Image via Simian Mobile Disco’s MySpace.

Simian Mobile Disco
Wednesday, March 12 - Saturday, March 15
Various Venues (Austin)
Antone’s (3/12), La Zona Rosa (3/12), Waterloo Park (3/15), Jelly NYC’s Texas Garage (3/15)
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Simian Mobile Disco are no strangers to SXSW. The duo were one of the highlights of the electronic music at SXSW '07, and they've returned for four shows at this year's event. James Ford and Jas Shaw are still touring behind 2007's Attack Decay Sustain Release, which has lit up dance floors worldwide with cuts like "I Believe" and "It's The Beat." The band are currently working on material for their second album, so one can hope that a few new tracks may turn up in these live performances. Ford is also working as an in-demand producer for acts like Arctic Monkeys and Klaxons, thus is a busy man indeed.

We talked to James Ford of SMD about playing electronic music live, fighting in Austin restaurants, and Sam's BBQ.

You guys were here for SX in 2007 - how did you find the experience?

We've been to South By a couple of times - we came once as SImian (our old band) and then as Simian Mobile Disco last year and the year before that as well! I think it's an amazing festival - we sort of love it. Having all the other bands around [is good], and it's such a great place for it with 6th Street, and there are loads of parties but it's all very easy to get to. So we really like it, though to be honest last year was our least favorite because quite a few of the parties we were playing got closed down. But apart from that, it's always really good fun.

We also read that (your former band) Simian actually broke up here in Austin over dinner - is that true?

Yeah, that's very true! We played there, and it was the end of an American tour, and we were sort of falling out already, but the straw that broke the camel's back was an argument that happened in some fish restaurant. We ended up having a punch-up and blah blah blah.

We know (like most bands) you're booked with gigs and interviews this week. Do you actually have time to catch other acts, or are you perpetually stuck in your hotel or at a soundcheck?

No, we'll be out and about a lot, I think. Especially with me being a producer - I like to check out as many bands as I can squeeze in, really. And lots of bands play during the day, so you definitely get the chance to see a few things! It's so cool there, you know.

Can you tell us a little bit about what the SMD experience is like live? We're guessing it's not simply you and a computer.

We try not to use the computer much at all. We've got a lot of our analog gear - synths - we've got a big modular synth that looks like a telephone exchange! - and old drum machines and a mixer. So it's mostly all done live, and we try to make it something that's different every time. And that's relevant to that moment in time - that is important to us. Hopefully it's a lot more organic than your usual electronic music live experience.

What are you listening to at the moment? Any favorite new records?

Erm - I'm trying to think! There are lots of things I play as a DJ, but the obvious one is the Hercules & Love Affair record ("Blind"), which I think is great.

Over the past year, every band that commissions a remix has probably called either you, Justice, or Hot Chip and asked for help. How do you deal with that deluge, and decide what's worth doing a remix on?

To be honest with you, we're so busy with SMD that we haven't had time to do any remixes recently. So we have had that deluge, and we've said no to all of them! We're really more invested in working toward our second record and making music for ourselves right now. Once we get more into that, maybe we'll start doing some more remixes. But we're focused on our own music for the time being.

Final question - what is your drink of choice at SXSW?

Oh, I'm definitely a sucker for margaritas - I love a good one. And the other great thing is the BBQ, because you just don't ever get that in the UK. There's a place called Sam's BBQ that we've been to a few times, and that's something we'll be doing as soon as we get in.