POP MUSIC
Fischerspooner's lab test: A live show
By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
June 2, 2005
The cracks and pops of vinyl vs. the crystal-clear reproduction of compact disc; live drummer vs. drum machine; live musicians vs. Digital Audio Tapes. From hip-hop to electronic dance music, many artists these days seem to be looking for a more human sound between the ones and zeros of digital music.
Enter the multimedia, performance-art rock of New York City's Fischerspooner. After finding success with their digitally produced debut disc "#1," the New York-based duo decided to incorporate live musicians and songwriting collaborations with such varied artists as pop songwriter Linda Perry and activist Susan Sontag.
It's 1999 and a couple of art-school grads – Casey Spooner and Warren Fischer – start writing digital, synthesizer-based dance music. Fischer writes the music, Spooner sings. Over the next three years, the duo creates complicated stage productions to go along with each song. They write the music, map out choreography and wardrobe changes and then perform the song live, one song at a time.
"When we started it, we didn't even know we were making a record," says Spooner from New York. "It was a very nontraditional approach. There was no label involved. There was no management. And we knew nothing about the music business when we started working. So the first record was self-financed and completed before we met anybody from a record label."
Hype swirls through the ultra-hip New York music scene faster than a Kansas tornado. Spooner and Fischer play the roles of Dorothy and Toto, swept up in a maelstrom of fawning press releases and intense media attention (intense for indie rock anyway). The band signs with Capitol Records, which releases "#1."
The timing is perfect.
Electroclash – a form of 1980s New Wave revivalism spliced with punk rock attitude – is gaining popularity. Fischerspooner joins the ranks of the Faint, the Postal Service and Ladytron as leaders in the new/old genre. But their live stage productions set them apart: a dance troupe, multiple wardrobe changes for Spooner, fog machines and theatrical lighting.
Spooner and Fischer faced a new challenge with 2005's "Odyssey": How to make a cohesive album?
"I wanted to put the focus on the music, because I feel like in a lot of ways that was really lost on the first record," says Spooner. "I love the first show and I love everything about the way we approached it, but it was a little irritating that people didn't want to pay attention to the music."
In an effort to get fans past the theatrics and focus on the music, Fischerspooner will be bringing a full band on tour when it plays the House of Blues downtown tonight: Adrian Hartley (back-up vocals), Ian Pai (drums), Sam Kearney (guitar), Ben Bromley (bass) and Adam Crystal (keyboards). Fischer does not tour with the band: "He does the writing of the music and helps in the recording of it," according to the band's publicist.
"We're in New York and we've been doing a monthlong residency at a small club here to start developing a live show," says Spooner. "So, it's been all about performing in a small room, getting the band up to speed and performing the new songs. We've been experimenting with different wardrobe and lighting. We've been treating it like a little laboratory to test different ideas."
While expecting long improvised jams from an electroclash band might be a little much to ask, Fischerspooner fans can expect a more organic experience than tours in the past.
"Before, the live shows were so rigid; now, everything is so much more flexible," says Spooner. "Before, the live shows were about illustrating the ideas of the music and staging a visual interpretation. And now, it's exciting to really be playing the music.
"Initially, the focus is to perform the music and for people to appreciate the music before I start distracting them with visual spectacular freakeries."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
