never Miss a beat

I LOVE SLEIGH BELLS. AND SLEIGH BELLS LOVE ME (I hope). 

Q: Treats was a really energetic album. Your sound is still massive on the second album, Reign Of Terror, but it sounds more contained. Did you decide to turn the volume down a bit?

Derek: Awesome, thank you! Sure… not necessarily. I’ve been saying more and more… it’s not that we try not to make decisions, I don’t necessarily have a lot of faith in making creative decisions. We just try to follow our instincts. Getting it out of the way. When you overthink it, you usually end up killing it. You smash whatever’s special about it. In that respect, it was not intentional at all. It’s just what needed to get done that day for whatever reason.

Alexis: I think the biggest difference is that the songs were just coming from a different place so they sound different.

Derek: Yeah much different place.

Q: Well, where do you do your writing?

Derek: I wrote most of that record, all the music was written on the road really.

Alexis: There’d be demos that were just coming out…

Derek: Yeah anywhere really. I don’t need to be in a studio, I can be in a hotel room.

Alexis: We did a lot of melody work in the studio pretty quickly, not to say that a lot of thought doesn’t go into it but…

Derek: It’s less thought, more action.

Alexis: Yeah.  

Derek: That keeps it fresher. I don’t like laboring over it, you know?

Alexis: A lot of accidental things that end up surprising us and, in my opinion, end up becoming the best moments on the record.

Derek: Absolutely.

Q: Do you ever hear your music blowing out the studio and just thing, Maybe we should turn it down a little bit?

Derek: Not really, no. I will say that it wasn’t like I was consciously deciding not to push things into the red this time around, it just didn’t sound good to me. And that’s probably because I’d just spent 16 months playing the songs from Treats every time. I was a little sick of it. We were never consciously trying to avoid it. Wherever our tastes were going that’s where we would follow.

Alexis: I was really pleasantly surprised when I was able to listen to the record over my laptop at a low volume. I know Derek still wants it loud…

Derek: I can’t do that… I just… I can’t! (laughs)

Alexis: I really liked the idea that I could just listen to it in different settings, on different devices and still feel something. With Treats, I really need those songs to be at a certain volume. I like that about Reign Of Terror.

Q: Who wears the trousers in the studio?

Alexis: (laughing, points at Derek) Yeah.

Derek: I’m not shy about it. (laughs). I produce it, I write the bulk of it, almost all the lyrics, all the instrumentals, we collaborated on the melodies this time around. That’s the main difference. In a way, since all of the music was written on tour when we were together… I mean, she has a say on everything. If she doesn’t like something it does not get used period. That’s always the case. Because I trust her. And I wouldn’t want her to do anything that she didn’t feel really good about. 

Alexis: Nor would I, you know?

Derek: Yeah exactly! So it’s convenient that I feel that way. (both laughing) Cos that’s the way it’s gonna be!

Q: So have there been any times when you’ve gone, Thank GOD I didn’t do that?

Derek: Yeah, she’s pretty good at calling me out no things (laughing).

Alexis: Well, we haven’t really talked about this but here’s a good example of when I though, I’m glad I was there. This one song on the record – Crush – Derek was working on that.

Derek: Yeah yeah. Let’s not name the name that I was…

Alexis: No. I won’t. (Both laughing). Derek was working on it and there’ll be moments when I can see it happening in his face, he’s losing confidence…

Derek: I just get so deflated (starts huffing).

Alexis: And he’s like, Forget about this song. Maybe another time, another person, another place. And I’m like (gets really angry, face red) NO! NO DEREK! THIS IS OUR SONG! AND WE’RE GONNA MAKE IT A FUCKING AWESOME SONG!

Derek: Yeah, I’ll do that. You know, “Maybe we’ll bank this one… maybe we’ll come back to it. I don’t think it works on this record.“ And I’ll see you (points at Alexis) sit there quietly and you’ll have daggers in your eyes and you’re like, “Fuck you, we’re working on this song.” And I’ll trust her.

Alexis: Obviously then the best thing to do is just coming up with ideas and that’s what happens. Now it’s one of my favourite songs on the record.  

Q: What are the best and worst things about working as a pair?

Derek: I don’t see any negatives. There’s nothing about it that bothers me. I don’t see the shortcomings in it. I like it. I was in a band once and I quit to avoid being in a band because I don’t like when there are too many people. It’s the too many cooks in the kitchen type of thing. That’s a cliché but it’s true. I don’t like democracies. (Pauses). Well, when it comes to the creative process (laughing)!

Alexis: (rock hands) AUTHORITARIAN RULE!

Derek: YEAH! (both laughing) I can see the pull quote… (puts on Southern accent) “I don’t like democracy!”

Alexis: No, it’s just it allows you to have a more intimate, focused conversation about everything. About music, the live show, the aesthetics, everything.

Derek: Yeah, we don’t fight about it. We’re usually on the same page. We’re really hard on ourselves, extremely. For me, I never reach the standard that I set for myself. We just get as close as we possibly can. There’s not a lot of fighting that needs to occur!

Alexis: And there’s less opportunity for poison and for things to happen. If Derek and I have an issue with one another, if there’s something we need to work out, we have to confront it. There’s no other person that we can go talk shit about the other person to.

Derek: There’s no, “Oh I’m just not gonna talk to him for a week and I’ll bitch to my bass player about it.” It’s just the two of us, so…

Alexis: It keeps it much more honest and straightforward and allows you to be more focused on doing things that you should be doing as a band.

Q: Talking about democracy hating…

Derek: (laughing) oh man! 

Q: … you called the album Reign Of Terror… Did you have any problems?

