My great grandmother recently passed away, she was one of the few heroes in my life and I always looked towards her for some type of peace and humor. We’d had no spats, but when it concerned music. Her record collection was massive. Billie Holiday, Chaka Khan, Marvin Gaye, Hall & Oates, Jennifer Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, Ray Charles. My grandmother had at least five-hundred records of classic soul and R&B tunes, and when I attempted to compete with her, I’d lose. Not just lose, but get berated with comments on why the music was not good. “There’s no soul. Where’s the fun? Where’s the mystery, Myles? Where’s the story? Where’s the personality?” She was right. There was none. Until one day, in my sophomore year of high-school I played a song I fell in love with a song called “Bonafied Lovin’” by Chromeo.

It was my jam and in my grandmother’s South Carolina home, she over-heard me playing it while I was getting ready for the family’s bar-b-q. “What’s that?” Grandma Rosa-Lee said. I was scared to even attempt to explain to her what was bleeding out of my portable speakers and into her half-century year old home in the deep south. I responded timidly, “It’s a band called Chromeo.” She shot her eyes at me and gave a quick smile, “That’s the stuff, Myles.” She moved her eighty-something year old body to the beat and walked out, so I can continue to get ready. Yes, even in her late eighties my Grandmother knew how to shimmy.

Chromeo was the funky, electronic bridge between me and my Grandmother. If we were in the car, we’d actually be able to compromise. She’d play some Sam Cooke or The Ohio Players, and I’d play Chromeo. Chromeo is a Canadian band composed of vocalist/songwriter/producer Dave 1 and producer/songwriter P-Thugg. They gained top notoriety with aforementioned hits like “Bonafied Lovin’” and more electro-funk ditties that composed their breakthrough album, “Fancy Footwork.” Between stints on David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, appearances on “Yo! Gabba Gabba!”, and performing at Coachella, Chromeo released “Business Casual,” which is an more daring effort from the duo keeping faithful to their funkadelic roots, but in cooperating more bizarre sound treatments from French-folk and new-wave rock. Chromeo is keeping it fresh which must be difficult for a band founded so much in the vintage. “We never saw that [television appearances] coming. Now, that we’ve done it for a minute, we stay consistent and keep delivering quality product. I would never want someone like you to be like, ‘Chromeo is just my high school band’.” Dave 1, who is A-Trak’s older brother, stopped to speak with me on behalf of Chromeo. Sure, it’s my job. But really, I was eager to speak with them because I
knew out of any interview that I ever did, this is the only one Grandma Rosa-Lee would read.

Like I said, Chromeo is a band deeply invested in the past when it comes to their sound and even how they do their production, but they do know how to keep it fresh. “We listen to competition, other groups with cool stuff. We definitely keep our ears open [...] listen to old records for new inspiration.” All that chatting about vinyl and talk-boxes might have you forget that the futuristic time-taker that some like to call the internet has been their biggest tool to success. “It’s the canvas; it’s the biggest tools to get recognized. The internet is real life. Real life is just for sleeping.” Sleeping and when Dave 1 isn’t manipulating the internet for success, it’s for collaborating with his musical partner P-Thugg. Dave 1 explains collaborating with another creative mind isn’t as difficult as one might imagine. “P and I have been best friends since high-school. At one point, we decided to do this electro-funk thing.” He continues on collaborating, “[...] you really have to trust each other. We really trust each other.”

The collaboration was just as seamless when soul-pop vixen, Solange Knowles, collaborated with Chromeo for their latest single and hilarious new video, “When the Night Falls.” “I knew she was a fan and she’s friends with my younger brother, A-Trak. We reached out to her through my brother and she was happy to be a part of it.” The end result is the classic charm that Chromeo is known for that has Solange’s breezy, alto flirting with Dave 1′s come-ons. The video has a tongue-in-cheek feel with apocalyptic world filled with over-sexed, pregnant woman chasing the duo that is as humorous as it is thoughtful which is a rarity for bands that are less commercial. “It’s like we know you’re sitting in front of the computer all day, this is our way of you keeping you entertained until you see us on stage.” Entertained, indeed.

Dave 1 and P-Thugg will be in Atlanta performing on September 22nd at the Masquerade with Mayer Hawthorne. Now, that sounds like nothing to compromise on and I’m sure Rosa-Lee would shimmy all the way to that disco too.

Related Posts: