Interview: Al Doyle of Hot Chip

BeatCrave recently had the fortuitous opportunity to talk with Al Doyle.  Doyle is 1/5 of Hot Chip and a truly significant part of the awesome, quirky and danceable group where he plays guitar, synthesizer, percussion and backing vocals.  Doyle is also a critical piece of the innovative LCD Soundsystem where he plays percussion and guitar.  In a music scene where everything seems so, so serious, Hot Chip is not only having fun creating their own unique sound, they are also getting a kick out of remixing popular songs into even more popular hits. BeatCrave talks with Al Doyle about the difference between Hot Chip and LCD Soundsytem, the electro-pop genre and the golden rule of remixing.

What is the main difference between being a part of Hot Chip and being a part of LCD Soundsystem?

That’s a good question. LCD Soundsystem is certainly more of a dictatorship.  James Murphy is the final say in what happens with LCD Soundsystem.  Hot Chip, on the other hand, is more of a democracy, with some members feeling they have more of a say in that democracy than others.

Your music is so clever and has a great sense of humor; do you find it easy or difficult to continuously meet this high standard of writing?

 I don’t have much to do with the lyrics. 

Do you find it difficult to make music to match the clever humor of the lyrics? 

It is definitely a challenge.  The guys create such awesome lyrics but it is definitely an enjoyable process: creating the music to match.

You guys definitely have fun on stage

Yeah. We have a lot of fun.  If it wasn’t fun, we wouldn’t be doing it.

Hot Chip is part of the large movement of electro pop music.  How do you feel about the bands that primarily use technology to create music?

Synthesizers have been around for a long time. Depeche Mode, New Order, etc. have used synthesizers in their music.  I don’t know if this is necessarily a new, new wave; it’s more of a continuation and evolution of music.  One that I really like being a part of.

What about bands like Fuck Buttons that don’t use any instruments on stage?

Well, I think people pay for their certificate expecting to see a certain thing.  There are bands like the White Stripes who are very particular about only using instruments and people expect to see them play their instruments and create music with them.  We are not that kind of “purists.”  When you go to a Hot Chip show you expect to see a lot going on onstage a lot of movement, it’s more of an interactive experience and that’s what people pay to see.  There are more introverted bands, however, that play, with or without instruments, and the experience is more about what kind of sound the artists is pushing out of the speakers.  There are so many different ways to create music and I don’t think one is necessarily better than the other.

You guys do a lot of remixes.  Is there a particular process in choosing who you will and will not remix?

When Hot Chip first started, we would remix anyone because it helped us get our name out there.  Now that we don’t need to do remixes quite as much we have slowed down on them. The whole process of remixing is a lot of fun but and it’s definitely easier to take a song that isn’t so great and turn it into something brilliant.  The real difficulty is taking a song that is already quite well done and trying to make it even equally as good.

A lot of people who remix songs say the number one rule, or the golden rule, of remixing is to only do songs that you can make better.  Do you agree with that?

No.  I certainly don’t subscribe to that kind of thinking.  I heard this remix of a recent David Bowie track and was amazed at how different the original and the remixed version were from one another.  Different, yes, but one was by no means better than the other. I think you should always try and make something great but the goal shouldn’t be to be better than the original.

Hot Chip only has 6 shows left on their US tour! If you have the chance, be sure to check them out. Whether you are, or were, lucky enough to see these guys live, you can experience what it’s like when you download Hot Chip’s newest EP: “iTunes Live: Berlin Festival” available exclusively on iTunes.

Photo By: Ryandombal