Now! Two hot New York city bands tear the roof off the rules

Interview, Dec, 2002 by Matt Diehl

SPALDING ROCKWELL

Nicole Lombardi, 23 (vocals, keyboards, bass, co-producer). M.L. Platinum, 22 (vocals, keyboards, guitar, co-producer, engineer). WHERE TO HEAR: Badd Inc. Luxury Excess Extravagance, 2002's definitive electroclash compilation. An EP will be released on Mogul Electro Records in early 2003.

MATT DIEHL: What's the weather like down there in the underground?

SPALDING ROCKWELL: Hot.

MD: The worst thing about being one of New York's hottest underground bands is ...

SR: We don't get much sleep.

MD: How would you describe your music to a long-lost aunt from Iowa?

SR: There are the deep sounds of house, hip-hop's collage sampling, lush, swimming vocals from early techno and new wave, punk's performance element, and pop's palatability.

MD: What are the three cliches about being a New York band that are completely true?

SR: Number one, two, and three: image.

MD: Moby or the Strokes--who's more overexposed?

SR: Who?

MD: What record made you want to put your band together?

SR: The Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique.

MD: Sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll: Rate in order of importance.

SR: No comment.

MD: What future do you predict for your band?

SR: Short skirts. High heels.

MD: What is your band's plan for world domination?

SB: Inevitability.

HUNGRY WIVES

Joe Corcoran, 30, Derek de Koff, 27, Jen Schneider, 27, and Andy Salzer, 30 (all, vocals and keyboards). WHERE TO HEAR: The Badd Inc. compilation (Mogul Electro) and the Electroclash mix collection (Mogul Electro/Ministry of Sound).

MD: What's the weather like down there in the underground?

HUNGRY WIVES: Wormy, with a chance of decomposition.

MD: How would you describe your music to a long-lost aunt from Iowa?

HW: Perfect background music for peeling potatoes, or whatever it is you do out there.

MD: What are the three cliches about being a New York band that are completely true?

HW: 1) That we stay up all night; 2) That we can't seem to hold down day jobs; 3) That one has everything to do with the other.

MD: Moby or the Strokes--who's more overexposed?

HW: "Oh, Lawdee, trouble so hard..."

MD: What record made you want to put your band together?

HW: Hungry Wives exist because too much dance music relies on stale one-liners like "I'm gonna take you higher."

MD: Where does your band's name come from?

HW: It's the original name of the George Romero film Season of the Witch. It's about suburban housewives who turn to sorcery.

MD: Someone at a party is pontificating about how "music made with computers isn't real music." What do you do?

HW: Rip out his pacemaker with our bare hands.

MD: Complete this sentence: "Music without sex is..."

HW: Band rehearsal. Usually...

MD: Sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll: Rate in order of importance.

HW: We pretend to have very little experience in any of these fields.

MD: What future do you predict for your band?

HW: Something like the end of Dancer in the Dark.

MD: What is your band's plan for world domination?

HW: We take our cue from Leonard Cohen: "First we take Manhattan. ... Then we take Berlin."