Chemical Brothers stop clowning around

BY CHRIS SCHULZ

The Chemical Brothers have been forced to tone down the disturbing clown images used during their live shows after complaints from fans.

The creepy clowns with bad teeth and smeared make-up - displayed extensively on giant screens during The Chems' sold out 2008 Auckland show - will only be used sparingly when the British dance duo begin their new world tour in New Zealand in March.

Ed Simons said he and Tom Rowlands had decided to "tone down" the clowns after hearing from fans who didn't like the characters, who sing along to songs like Get Yourself High and Do It Again throughout their live performances.

"The clowns have been toned down a bit," Simons told Stuff.co.nz.

"There's a lot of coulrophobia (fear of clowns) about. People were running (away), especially at the more druggy festivals. They (were) like, 'Oh, that was too much.'

"There are still clowns. They're more friendly this time."

Simons said he and Rowlands - known for creating psychelic-tinged electronica since 1995's debut Exit Planet Dust - were looking forward to returning to New Zealand as it was the perfect place to kick off their world tour.

"New Zealand's been great to us, right back when we played the Big Day Out in 2000. We hadn't been that far from home to play before and it's always good to go back," he said.

"Our tour last time was fantastic ... it's a fantastic place."

The Chems' 2008 tour was a head-spinning mix of the band's thumping electronica and a trippy audio-visual show that included strobes, lasers and giant video backdrops.

Simons said their new tour would have a more "integrated" feel to it.

"The new album was made alongside the visuals (and) it's nice how this works with the older stuff," he said.

"We still rely on volume and bright lights and the crowd. The memorable thing is to experience our music at really high volume and with people losing it, that sense of transcendence, being taken to another place, and the hedonism of it."

Further, their seventh album, has marked a change for the duo, who opted not to include guest vocalists - who infused previous hits like rapper Fatlip on The Salmon Dance and Noel Gallagher on Let Forever Be - in favour of crafting a full length album experience.

Simons said Further had been a freeing album to make.

"Some of our bigger hits haven't had guest vocalists, like Hey Boy, Hey Girl and Star Guitar. I think people who've been with us for a long time have enjoyed an album that's looser. 

"I'm really glad you can hear a lot of the synth work in our new music."

Simons said current dance music trends - like the blossoming dubstep scene - had influenced the album, but the duo were always trying to create unique music.

"We're not slaves to any trends but we're pretty up on who's producing what. We want to make music that's authentic to us. If we made music that was copying the sounds of 22-year-old kids we'd sound inauthentic."

The pair still DJ'd gigs separately, but Simons said they were looking forward to touring their new album together.

"That bass drum is still thudding away, and it doesn't show any sign of stopping."

The Chemical Brothers
March 2: Vector Arena, Auckland

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