Derek: I remember when I was telling Goldie (Michael Goldstone, Nom + Pop), I said, “This sounds political, I swear to you this is not a political record. It’s actually an extremely personal record but we’re going to call it Reign Of Terror.” And he was like (pause), “o-kay!” They really trust us, that’s why we work together. Nobody really second guessed us. But I could see it in their eyes. Like, “ooooo-kay, that’s pretty intense. Very Slayer.” And I was like, “Well, it’s about to be very Sleigh Bells.” You know what I mean? No, everybody really dug it. That was the first thing I had was the title after we’d just finished Treats. It was something I became obsessed with. It’s all I could talk about throughout the entire tour. To anyone that would talk to me I’d be like, “So I’m working on this record called Reign Of Terror. Did I tell you about Reign Of Terror, yet? It’s this record called Reign Of Terror.” And they were just like, “Shut the fuck up about this record already.” It was a relief to get it made.

Q: You had an amazing Funkadelic loop on the first album. What influences your sound?

Alexis: It’s very eclectic.

Derek: I love… I’m a music fanatic. There’s nothing I love more in my life. I love pop music as much as I love metal or hardcore. I don’t really listen so much to that any more. There’s still something I get from it that I don’t get from Top 40 or hip hop. So it’s very natural for me to marry the two. It doesn’t seem like a stretch. These are the things that I love. Throw in everything you love and everything you hate, smash it all together and you end up with the output.

Alexis: Vocally I think we live in an age where people are so impressed with more… louder, bigger notes. More detail. I’ve been listening to Everly Brothers for example. I’m obsessed with Everly Brothers right now. They do so much with the simplest notes. Every note counts. I think that is really important. You just have to be smart about your choices. Vocally that is something that we focused on. There is more emotion.

Derek: We don’t go for the vocal acrobatics. Some singers do that well. Also I don’t like when singers sound… singer-y. They have all these affectations (makes orgasm sound)…

Alexis: There is a lot of emotion in my mind to the vocals on Reign Of Terror but they’re not done in a clichéd way.

Derek: Yeah, it’s not histrionic.

Alexis: It’s much more about the entire piece than the part. We’re always trying to think in terms of how does it sound as a piece of music.

Derek: It’s more about the puzzle and everything fitting together.

Q: There’s a video on your MySpace of these kids listening to Sleigh Bells in the back of the mum’s car…

Alexis: Yeah I found that and it makes me so happy!

Q: The reason why it’s so great is because when I listen to Sleigh Bells that’s how I react…

Alexis: You’re spazzing out. (laughing)

Derek: That’s amazing. That’s so rad.

Q: What did you listen to in the car when you were kids?

Derek: My mom was constantly blasting Madonna’s Immaculate Collection, probably more than anything. Plenty of Belinda Carlisle. She was also a big rock fan, really into Boston. I heard a lot of Boston and a lot of Zeppelin. The staple stuff. Female-oriented pop music which probably has a lot to do with my obsession with the female voice and why I was desperately seeking out a girl to work with.

Alexis: I also love listening to pop music in the car. I think the car is such a great place because that’s the place where you have no inhibitions. You can listen to anything in the car and you can sing anything in the car. It gives you that freedom to do whatever.

Derek: I had growing up when I was 16 a Ford Ranger pick-up truck and I was playing in a hardcore band. We would practice an hour and a half from where I lived so I did a lot of driving. That was my primary mode of listening to music – in my car. And I really miss that. When I went to college in Tallahassee – at FSU – for a semester, I scheduled all my classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So on Thursday night after Algebra I would get in my truck and drive 6 hours and 400 miles to Jupiter and the next day I would drive down to Lauderdale and then on Monday night I’d drive back up. That was big. I miss that living in Florida – you get to listen to a ton of music in your car. In New York? Not so much.

Alexis: But you have the subway… headphones!

Q: Alexis, you used to be a teacher. Are there any skills you learned that you can use in the music industry?

Alexis: People ask this all the time. Skills? No. Whether it’s being in a band or being a teacher you just have to work hard and stay focused. That’s a bit obtuse but it’s the truth. No skills, no. There’s little crossover other than work ethic.

Derek: It’s much less consequential. These are the lives of children!

Alexis: Yeah, the stakes aren’t as high! Not to say we don’t have a lot of goals but I don’t feel that dread that I would often feel if I wasn’t prepared with a proper lesson plan.

Q: What are you enjoying right now?

Derek: We’ve been listening to a lot of Clams Casino, Main Attractions…

Alexis: I think there are a lot of good female artists right now…

Derek: Grimes.

Alexis: Yeah, Grimes. Azealia Banks.

Derek: Yeah, I’m really excited for the new xx record.

Alexis: Oh my god, I love that demo.

Derek: What’s her name? Romy Madley Croft… I love her voice.

Alexis: Talk about somebody who does a lot with little. Everything is well thought out.

Derek: I feel like opposites attract with them. We have a lot in common; we’re both ideas taken to the absolute extreme. With us, it’s density and volume. With them, it’s negative space.

Alexis: Maybe you’ll know… who did The xx cover? Was it Aaliyah? (Q suggests Aaliyah’s Hot Like Fire as covered by The xx). That’s right! We love Aaliyah and that was amazing.

Derek: Clams Casino is my favourite producer right now, for sure. We’re always listening to Motown and Alexis is a really big soul fan. I’m God that Lil B song – I’ve listened to that more than anything. Eventually it’ll be the song I’ve listened to more than anything ever. Because I listen to it sometimes up to five times a day. That’s a long time! Thirty minutes of every day.

Alexis: I’ve been listening to Elliott Smith too.

Derek: Yeah, that Coast To Coast song. Always.