LiS: Both structurally and sonically, Auto Body’s songs are rooted in rock, with keys and (what sounds like) distorted guitars holding down the dance grooves. As the line continues to blur between genres, and all music is becoming somewhat electronic, what do you find is changing the most about the way music is produced? Its obvious many wonderful doors have been opened by new technology, but do you feel the industry has lost anything in the process?
Tibaut: The main change in the way music is produced is where it’s produced. Productions from a laptop can stand up to productions from the finest studios in the world. I just love it that some pimple popper in Siberia can write a radio ready tune on his macbook in his grandma’s basement. Expensive studio hours are no longer a must. Record labels loaning money to kids for an album is no longer a must. Hell, the physical instruments previously needed to achieve certain sounds aren’t even a must. Because of this, the industry has lost the ability to keep the little guys out. With the drastic change in how music is made and acquired, technology has completely exploded the landscape we navigate as musicians. It’s a very confusing post-apocalyptic time in our business but everything is wide open right now, and that’s incredibly exciting. The pieces are scattered across the battlefield, and literally anybody can pick them up and build the new world we will all operate in.
Felix: If the point is to advance and distribute music in a system that is equally beneficial and equitable to and between the artists and as well as the listeners, then technology is totally kicking ass. Maybe industry is losing, but the small independent artist (aka Auto Body) has gained tremendously. We have more than adequate production power at our fingertips plus we have a method to distribute it.
LiS: In your creation process, how much recording is going on vs. producing? How much time is spent playing parts vs. playing with effects? When you are both a producer and musician, do you compose things first and then run them through the magic machines, or do melodies and progressions come out of playing with them and evolve as you produce them?
Felix: My emphasis will always be on the finished product. The methods and the paths are irrelevant so long as your remain passionately and patiently focused on making the best possible piece of music. So with Auto Body, we do not make a conscience decision as to our methods. Our process usually begins with either a concept, an improvised melody/chord change, or a sample. Then from there we just develop what we hear. As it turns out, it is a very even balance between recording, producing, playing and mixing.
Tibaut: It’s true. I don’t give a shit about why or how we get to the place as long as we get to that place. We agreed from the jump that the only thing that matters is what comes out of the speakers. And honestly, the process changes for every single part of every single song. Sometimes we are holed up in my studio all night pouring over each note, and sometimes we aren’t even in the same city. Felix may write 17 matching and overlapping synth parts that I could never do, and I’ll immediately hear an entire song in my head, and start composing beats and lyrics. Or I might layer random loops of samples, field recordings and percussion that have no direction until Felix pulls an amazing melody out of his ass that defines the entire piece. And sometimes we’ll be partying at 4:30 am with 40 people crammed in the studio, and Fee yells out, “Born To Suffer!”, I write it on a sticky note before I pass out, and a month later I send him the first three minutes of our newest track, ripe and ready for whatever he hears is missing. I’ve never worked with anybody who has such an uncanny ability to fill in my blanks, and a ridiculously precise need for what I do best. I actually hate talking about it because I end up sounding like a giddy little school girl.
LiS: Who (and/or what) do you draw inspiration from?
Tibaut: Cinema. Wild animals escaping from the zoo. Gut-wrenching injustice. Personal selfish pain. Those moments when a group of people simultaneously say “fuck it.” Things we can’t have. Incredibly ironic experiences. Villains getting their comeuppances. Giant technological disasters. The utter weirdness of our generation, and how we grow up (or fail to).
Felix: That moment when everything clicks onstage: lights, music, people, everything…and love…and unicorns.
LiS: Is it a love of synths and their versatility making guitars obsolete in these projects? A desire to make music with new components and a new formula? A fear of or contempt for guitarists because of their notoriously dominating egos and influence? A lack of dynamic guitarists looking to make this kind of music?
Felix: I think you hit the nail on the head, guitars are egotistical and obsolete. Ha! I often get pegged for being anti-guitar. Truth is I play bass guitar and Auto Body has guitar sounds all over our music.
