Interview: Dan Le Sac

Posted on 30th Apr 08 by Liam Tyrrell | 0

Artist: Dan Le Sac
Author: Liam Tyrrell

Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip had a smash hit on YouTube last summer with Thou Shalt Always Kill. The independent duo had plenty of interest from a host of labels and finally put pen to paper with Sunday Best" the label of BBC Radio 1 D.J. Rob da Bank "and you thought Rick O"Shea was bad". They"re gigging pretty much non"stop and their album" Angles" comes out on May 12th.

Drop"d caught up with the mixmaster of the pair" Dan Le Sac" to ask him a bunch of questions and get them answered. The following records the grimy details of that conversation.

Drop"D: How did you and Scroobius Pip start working together"

Dan Le Sac: I booked Scroobius to come and play at my night in Reading and in the gap between booking him and him actually playing I did some remixes of his solo stuff and it just went from there really. We both seemed to enjoy what we were doing and carried on.

Drop"D: Did the popularity of Thou Shalt Always Kill when it came out last year make your act more attractive to labels when it came to looking for a deal"

DLS: Well yeah" of course it did" there was loads of hype around it and all that" but we made sure we moved away from that as quickly as we possibly could hype"wise" and got other stuff out so we could prove we had more than just that one. And that also led to making sure we made the right choice about labels who understood the width of what we do and not just that one track.

Drop"D: You"re now signed to Sunday Best" what have you got from it that you couldn"t achieve alone" given the success you already had independently"

DLS: It"s the whole just actually releasing a record you know" just the amount of work that goes into making the finished product. From the artwork through the mastering through the mix of the album" and really crazy stuff that you just don"t really know: the way tracks have to be registered and all that and we just don"t have the experience to do it. So we could have done it on our own" but we just couldn"t have done it as well. We"ve made sure we"re with a label that are of a benefit to us" but without affecting the way the album sounds.

Drop"D: How many records is your deal for"

DLS: I think it was 3 albums we were going for with them. But" if it all works" hopefully it will be 50 albums with them.

Drop"D: The album" Angles" is out on May 12th" are you excited"

DLS: Yeah" it"s going to be awesome. It"s a really exciting time for us. We"ve been gigging so hard and working so hard on the record that it"s just really nice to see that it"s actually going to be in people"s homes.

Drop"D: Are you happy that it says what you wanted it to say"

DLS: Oh yes" definitely. To be honest the only way we can be happy about it is because we are the only creative input on it. The label hasn"t had a say in how it sounds and that"s part of the choice of what we"ve done in that we were driving force in what it sounds like and not the label.

Drop"D: In terms of your songs" which is more important" the message or the music"

DLS: To be honest" it"s really hard to say which is more important" I think they complement each other. Neither should be more important than the other" they should supplement each other. So on tracks like Angles" the message is really" really strong so the music can only emphasize it: it should never detract from it. So it"s about finding a balance" and I think we"ve done that.

Drop"D: So you just recently played at South By South"West in Austin" Texas" how did you go down with the American audience"

DLS: Yeah great" really good" just great fun. They seemed to like us over there. They"re a fun lot in America. We did seven dates while we were out there" so we played in Chicago" San Francisco" New York" and L.A. as well and yeah" they were nice.

Drop"D: You"ve got a lot more dates lined up for this summer" is there any of them that you"re particularly excited about"

DLS: Just Fuji Rock" that looks exciting" and we"re going to Coachella in America in a couple of days" which is going to be fantastic as well. But we look forward to all gigs because it"s just so exciting to go out and play.

Drop"D: Is there a danger with the style of music you"re making that you could end up thought of as another novelty white"rap act along the lines of Goldie Looking Chain"

DLS: The only way that we"d end up pigeon"holed as a novelty white rap act would be if that was what we became" but at the moment" with the weight of the album" that could never be called novelty. So we"re alright" we"re safe not to become that" because as long as we have content and interesting beats we"ll be fine.

Drop"D: We"ve spoken of a message within your work" so is there anything in particular that you"re trying to achieve"

DLS: Eh" no. I suppose the ultimate goal is just to continue enjoying doing what we"re doing. Just to continue to be creative" I don"t think there should be any more goals than that. You could list all the things you want in the world" but what you actually have to achieve should just be being happy about what you do.

Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip release their debut album Angles on May 12th and precede the release with the following Irish dates :

The Limelight" Belfast on May 4th"
The Nerve Centre" Derry" on May 6th"
The Button Factory" Dublin" on May 7th"
De Burgo"s" Galway" on May 8th"
Trinity Rooms" Limerick" on May 9th.

As an aside" can I just ask what the hell is going on with venue names on this island" That list just there is a chronicle fit for ridicule if ever there was one.