Interview: Goldroom | Interviews, Nu Disco, Tech House

Nov 25 2011

Interview: Goldroom

by Westhead • Interviews, Nu Disco, Tech House • Tags: , , , , , 0

It’s no secret that when a music savvy soul thinks LA, they immediately think nasty, heavy electro, I like to call this the Steve Aoki syndrome. However, Los Angeles is far more multi-faceted when it comes music genre’s and as of late amazing artists like Josh Legg through his new project, Goldroom, have been making noise with something, well, a little bit quieter. Legg, originally of the synthpop trio, Night Waves, is off on his own now creating a tropical dreamscape that is nothing, if not, soothing to the mind’s eye. His knack for combing twinkling synths with shoe sliding drums has quickly cemented his sound in the annals of disco history as well as in speakers throughout the land. Josh was nice enough to take a second and talk to us about his sound, his music tastes, and the disco movement drizzling in with wintertime good vibes.
-
1. How did you get started making music? Who were your major influences when developing your dreamy disco sound?
-
I’ve been writing music for as long as I can remember, to be honest. I didn’t start consciously writing songs until I picked up a guitar in my early teens, but I think I was always singing melodies and riffing off existing songs before that. I identify as being a songwriter more than just about anything else in life. When I was about 16 my cousin Sean, who’s also a musician, gave me his older 4 track cassette machine, which I started to experiment with producing songs. Layering instruments and making them sound good together quickly became an obsession!
-
Like a ton of other producers, seeing Daft Punk live in 2007 changed my life. I’d always dabbled in electronic music using Logic on my Mac, but when I saw that show it opened my mind to the fact that electronic music could be just as emotional and communicative as any kind of pop music. Since then I’ve just been trying to get better and better at producing the types of sounds and grooves I hear in my head. I think a lot of the great pop music I grew up on in the late 80s and 90s influences me more than anything else. I am an unabashed fan of pop music and I think it comes across in my productions. I generally write uplifting chord progressions and I tend to try and keep my productions clean and to the point. 
-
2. What is it like to produce on your own versus being a part of NightWaves? Are Kyle and David still involved in your music-making process?
-
Writing/producing with NightWaves is an interesting and complicated dynamic. We’ve had songs emerge in so many different ways that it would be pointless to try and describe how it all happens. Id say most of the time Kyle shows me an idea he’s been working on, which I then take and arrange/add/write to. We then start the process of trading the track back and forth a number of times tweaking, writing, adding parts, singing etc, until its done. Its been pretty amazing because we’ve both contributed in really important ways to every track we’ve released. We have a pretty special musical bond.
-
Writing with Goldroom is very freeing to me because I don’t have a preconceived notion of what Goldroom is ‘supposed to be’. With NightWaves, we all know exactly what that band is, and we know what we want it to sound like. But with Goldroom, I have the freedom to explore different sounds, and almost more importantly I have the freedom to collaborate with all sorts of great artists. I’ve been writing music with David (also from NightWaves), Jeremy from Fiero, Fabian, Sam Gabbard from LexiconDon, and a whole bunch of other awesome people. In the end it is quite different working as a solo artist since I have noone to answer to but myself. Its a freeing idea, but its also dangerous because I have nobody to act as a sounding board for the material. 
-
I’ve been in a number of bands throughout my life, and the experience of being in a band with a group of guys is one of the best things about working in music. When you’re all collectively making something that sounds amazing together, theres nothing that beats that. NightWaves is definitely the pinnacle of that feeling for me. We’ve made some amazing tunes together and we’re still working really hard on our first full length. What I ended up finding was that I had a lot of excess energy and material that just didnt fit within the NightWaves framework. I realized that I needed another outlet to allow me to work on different sounds and collaborations. Thats basically how Goldroom came to be.
-
3. Lately, you’ve been a releasing machine with tropical remixes and day time singles coming out weekly. Are you prepping for a larger album release? Perhaps a tour in the future?
-
Thanks, I’ve had the opportunity to remix a bunch of really amazing songs recently. I love doing remixes. When I start doing original tracks, thats where I take all my ‘tricks’ and try and write the best thing I can. I am definitely continuing to write as many original tunes as possible right now. I’d love to release a full length at some point, but a lot of that depends on finding a great label to team up with! I’m in the process of figuring that kind of stuff out, but I can’t talk about it just yet. I do think its safe to say that you guys will be hearing new original Goldroom stuff soon!
-
As for touring, I just did a short run of a couple shows in Canada, which was super fun and went really well. I’d love to tour more extensively. Hopefully some good things happen in that area in 2012.
-
4. What artists have you been listening to lately? Who’s bumpin’ in your headphones?
-
There is SO much great music coming out right now! There’s the stable of Los Angeles based producers (Plastic Plates, Oliver, Poolside, Classixx) that I think rivals the best the world has to offer. (I wish I could include Gigamesh in this group… Matt, move to LA!) Those guys are doing legitimately revolutionary things with dance/pop music production and I’m proud to be a contemporary of theirs, especially given that LA is traditionally not a hotbed for great dance acts. Internationally I’m loving pretty much everything DiscoTexas is releasing, specifically Moullinex and Zimmer’s recent stuff. French Express, out of Dallas is another label that is pushing the boundaries between dance and pop music. They’re way worth checking out. Lastly, all of the Binary guys. They’re my favorite artists, and I think of note is Fabian’s full length, Say Goodbye, which is probably my favorite record of 2011.
-
5. A few months back I was talking to Justin Faust about Disco and LA. He said that LA’s almost ready for a huge disco movement. It’s no secret that hard electro and dubstep tend to influence the LA club scene, but do you see a resurgence of disco on its way? What do you think it’s going to take for that to occur?
-
I think disco is back in a huge way in LA. As a part of Binary we always tried to bring melodic dance music to the forefront, and we started to try and bring that into the fold in 2008, when we booked Bag Raiders, The Twelves, Anoraak, and Miami Horror for their first LA shows ever. Since then, its been great to see some amazing parties and promoters step up and throw way cooler parties than we did! The Rhonda parties have reached legendary status around LA, and they show no signs of slowing down. The Guns In The Sun crew, along with Collaborative Media have done an incredible job bringing this kind of music to the west side of LA and Orange County. Just look at the Pacific Festival, where Fred Falke and the Bag Raiders basically headlined. No way that could’ve happened 2 years ago!
-
I think it all starts with the music. It always takes some time for the general public to catch on, but I think we’re in good hands considering all of the talented musicians we have in LA making this kind of music.
-
Red Light (Goldroom Remix) – Gigamesh 
Do You Believe (Goldroom Remix) – Poolside 
Fair Warning (Goldroom Remix Dub) – Penguin Prison 
Nights In Nantes – Goldroom 
-
-
Like Goldroom on Facebook
Follow Gold Room on Soundcloud
Follow Goldroom on Twitter
-
- DuKΣ


Leave a Reply

Top