TEAM ROBESPIERRE
Interview by Jason Bergman
Brooklyn's TEAM ROBESPIERRE are a pretty good example of what happens when you take some synths, frantic vocals, and dance-infused guitars, toss them into a blender, and release a record. Their debut full length, Everything's Perfect was pretty damn consistent, so we caught up with the Ty Kube, who plays synth and occasionaly sings in the group, as he preps for a national spring tour with THE TEENAGERS.
PastePunk: How is the remix project going (the group asked fans to remix their songs and submit the tracks for an upcoming EP. You can find more details at the band's MySpace below)? Any submissions, awesome tracks, or general weirdness you didn't expect?
Ty: The remix project is going great. we've really got some interesting stuff. Hopefully one day we can release some of the tracks we really like. Id have to say our favorite is the remix out friends Ninjasonik did. It actually has rapping on it. Its cool to hear your music used in a hip hop song. This song is gonna be released on a comp[ilation] called All Our Friends Are In Bands.
PastePunk: I saw you guys play at Bowery Ballroom in NYC a month or two ago and you seemed a bit uncomfortable (or at least not used to) being up on a stage. Do you enjoy basement/house shows a lot more and is it tough to transition from playing a floor to being up on a stage, staring down at a crowd?
Ty: Well I think we will always love the warehouses and basements. It's where we came from and hopefully we will always be able to do these shows. Even now as a band we have discussed the fact that NO MATTER WHAT we always wanna play a mix of clubs and DIY shows. As for playing on the stage, it's ok. We are getting more used to it...and there are ways to make the stage feel like the basement. Usually I'll just play my keyboard off the stage or we will just have the crowd come onto the stage and dance around with us. This usually makes security pissed!
PastePunk: So you guys have been getting lots of great press and are now touring with THE TEENAGERS. Is everything really perfect?
Ty: Yes. Well ok I'll be honest No....but looking up. Hopefully we can make everyone feel perfect during out 30 minutes set every night!
PastePunk: What are you plans for the future? Tour? New Album?
Ty: We are about to go on tour with THE TEENAGERS from France and then this summer we are going on tour with MATT & KIM and THE DEATHSET as part of a package tour called "FUCK YEAH FEST!" As for releases we just released a new seven inch on Min/Max Records out of brooklyn and we are about to release a seven inch on Motherfucker Recorded out of London. When this one drops we are gonna go out to the UK to play a few shows. I think the dates on that one are June 11th-15th. No plans for a new album as of yet.
PastePunk: You mix lots of different styles and elements together and I was wondering if that makes your song writing process a hell of a lot harder? Do you all
bring different traits to the table or is writing a more collective process?
Ty: Personally I feel that for us this makes the song writing process easier. I know that sounds weird, but we sort of have a anything goes policy. We'll write a pop punk song, then a hardcore song, and then an elctro one, all in the same session. We all like all these sorts of music and we try and incorporate all of them in the band.
PastePunk: The album certainly has lots of different styles, what were some of your influences or things you looked to when making the album?
Ty: Well I'd say our number one influence is our neighborhood and the things we see everyday happening in Brooklyn. This is especially true when it comes to the lyrics. Musically I'd have to say early electo and punk records, especially the records that mix both styles such as Screamers, Mens Recovery Project and Metal Urbain.
Team Robespierre on Myspace
