COACHELLA 2007
Jun 1, 2007 12:00 PM, Markkus Rovito
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By now notorious for its searing hot live music and even hotter desert sun, the annual Coachella festival sizzled for three long days this year, April 27-29 at the Empire Polo Field in Indio, Calif. Coachella 2007 hosted more than 100,000 attendees and more than 100 bands and DJs, as well as a veritable wonderland of electronic art installations, sideshows, human-powered carnival rides and solar-powered lightshows. Seemingly obligatory reunions took place for Rage Against the Machine and the Jesus and Mary Chain, while other headliners included Björk, DJ Shadow, Tiësto, Ghostface Killah and Air.
For many DJs and electronic-based performers, the festival was a chance to play for larger than average audiences, as well as corral new fans who normally would not have seen them. Remix sought out some of these artists for details on their performances.
SPANK ROCK
At a big festival where many people may not know you, do you try to play to the crowd or just do your thing?
Festivals are fun to play because the crowd is made up of music fanatics. So if there are people watching who don't know the ins and outs of your songs, they still listen with open ears. At this point of our careers I often ask, "Who doesn't know us?" After a year of heavy touring, we went from being on a shitty independent label destined for failure, to opening for Beck, Gnarls Barkley and Bjork, appearing on Jimmy Kimmel and being playlisted by Thom Yorke. Whether we are closing out the Cochella festival or playing for 100 people in a dive bar in Baltimore, one thing remains the same: WE JUST DO OUR THING!
What was your live setup for your Coachella show: gear, instruments, etc.?
My two DJs, Devlin and Darko, on four turntables, four djembe drummers, four dancers blending modern club shaking with traditional West African dance, Super MC Pase Rock, myself (Spank Rock) and a special guest appearance by Jameson and Jagermeister.
Of those pieces, which one piece is the most essential and why?
Devlin and Darko. It always comes down to the DJ to throw a good party, and in my case I have the illest DJ duo in the world.
What do you enjoy most about performing?
I love the fact that I share the stage with friends that I've known for many years. Sometimes I find we perform for each other more than we perform for the audience.
GABRIEL ANDRUZZI OF THE RAPTURE
How much do you have adapt your material from the studio recordings to a live situation?
Pretty much everything from our last record had been written and demoed live before we recorded them. Although things where adorned in the studio, it didn't really cause any great difficulties in reinterpreting the songs for live performance.
What was your live setup for your Coachella show: gear, instruments, etc.?
Four Guys, a drum kit, cowbells, sambago bells, a Jomox, another Jomox, a mixer, a virtual modular synth, Roland Juno 106, Roland Juno 60, some pedals, a whole bunch more pedals, a couple of guitars, one sweet bass guitar, a computer…I think that’s it. Oh yeah, a MIDI controller…some M-audio MIDI and digital I/O boxes. And, oh—damn, how could I forget? One saxophone.
Of those pieces, which one piece is the most essential and why?
Probably the four guys. I know that ain't one piece, but we really couldn't do anything without the four guys. If I had to choose from the gear, I would have to say the kick drum.
What do you enjoy most about performing?
I like to party. So I like it when it’s a party.
MIKE RELM
As an innovator in DJ performance, what do you hope to accomplish as a performer?
I'm hoping people see what I do and come out of it saying, “That guy is totally not a DJ.” To me, the DJ aspect of what I'm doing is the least exciting. Like, when you watch Penn & Teller, you don't think about how great their magic tricks are, even though they do cool tricks. To them, magic is only a part of their show, just as scratching is just a part of my show.
What was your live setup for Coachella?
It included a [Pioneer] DVJ [DVD turntable], Serato Scratch Live and a lot of video equipment.
Which piece is the most essential and why?
The video gear is definitely essential. I tell my stories through the visuals, although the sounds and music are also very important. I'd say 75 percent of the messages I'm conveying are visual.
What do you enjoy most about performing?
Looking up at the crowd and seeing dropped jaws.
DAVID GUETTA
How is the vibe different at huge outdoor festivals like Coachella compared to smaller venues, and how does that affect your set?
I love playing both, but what sets festivals apart is the incredible energy you get from a huge crowd. In clubs, it's more intimate, and I'm more closely connected with the crowd through the eyes of the people. Feeling and sharing the energy of a festival crowd is a rush. What I play is pretty similar, but it also depends if I'm in a tent or main stage — and whether it's a dance festival or a mixed festival with rock bands and DJs. The challenge is reading people's reactions and responding to them until they scream all together.
Coachella will be my first American festival, though I've played most of the European ones. I just did my first U.S. tour, and I love the feeling I have spinning there. It's all so fresh and exciting — like being a teenager all over again.
What was your live setup for Coachella?
I played a DJ set, so pretty standard stuff. I use three [Pioneer] CDJs, a Pioneer DJM-800 [mixer] and with an EFX-1000 effects unit, which allow me to do live remixing.
Which piece is the most essential?
The CD players!
What do you enjoy most about performing?
Sharing passion with people is what I love most of all — getting energy from the people. I go to the studio because of playing live, which is kind of different from a band that records and then tours. I take the ideas I get from the clubs and crowd reaction straight back to the studio and make new productions after almost every show. The biggest buzz is when clubbers respond to my own records. It doesn't get much better than that for me.
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