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MSTRKRFT: Masters Of The Art Of Self-Production

MSTRKRFT maestro Jesse F. Keeler (ex-Death From Above 1979) takes some time out on tour to give DIY a crash-course in electro-history and the art of production.

They’ve said “No” to remixing Britney Spears and U2 in the past, but in saying a big-fat “Yes” to the vocals of John Legend, MSTRKRFT have struck gold with a radio-friendly new song 'Heartbreaker' fronting their dangerously synth-heavy album, 'Fist Of God'. MSTRKRFT maestro Jesse F. Keeler (ex-Death From Above 1979) takes some time out on tour to give DIY a crash-course in electro-history and the art of production.

You’re currently touring your album 'Fist Of God', which has been called “rock-friendly” and “dance-party music” rolled in one. Are you happy with that description of the record’s overall sound?
Yeah, that’s basically what we’re trying to do, considering these songs would be played live when were DJing in clubs. The songs are different but with a similar purpose for the most part, maybe with a break in the middle.

'Fist Of God' is, as you say, a club record, but what do you reckon is the best way to listen to the album?
I normally listen to stuff initially when I’m doing something else, so it becomes the soundtrack for something – driving or walking around or reading a book. Some of the records I first listened to were when I was doing my laundry! And then suddenly, a song jumped out and I was like, “Shit! This is amazing!” I like to have music around me rather than sitting there and picking it apart, especially when you’re making music yourself.

So 'Fist Of God' is potential laundrette music! One that might go down well there is the John Legend-featured track ‘Heartbreaker’. How did you guys hook up?
We did a mix with him ['Green Light' – feat Andre 3000 also]. He liked it and wanted to do some more stuff with us, so we asked him, met up in New York and the rest is history!

You’ve got other artists on there including Ghostface Killah and N.O.R.E. What are MSTRKRFT’s pre-requisites when choosing an artist to work on its tracks?
We work with the purpose in mind – “we’ll see what we’re doing and see what we want the result to be like”. It depends on the voice. We like it when people have character because it’s like having their “signature” on the song. We’re also interested in playing around and doing things we haven’t done before.

You’ve called 'Fist Of God' a ‘concept’ record, in the sense that the concept is to make an American-sounding electro record. Why did you decide to go for this approach?
Electro comes from America originally – 80s funk and RnB was all electro production. So it’s American music – we just lost track of it! We’re just doing it with more updated sounds and expanding it.

Are the Americans ‘getting’ electro at the moment?
Yeah, it’s huge.

So, do you think “electro” is a trend? And how do you stay afloat if it is?
It was a trend in the 80s but it’s still going. It’s one of those things – like types of shoe. They can be a trend at a time and then come back and be cool again. Trends come and go. You can never plan to be cool because ‘cool’ as a definition is a constantly moving target. What’s cool can suddenly start changing. Electro will stop being cool once you have mainstream artists like The Black Eyed Peas making electro records or when you’re listening to a song and your parents know the words. Then you move on.

Your most talked-about song has got to be the ‘Easy Love’, judging from its YouTube hits. What does the Strawberry Milkshake in the video represent? You said in one interview that it was something to do with cutting your genitalia – and strawberry milkshake being the icky consistency that comes out...
I was trying to make a story of something interesting than really isn’t that interesting! It’s just something to look at. We just wanted to see what would happen when strawberry milkshake falls out of the sky.

It’s an original idea, which is testament to MSTRKRFT as an artist. Though the line between “artist” and “producer” seems to be becoming more and more blurred, with Timbaland and Mark Ronson being considered “male artists” at Award shows or acts like Hot Chip and Calvin Harris covering both aspects. How does MSTRKRFT fit into this ‘new-age’ definition?
I see a producer as someone who makes records for other people; and if they do, they’re not acting as an “artist”. But if you are making your own songs, and you’ve produced them yourselves, you’re still just an artist. That’s the tradition. But a doctor can be a doctor and then go home and fix cars. It depends on the context. If we’re producing something for someone else, we’re generally not trying to make it sound like us.

It would seem so, judging from your wide-open remix CV – spanning from Kylie to Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Wolfmother to Jesse McCartney. How do you go about selecting the artists you work with? Who, for instance, have you rejected or would you reject?
We reject a lot of people before we even hear the song or we reject people after we’ve heard their song! Or we reject people after we’ve tried to work with the song for about a week. We’ve actually done that more times than we’ve actually done remixes! When we first were doing remixes, we were accepting of pretty much anyone who asked but then we decided to work with songs we really want or people we really want to work with. We’ve been asked by U2 and gave up! We did a remix for Britney Spears and we were working on it for 2 weeks and realised that we didn’t use any of her vocals. We choose things that we can add something to and give the artist something interesting back in return, so they don’t feel cheated afterwards.

Is there any artist or track you think should never be remixed? Either because it is perfect or because it’s too awful it’s beyond repair!
A remix is really a tool to market a record and open the song to other audiences, especially if it’s a non-dance song. Every song we play live, I edit, so it’s a “no”.

You’re doing a worldwide club tour - does the experience of playing live vary much from club in one country to club in another country?
Every place is different every time we go there – even if it’s the same club twice. For instance, we were in Milan a year ago and we just played the same song at the same club there again, and it was a completely different party. It’s really about the moment. It’s circumstantial that a song you play at the party can be the perfect thing to play from 10.30pm to 2.00am or at 3.30am. Playing in Germany is always great.

Any thoughts on Barcelona? I saw you there last year!
They keep their places open so late there! I’m told “You’re playing at 4.30am to 6.00am” and I’m thinking, “Oh…great.”

With your background in DFA 1979, would MSTRKRFT ever consider injecting more traditional musicianship under this brand? Or is it all about pushing forward these new electronic sounds?
Well, we actually don’t use a computer for that much in the end. Music is all about sounds. If you were to get a metal band to cover one of our songs, that would make a lot of sense, because at the end of the day the music is the lyrics and the drumbeats, etc. I think Quincy Jones said, “Good music is good music. It’s only the rhythm that changes”. I feel the same way.

‘Fist Of God’ was a departure from ‘The Looks’, so what does the future hold for MSTRKRFT?
The future is untold until the record is done. We know what we’re going to do but it’s almost like Pot Luck - sometimes the music is more about the initial idea than about the content or the success of the idea, and its result.

Finally, is there any other craft, either in the world of music or the world at large, that you would like to master?
To play piano amazingly! Like when people go into a room, and say “Oh that’s a piano!” and they just suddenly sit down and play. I want to be one of those people! It’s not like playing good metal guitar but needing a massive amplifier, or playing drums in the street even if you’re a good drummer. I actually want to play piano so badly I’m always buying electric pianos in hope.

That’s a good point. I play piano and a couple of weeks ago, I went into a bar with a grand and ended up playing for about 1 1/2 hours.
That’s what I want. My dad plays and will go in somewhere and start playing and then the room stops. He’s terrifyingly good – so there’s still time!

There is. Don’t be shocked if the next MSTRKRFT record is an electric piano opus…

'Fist Of God' will be released on 27th July. Click here to pre-order.