Sometimes we do make the guitars sounds with a synthesizer or sample, but sometimes we do it with guitar as well. But again, I’m focused on the finished product. I’m not going to force the guitar to make the perfect lead sound for me if I can make it more effective with my synthesizer. And if the sample sounds better than my guitar playing, keep the sample.
Tibaut: Yeah we are both guitarists so there is nothing but love for the old ax, and I would say they are definitely not obsolete in projects like ours even though I’m really not sure what projects are like ours. I definitely haven’t felt the need to take my Les Paul up on stage with us, and, like Felix said, there really is no thought going into including or excluding anything from an instrumentation or sonic perspective. I’ve used trash can lids, beer bottles, tree limbs, fax machines, loose change, and anything I can get my hands on to create the sounds we want, and even though I grew up with one in my hand, a guitar is just another option.
LiS: What is the underground dance scene like in Austin? Can kids in Texas get down?
Tibaut: I’ve been here for a while, and over the last few years I’ve seen the indie rock kids’ musical awareness really penetrated by the success of bands that either have roots in dance music or strong electronic elements like LCD Soundsystem, Justice, Hot Chip, TV On The Radio, etc. That development coupled with the resurgence of Daft Punk in 2007 really got the hipsters dancing again down here, and it definitely feels like a permanent marriage. It’s an incredible time in the evolution of modern music to be making songs the way we do with Auto Body, and it’s even better that we can do it out of Austin.
Felix: Not only do Austin kids get down, they are generally well-versed music lovers and avid music supporters participating in one of the most thriving music scenes in the world, the home of Auto Body and the location of Tibaut’s garage, Austin, Texas.
LiS: What can we look forward to from Auto Body in the future?
Felix: A freaking album! Way overdue. We are about to explode because we are holding all this music inside. Other than that my only plans are to continue to write and perform the best possible music we can create.
Tibaut: If we have anything to do with it, 2010 will be very loud and very bright…
Here’s a taste…
AUTO BODY is a brand new project featuring Tibaut Bowman (DJ THIBAULT) and Felix Moreno of Future Rock. It’s somewhat scary how serious they are about playing dance music- and the result is scarily good. The dynamic duo is playing a handful of Northeast dates from Feb. 10th-13th, including LostinSound’s party this Saturday, featuring Orchard Lounge, The Malah and Higher Nebulae. Auto Body goes on around 11:30, so gear up and get prepared because these guys are sure to blow us away. I’m sure they’ll be hanging out after their set, so don’t be scared to say “whatup” and rage it with some of the coolest musicians around, who are as big of fans as the rest of us.
Upcoming Shows
¤ Feb 11 – w/ Orchard Lounge & Biodiesel – Middle East Downstairs – Cambridge, MA
¤ Feb 12 – w/ Orchard Lounge, Segway & Sonic Spank – Senator Theater – Baltimore, MD
¤ Feb 13 – w/ Orchard Lounge, The Malah & Higher Nebulae – Station 171 – Brooklyn, NY
**BONUS: Here’s a brand new, never before heard track, for your streaming pleasure!!
[audio=http://lostinsound.org/wp-content/music/Closer%20To%20The%20Edge%20Master.mp3,Closer to the Edge - Auto Body]
Related posts:
Nothing is Something Worth Doing. Turn up the Silence. Levitation Nation. Vapor Rumours. Connoisseur of Hallucination. Monster Hit. Walking Backwards Through a Cosmic Mirror. When Shall I be Free? Room 23. Shiva Space. My Head Feels Like a Frisbee. A New Way to say Hooray. Once Upon the Sea of Blissful Awareness. 
where do I click to download the track?
the band wanted to release this first one as a stream only! We will have the downloads here first when they are available! Thanks for listening!
Thank you so much for posting this incredible track. It’s one of the best dance tracks I’ve heard in a very long time.
have you gotten a chance to see them do this song live?? its fucking epic!
No, I missed them at SXSW. Could kick myself right now. I would love to see these guys live!