the crowd kind of stands there, arms folded, but out of anywhere in the world we’ve played, my favorite
would have to be Glasgow. We played at the SubClub. They’re fucking crazy out there.
DL: Anything that has anything to do with Optimo is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
It’s obvious your music is heavily influenced by the '80s: the first time I listened to you guys, I felt like a
re-incarnation of Godley and Creme was making love to my ears. If you could collaborate with anyone
from that era who would it be?
DL: Paul McCartney. Seriously Paul McCartney.
JF: Holy shit that would be amazing. Yeah I love him too, but for me my favorite artist has to be Sting, because
when I look in the mirror and try to picture myself as a bass player, I think about Sting. But I’d rather listen to
Paul McCartney.
I read up that you guys just released an album on your own record label Software. I read that it doubles as
your own trademarked software, too. Sounds like some real Steve Jobs shit. How does that even work?
DL: I think Krishan should handle this one.
Krishan (Daniel and Joel’s graphic designer and friend): I mean, I got an email asking about doing logo
work, saw a few cc:s in there, saw a few names I knew, you know how it is. I sent out a few potential logos-which all got denied. But we’re moving past that; we’re all adults here. [Jokingly glares at Daniel and Joel]. But
for Software, there was a lot of names being thrown out there, it was originally going to be "Upstairs" or
"Combat," and we even talked about the name Circuit City. But I think it was the simplicity of just Software
[that] won it.
DL: He’s like the rain man of Software.
Krishan: Yeah, I’m CIA, he’s like KGB.
DL: He rarely every does public appearances, so this is pretty special. You guys are two young, good looking
kids. Are you going to cuddle tonight? You should cuddle.
Krishan: Yeah, I’m a totally a good cuddler, it’s on my OkCupid profile.
I’ll consider it, but I’m the big spoon. Always. On another note, how did you guys actually end up getting
together and forming Ford & Lopatin?
DL: We met in middle school.
Really? Wow, you guys have been friends for a long-ass time. So, you just decided to make music then and
there?
DL: Pretty much right away from middle school.
JF: Yeah, with grunge bands--it was the end of the grunge-era, around 1994; Cobain had been dead for a year.
We were pretty much united by grunge.
DL: We were always fucking around.
Where do you guys record most of your stuff?
DL: Mostly in bedrooms until recently in the past year.
JF: We have a really sweet studio that we get to work in in an office complex in Brooklyn, so that’s pretty cool.
How about time for relationships? Any girlfriends apart from your little music/man-marriage you’ve got
going on here?
DL: Yeah, of course. We both have girlfriends.
JF: Long-term girlfriends. The terms are long.
This is probably a common point of discussion for you in interviews: you were formerly called Games, but
I understand you had to legally change your name because of rapper The Game deciding he wanted to be
called just Game. Apart from him being a total tool, did this change affect you guys massively in any way?
JF: Yeah, he seems like a total jerk, man.
DL: It is really annoying and really upsetting we had to change our name. It sucks. Games was a good name.
JF: Yeah, I liked Games. Jerk.
What’s your favourite studio gear to work with?
JF: Our engineer. He’s pretty much our best piece of studio gear.
DL: He’s amazing because he knows how to use all of these… things.
JF: Yeah, we only know how to check our email.
DL: All we have to do is tell him to “turn on that gizmo thing” and we’re all good.
What are your future plans for Ford & Lopatin? Any festivals of note this summer or projects we should
look out for?
JF: Yes, none in the U.S., though. There’s Poland in August. I’m playing Off Festival there.
DL: The festivals we’re doing are all pretty much mostly in the fall. Joel’s playing that show in Poland solo,
actually. Hopefully he won’t have a mental breakdown. I couldn’t go there twice in one month, so that’s why I’m
peacing out on this one.
JF: [to Daniel] I loved the time I spent in Poland, okay?
MOVING...
WRITTEN BY: THOM FJORD
S ADNESS AND...
WRITTEN BY: STEPHEN BROWER
INVIGORATING...
WRITTEN BY: PETER DUNDAS
Alright now before I love you and leave you guys, there’s one more question I need to ask that I feel is kind
of crucial to ask any musician. Picture this: you’re having sex, there’s candles, atmosphere, you’re into
it… Then you find that your radio is tuned in to K-LOVE 107.5 or god forbid Loveline. What song’s the
one mood killer you can’t ignore?
JF: All songs about sex.
DL: Anything about sex. Anything that’s meant to be “sexy.” Like Saturday Night Live. It would just be too
corny. Turn it off, man.
Ford & Lopatin "World of Regret" from Thunder Horse Video on Vimeo.
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