Fischerspooner
What exactly does Fischerspooner stand for? Overload meets Casey Spooner, the co-founder of electro's art-pop outlaws, who kindly helps out.
Fraudulence – "We thought 'why would we put two months of work into a song and then perform it live? It won't sound as good, there's harmonies and layers in there.' After that it was like 'Fuck it – let's make this about lip synching.' Electronic music is basically a studio form, its not like its really necessary for us to fabricate the music. And people want to believe, it's uncanny. Other musicians say 'I heard the record and it sounds so much better live.' I'm like 'it's the same fucking record!' People honestly think I sing even though there are multiple parts, multiple harmonies, digitally edited."
Intensity – Describing Fischerspooner as a cult carries negative connotations, though the commitment shown by their devotees draws parallels with Numanoids and Smiths disciples. Many groups can claim dedicated indie publications, but few would expect to find those that edit them in the front row of every gig frantically collecting fake blood and parts of clothing to use as covermounts.
Sam Ash – "It's a place in Times Square where you can buy beats, breaks, vocals, basically everything you hear in electronic music, on specially compiled CDs. We're talking about the stuff Moby and Fatboy Slim use, the whole collective unconscious of dance music. It's like every genre you can imagine. All rights-free, on a CD, ready to go, from reggae to any form of house to Aboriginal Australian samples – the whole damn lot. There was one CD in there called Sounds Of India. It was all samples from Bollywood – Indian pop. When I heard that music I was like 'I have to use this.'"
Co-Operation – Fischerspooner is an umbrella for a core-group of talents; Warren Fischer (Composer), Casey Spooner (Lyricist), Lizzy Yoder and Cindy Greene (Vocalists), Jordana Toback (Choreographer), Vanessa Walters, Mindi McAlister and Ariana Pistilli (Dancers), Jeff Francis (Coiffeur), Angela DiCarlo (Makeup), Jeremiah Clancy (Onstage Assistant) and Kent William Albin (Chief Information Officer). Auxiliary members include DJ John Selway. "It's been turbulent and traumatic and it's absolutely not necessary that people share the same viewpoint. The conflict comes from confusion and the confusion is what makes each project interesting."
Hype – During this press trip, the path of Casey Spooner has crossed, unwittingly but aptly, those of Adam Ant and Neil Tennant. He is so obviously a star it seems almost futile becoming one. Top Of The Pops is Fischerspooner's natural habitat. And pop will shit itself.
Electro – "Warren was frustrated with his [film] career. He was doing the TinTin 2001, just crappy kid's toys. He was like, 'I think my whole life will be me shooting crap commercials.' I said to him, 'you're a brilliant musician, lets make a track and shoot a video.' I was doing experimental theatre at the time and going out and seeing Derrick Carter and Dajae at the Red Box – this is about '92. I guess I was in the dance scene and Warren was in the rock scene. A song that had a huge influence on me was [Jaydee's] Plastic Dreams. Warren hated it, the repetition of it, and he just went off and got into other music. It wasn't until he heard IF's Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass that he said 'I think this should be our sound.' This was the fall of '98."
Revision – "I've been asked if what we are doing is political. I'm sure it is if I thought about it, but I'm not sure exactly how. It felt great to do [a show in] Starbucks. It totally disturbed an environment that has become such a natural part of our day. It was great to disturb that homogeneousness. Imagine it: you come in to grab a coffee and there's a guy in a monkey suit doing a striptease to electro music surrounded by backing singers wearing red vinyl panties. In a Star-fucking-bucks."
Slogan – 'Sounds good, looks good, feels good'. Or 'I can't believe it's not electro'. Possibly.
Pretension – "This whole project is based on being artificial and pretending."
Oversights – "A lot of the best things that have happened to us have been problems. Gigolo have been really laid back. We control everything, it's a conceptual project over and above the music. Whatever we present them with, they're fine with it. For instance, we made 'Emerge' as a film and added the music later. People were annoyed by the number of edits in it but we refused to re-shoot it for MTV. If they won't play it we'll premiere it in art galleries – it'll be seen somehow. We're dealing with London, New York and Munich through the internet. We're totally indie – the accidents make it interesting. "
Observation - "On one hand it's about creating this artifice, this spectacle, no matter how or what it takes. I don't tell people what to do. I just want to ensure people are having a good time which makes for a good performance. People are watching to voyeur, to project themselves. If you hear my mike on, people honestly believe what they see and that I sing."
New York – "The city is just a bitch, there's no way around it, but the song is true ' if you can make it there you'll make it anywhere.' People are really hungry for culture, input, new ideas. In Chicago, my home town, I'd do a show and thirty people would show up, whereas in New York it'd be a hundred and thirty. New York for me has been dull, but its getting cooler. Guilliani's going to leave office, we're going to become popstars and New York will be come exciting again."
Exhibitionism – "It can go either way but it has to go one way or the other. We decided to go the other – if you have this opportunity to create music and have it played back why not use that technology to do something different? Because of my background in theatre and performance my mind ran wild with the possibilities. Moving set-pieces, all the devices of popular live entertainment plus new ideas that we could realise. We built upon that and brought in hair, make up, dancers, vocalists, all these different people that would come and work. I'm not trying to jerk anyone."
