underworld getting pushy
Mean Street Magazine, Vol. IX | No. 10 | April 1999
BEAUCOUP MEANS "MANY" IN FRENCH"We’ve got to get up early tomorrow morning and do the MTV stuff. I don't like doing TV stuff so much - especially hung over," says Underworld member Darren Emerson, calling from his New York city hotel room. Along with his bandmates Karl Hyde and Rick Smith, he’s in town promoting the band's third full-length album, Beaucoup Fish, a release which is once again staking Underworld's claim as leaders in the electronic music genre.
The members may not relish the TV appearances, but the other reason for coming to America - doing some "warm up" concerts to try out the new material before launching a fullscale tour - has been going extremely well.
"All the gigs: Montreal, Chicago, New York, LA - they were really packed and everyone was havig a good time," Darren says.
The success of Underworlc's live shows - and their career for that matter - Darren attributes to his outfit being more human than most technology-dependent bands, and going the extra mile to make their shows truly "live." Instead of mainly acting along to pre-recorded tapes or following a rigidly unchanging set every night. Underworld makes things as raw and spontaneous as possible
"We run sequences from the computers and just jam," Emereon explains. "We don't even know what we're gonna start with until we're on the stage, and we haven't got a set [list] to go by" he says with a laugh. "It can be a bit scary, but we pull through. Shows change every time, so sometimes one's better than the other, but usually it's okay."
In the spring, the band will embark on a world tour supporting Beaucoup Fish.
Beaucoup Fish ('beaucoup" is French for "many") seems like an unlikely album title, but Darren says the inspiration for this came from friends of the band who live in Louisiana, and in their French tinged way of speaking, they excitedly described successfully reeling in "beaucoup fish" during a fishing expedition. The phrase charmed Underworld's members, and viola! - an album name was born.
Besides, Darren adds, "The last [album titles) were a bit of a mouthful [like Second Toughest in The Infants], so we thought we'd do something shorter!"
The album's eleven songs deftly display Underworld's unique take on clubready dance music. Edgier than most of the artists in this genre, the band also remains relentlessly melodic and almost maddeningly catchy. You never know if you'll find yourself being hammered by power-crunching, percussion dominated passages, or left dreamily awash in languid, pretty atmospherics...and sometimes, the band runs such seemingly discordant elements concurrently -leaving clubgoers the world over feeling simultaneously exhilarated and jittery.
The band members work on songs slowly and, for the most part, separately - Underworld albums are rather like three solo projects combined into a single album only at the last minute.
"We've got three different studios, and we'll go off to our different studios and then get together and see what's happening, throw things about," Darren explains. 'It's nice to escape into your own little world and get on with your own little things. Everyone's different, so everyone's doing their own little vibe. I can say, 'I'll be back later,' then leave for two hours and put down my own tracks, then go back and see what they've put together."
Mainly, Darren says, the band aims more toward creating a song that "takes you on a bit of a journey." Rather than having more specific melodic or thematic ideas. "We don't plan anything out. We just follow our noses, really. We don't set out and go, 'Okay, this is how we're gonna do one in this style, and then this style."
Darren says that the band is particularly enjoying visiting the States now that techno or electronic-based club music (whatever you want to call it) is really taking off here; he and his bandmates feel confident that Beaucoup Fish will vault the band into the same level of fame that fellow genre members Chemical Brothers and Prodigy have already reached here.
Britain has been in the throes of a full scale musical revolution since this type of music hit big there in the late '80s, but America has been slow to catch on. But now that it is, "you can see it-it's like a rocket," Darren says.
But it's not just America doing a rapid catch up routine, as he explains: "I went down to do some DJing at some Christmas parties in Australia, and it was like 1988 in England all over again. Warehouse parties, things like that. So it's kind of good - you can go there and enjoy it all over again."
Now that it's in the mainstream and hitting the charts worldwide, the genre is attracting some most music forward thinkers and some unlikely fans: David Bowie and Elton John have both mentioned Underworld as a current favorite, and Darren says he's heard word that Prince William is a self-proclaimed Underworld fan. "It gets a bit strange when it starts to get over to the people you wouldn't expect," Darren says with an amused laugh, "but that's what you make music for - so people can listen to it and enjoy it.’
This fame has been a long time coming for Underworld. In fact, this is actually the second incarnation of the band; Karl and Rick had formed a band named freur in 1981, eventually changing the name to Underworld. The band was at the forefront of the just-forming electronic/dance scene, but their sound proved too far ahead of its time, and split in the late '80s.
After the death of Underworld Version 1.0, Karl went on to play guitar for lggy Pop's band, while Rick met up with Darren Emerson in the London club scene. Although Darren was only 20 years old when he met his future bandmate, he was already one of the most in demand DJs in the world, using a style he describes as being "quite fast, funky techno, a lot of deep stuff." He was also, Rick noted, full of good ideas for music that would blow clubbers' minds.
So when Kari tired of touring and returned to London, it was only natural that when he and Rick decided to give Underworld another try, Darren should be included in the lineup.
Although he enjoys his dual life as DJ and Underworld member, Darren points out that this arrangement sometimes leads to annoying misunderstandings, too: "Everyone thinks that I'm the DI with Underworld, that I just spin records with them. But I've never been the DJ with the band - I play music with them," he says, exasperation slipping into his tone. "We've all got our own work, and we all do different things. You could never pinpoint what one person always does in the band.'
Despite the misconception, this incarnation of Underworld has done better than the first from the start. The band’s first single "Mmm Skyscraper I Love You" was released in 93 and instantly made Underworld a cult favourite in clubs worldwide.
Underworld’s first two albums Dubnobasswithmyheadman and Second Toughest in the Infants released in 93 and 96 respectively, did equally well, but the band hadn't become a chart-climbing success. Nobody outside of the dance clubs knew about the band - they were the proverbial big fish in a small pond.
But when the band agreed to contribute the song "Born Slippy (Nuxx)" to the soundtrack for the controversial film Trainspotting, it was Underworld’s one way ticket out of cult status.
Originally "Born Slippy" had been a b-side, a throw away track that the band didn't expect anyone to pay any mind. The members were surprised when Trainspotting director Danny Boyte approached the band about including it in the film.
"We let him do it because we thought the film was fantastic" Darren says, "and it blew up from there”. The film and the music went [together] so well, and it stuck in people's heads. It put Underworld in the majors. We were known in the club world, but a normal person wouldn't know us”, he says, then laughs and adds, "I don't mean normal people don't go to clubs. But it did sort of put us on the maps a bit.'
Based on the Trainspotting success, the band contributed the song 'Oh' to another Danny Boyle film “A Life Less Ordinary". Although the film bombed with critics and theatergoers alike, the soundtrack album did extremely well.
Convinced that contributing to Boyle's films is as good as gold, the band is planning to try something for the director's next film. Darren says this next project is called "The Beach," and it will come out in the year 2000, featuring Leonardo DiCaprio. With credits like that, "The Beach' is sure to be a hit - it’s probably safe to assume that this will be the most successful Boyle Underworld collaboration yet.
But no matter how big Underworld gets, don't expect Darren to quit DJing. He started DJing when he was only 10 years old, now, eleven years later, his enthusiasm for it hasn't dimmed a bit. "I still love doing it" he says emphatically. "One feeds the other, really - DJing feeds Underworld, and Underworld feeds DJing”.
If Underwood turns out to do as well with Beaucoup Fish [as] the soundtrack project seem[s] to promise, we just may get to test him on that vow sooner than he thinks.
Underworld will perform at the Santa Monica Civic Center on May 1.
