| MINUIT / 10ft. tall bravado |
| Written by Luke Oram |
| Tuesday, 01 September 2009 16:30 |
 Ruth Carr’s painstakingly-created world map of hundreds-and-thousands, may as well be a pin-board map of their travels. The cover art for MINUIT’s new album was painstakingly created by the frontwoman with tweezers and a shitload of patience. Somewhere there’s a whole lot of naked, lonely rainbow bread with a score to settle. Back from cutting a swathe through international dance-floors crowded with ex-pats, Carr and cohorts Paul Dodge and Ryan Beehre have brought their freshest and most daring album yet, in the form of 'Find Me Before I Die A Lonely Death Dot Com'. Inspired by the warped classified website of the same name, the album re-imagines Minuit’s signature breakbeat sound and comes out bombastic and full of good old kiwi attitude. But don’t go calling them emo... "No matter how good you ACTUALLY are, it's not about that, it's about who you know! That’s a harsh reality to learn, and the industry is a bit crap like that."
COUP DE MAIN: So by now we know all about the album’s name, which was inspired by the website findmebeforeidiealonelydeath.com. If you had to list an inanimate object on the site, what would you list? MINUIT - PAUL: Ruth actually added the pic of the skeleton who's lost his hat... I still laugh when I look at it... CDM: The new album represents a fresh take on your sound, it’s a lot more organic – what led you in that direction? PAUL: It’s been interesting. The last albums have been written inside the computer, just that one wee box. For the first track of the new album (‘Wayho’), we got a producer on board when we were in London, because it's always just been us three that make the music. We thought; "let’s see what a fourth person might bring to the party"... and it was cool. Andy didn’t change the song at all, but used heaps of analogue old school gear and effects which added a lot of texture and atmosphere. It was a cool experiment and inspired us to record a lot more stuff outside the computer, like running a synth-sound out through a bass amp and recording it back in, or playing something live and not quantizing it exactly, which added a lot of warmth, width, glitch... and yeah I guess ‘organic-ness’ and life to the tracks. I love it! CDM: Any specific musical influences that led to that? What were you listening to as you wrote it? PAUL: We all have such a diverse range of musical influences... that’s why I think when the three of us come together there's no way of knowing what'll come out; it’s different and bigger than if just one person tried to write everything - that’s what makes it Minuit! CDM: Ruth, you’ve got a bit of an aggressive edge on this album – where are you channeling that from? You look like you wouldn’t hurt a fly...? RUTH: Oh, I wouldn’t hurt a fly, but humans are another story... CDM: Your lyrics on this album swing from a bit political, to very introspective, to a bit of a revenge anthem – what was influencing you as a lyricist this time round? RUTH: I think the same things as always actually! But maybe I’ve just got better at saying them. I like being alive, and am quite glad that I still am. I hate seeing how crappy things are and can be in the world, and it annoys me no end. I hate bad things happening to me and can’t wait to get over them. I love reading cool lines in books and sometimes stealing them for songs.  CDM: I read this in a review of 'Find Me Before...' and thought it was hilarious: “the album contains all those roller-coaster emotions that the pre-teens try to cope with”. Have you gone all emo? RUTH: Oh My God. That is, like, so embarrassing. It's weird that they said ‘pre-teen’ too, coz I am very anti the 'tween' market that America creates. Crazy! I think teens and kidults and adults and grown-ups, have a fucking shit-load of emotions to cope with also!! CDM: Would you rather be described as “Electropop with balls”, or “a happy Portishead”? RUTH: Ha! - call us what you like!... which is the reason I wrote the song 'Fuji' on our last album. CDM: I heard ‘25 Bucks’ on C4 the other day and they had cut out your references to knee-capping and breaking someone in two – what do you make of that? RUTH: Mmm. It’s actually very funny to me, because now it makes the song seem even worse and scarier than it was! CDM: What would you say to NZ bands slogging it out over here and considering heading out on an O.E.? PAUL: It's a beautiful way to lose money! And you always hear the glamour stories of other bands, not the crap time they had. We were so lucky man, we ended up getting promoted in the club/breakbeat DJ scene - and there were hardly any live acts doing what we do, so some opportunities came our way. If you're an indie guitar band, man you are up against a thousand or more other bands vying for the same slots. No matter how good you ACTUALLY are, it's not about that, it's about who you know! That’s a harsh reality to learn, and the industry is a bit crap like that. I'm not sure I would recommend it to anyone. Unless you go with the attitude of; “we've got nothing to lose, let's go play somewhere different, this'll be wicked”... and not to expect anything from it – then if anything does come from it... WIN! CDM: What were some standout experiences from overseas? PAUL: Playing in clubs in Russia! A whole club in the Czech republic singing along to 'Room Full of Cute'! (The video's on YouTube somewhere.) Getting to even GO to Vietnam... the gigs were awesome but Hanoi city is AWESOMER. I feel very lucky to have been there. CDM: What’s your take on the electro-pop sensation in NZ at the moment? Considering you guys were doing it well beforehand... PAUL: It’s awesome. Now we have other bands to play with! CDM: Who would be your dream band to tour with? PAUL: When you tour, you never see the other band anyway! When you're hanging out they're on stage, and when you're on they haven’t turned up yet. So basically, any band that has a mean backstage rider with lots of exotic food that we can pilfer while they play... and as Ozzy Osborne's rider says: “please no green furniture...” Get your mug in a Minuit music video!
For their next single; 'Aotearoa', Minuit need photos of you showing your Kiwi game face. Click HERE for more info...  |