Rumour - "If there's anything you want to write, lie. In fact, the more you lie the better, this is about being exciting. It would be great to read a whole load of press cuttings that didn't resemble each other. The truth is boring. You may as well make it up."
Intensity – Describing Fischerspooner as a cult carries negative connotations, though the commitment shown by their devotees draws parallels with Numanoids and Smiths disciples. Many groups can claim dedicated indie publications, but few would expect to find those that edit them in the front row of every gig frantically collecting fake blood and parts of clothing to use as covermounts.
Sam Ash – "It's a place in Times Square where you can buy beats, breaks, vocals, basically everything you hear in electronic music, on specially compiled CDs. We're talking about the stuff Moby and Fatboy Slim use, the whole collective unconscious of dance music. It's like every genre you can imagine. All rights-free, on a CD, ready to go, from reggae to any form of house to Aboriginal Australian samples – the whole damn lot. There was one CD in there called Sounds Of India. It was all samples from Bollywood – Indian pop. When I heard that music I was like 'I have to use this.'"
Co-Operation – Fischerspooner is an umbrella for a core-group of talents; Warren Fischer (Composer), Casey Spooner (Lyricist), Lizzy Yoder and Cindy Greene (Vocalists), Jordana Toback (Choreographer), Vanessa Walters, Mindi McAlister and Ariana Pistilli (Dancers), Jeff Francis (Coiffeur), Angela DiCarlo (Makeup), Jeremiah Clancy (Onstage Assistant) and Kent William Albin (Chief Information Officer). Auxiliary members include DJ John Selway. "It's been turbulent and traumatic and it's absolutely not necessary that people share the same viewpoint. The conflict comes from confusion and the confusion is what makes each project interesting."
Hype – During this press trip, the path of Casey Spooner has crossed, unwittingly but aptly, those of Adam Ant and Neil Tennant. He is so obviously a star it seems almost futile becoming one. Top Of The Pops is Fischerspooner's natural habitat. And pop will shit itself.
Electro – "Warren was frustrated with his [film] career. He was doing the TinTin 2001, just crappy kid's toys. He was like, 'I think my whole life will be me shooting crap commercials.' I said to him, 'you're a brilliant musician, lets make a track and shoot a video.' I was doing experimental theatre at the time and going out and seeing Derrick Carter and Dajae at the Red Box – this is about '92. I guess I was in the dance scene and Warren was in the rock scene. A song that had a huge influence on me was [Jaydee's] Plastic Dreams. Warren hated it, the repetition of it, and he just went off and got into other music. It wasn't until he heard IF's Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass that he said 'I think this should be our sound.' This was the fall of '98."
Revision – "I've been asked if what we are doing is political. I'm sure it is if I thought about it, but I'm not sure exactly how. It felt great to do [a show in] Starbucks. It totally disturbed an environment that has become such a natural part of our day. It was great to disturb that homogeneousness. Imagine it: you come in to grab a coffee and there's a guy in a monkey suit doing a striptease to electro music surrounded by backing singers wearing red vinyl panties. In a Star-fucking-bucks."
Slogan – 'Sounds good, looks good, feels good'. Or 'I can't believe it's not electro'. Possibly.
Pretension – "This whole project is based on being artificial and pretending."
Oversights – "A lot of the best things that have happened to us have been problems. Gigolo have been really laid back. We control everything, it's a conceptual project over and above the music. Whatever we present them with, they're fine with it. For instance, we made 'Emerge' as a film and added the music later. People were annoyed by the number of edits in it but we refused to re-shoot it for MTV. If they won't play it we'll premiere it in art galleries – it'll be seen somehow. We're dealing with London, New York and Munich through the internet. We're totally indie – the accidents make it interesting. "
Observation - "On one hand it's about creating this artifice, this spectacle, no matter how or what it takes. I don't tell people what to do. I just want to ensure people are having a good time which makes for a good performance. People are watching to voyeur, to project themselves. If you hear my mike on, people honestly believe what they see and that I sing."
New York – "The city is just a bitch, there's no way around it, but the song is true ' if you can make it there you'll make it anywhere.' People are really hungry for culture, input, new ideas. In Chicago, my home town, I'd do a show and thirty people would show up, whereas in New York it'd be a hundred and thirty. New York for me has been dull, but its getting cooler. Guilliani's going to leave office, we're going to become popstars and New York will be come exciting again."
Exhibitionism – "It can go either way but it has to go one way or the other. We decided to go the other – if you have this opportunity to create music and have it played back why not use that technology to do something different? Because of my background in theatre and performance my mind ran wild with the possibilities. Moving set-pieces, all the devices of popular live entertainment plus new ideas that we could realise. We built upon that and brought in hair, make up, dancers, vocalists, all these different people that would come and work. I'm not trying to jerk anyone."
Rumour - "If there's anything you want to write, lie. In fact, the more you lie the better, this is about being exciting. It would be great to read a whole load of press cuttings that didn't resemble each other. The truth is boring. You may as well make it up."
Share this page