LCD Soundsystem 'not over yet'
Much has been said about New York dance punks LCD Soundsystem bowing out of the music scene. Frontman James Murphy has other ideas, however.
The band returned with their third record This is Happening in May, confirming their status as the darlings of critics and bloggers.
After threatening to punch a bottle-throwing fan during his set at London's Wireless Festival in Hyde Park at the weekend, it seems the man himself has plenty of bottle left. Joanna Youle spoke to him before his Wireless show.
There have been conflicting rumours about this potentially being the last album for the band - is that how you see it?
It is the end of a certain thing, the end of us being a professional rock 'n' roll band that makes albums and goes on tour and makes video and things.
It doesn't mean we won't make an album, it doesn't mean we won't ever play again. It is such a huge time commitment for everybody, not just me. We really can't do anything else with our lives. I'm 40 and I really want to do some things with my life.
Is that a big landmark for you, turning 40?
No, I don't care, but it seems appropriate. Sometimes you need to create landmarks, otherwise you blink and your life is gone.
When you were making This is Happening, did you have it in mind that it might be your last album, and did that change the processes that went into its production?
Only in the back half of it. The second half, I was like, this should be it. I was trying to get it done by the time I was 40, because I promised myself, I would quit by the time I was 40.
I just tried to make the best record I possibly can. I don't understand the idea of not making every record as if it is going to be your last. To do anything less than try and make the best record I could is to be a hack and I would rather hacks get run over by buses.
You've done the whole trilogy in a decade - if you were to call it quits right now and that was the last album, would you be satisfied?
Yeah, I like that it's a trilogy, and it's more than that as there was the 45:33 thing [a composition for Nike intended for joggers] and some 12-inches and stuff that makes me happy. If I put that with the DFA remixes that we did over the past 10 years I am really happy with my noughties.
As the DFA record label boss, you have your fingers in quite a lot of pies. What's your next big thing to focus on?
Well first it will be cleaning all the pie off my fingers. There are a couple of projects that have been on the back burner for 10 years.
I haven't been able to produce my friends' bands, which is really frustrating. I didn't do the last The Juan Maclean record or the Holy Ghost record and I wasn't able to work with Planning to Rock.
Most of the DFA artists, I haven't been able to commit the time to work on their records. I haven't done a remix in a long time. I haven't put out a proper dance 12-inch in a long time and I miss that.
I haven't had a weekly party in a long time and I miss that desperately. I haven't had the chance to just not have a plan. If I have an idea, and I write it down, and it goes in this pile of things I want to do.
So this is just an opportunity to sit still for a minute, listen to my records at home again and get excited in a different way. I am still excited about what we do, but I want to find a new way of dealing with my time.
Who would you like to work with again or produce?
I missed the opportunity to work with Arcade Fire in the studio twice on two albums in a row just because they were recording at the same time I did and that broke my heart 'cause we toured together. I consider them to be very good friends and I admire what they do and it would have been really fun to work with them.
I'd also love to spend time with the Dewaele brothers [Soulwax]. I have never been able to sit in the studio for very long, and we've been friends for so long, and so close.
I'd like to be able to say, hey, let's spend a month working on something, but we can't. I'm really frustrated by that, so things like that are next. I want to put together a festival in New York. There is a lot of stuff I want to do. I am a busy person by nature!