The Phenomenal Handclap Band were quite the hit at Clash’s Oakley-partnered Sunglasses At Night party last Saturday. The New York avant-pop collective hit the stage with no little enthusiasm, and the reaction from all and sundry was reciprocal to say the least: dancing as a rash, across the entire venue.
The band’s Sean Marquand and Daniel Collás answered our regular Live Talking questions – designed to give readers an insight into a band’s live habits prior to their participation in a Clash show. These were meant to run ahead of the Sunglasses At Night gig, but when your online editor’s out of the country, whatcha gonna do?
Are you a band that records to tour, or that tours to record? Or do you not see the two as separate parts of what you do?
SM: There was a division for a bit, but now the Handclap Band live and in the studio is very much the same thing.
Do you feel you translate well as a live act, perhaps better than on record, or have live shows been a bigger learning process than writing/recording?
SM: Every challenge presented to the band, whether live or in the studio, affords us the opportunity to grow and learn from each other as both musicians and people.
To date, what show stands out in your memory as the best you’ve played?
DC: That would have to be a tie between our recent record release party in NY, which was amazing because of the huge turn out and crowd reaction, and it’s nice to have that in your home town, and our recent show in Bristol, where we had no idea what to expect, but were very well received.
What’s the best show (by another band) that you’ve been to? Perhaps not ever, but certainly of late.
DC: Definitely Daft Punk, summer of 2007. I generally think it’s important for a live band to have a drummer, but those two on that pyramid blew my mind. I went from being a casual fan to an unapologetic fanatic with that one show.
And what about the worst show? By yourselves… is there a venue/town you’ll happily never return to?
SM: Antarctica was really rough. So cold, too.
Say you’ve the budget to put on your ultimate four-band bill, featuring yourselves – who plays and in what order? No bringing anyone back from the dead, here, but defunct bands can count.
SM: Personally, I’d like to be on a bill with David Mancuso, Todd Terje and DJ Harvey. There’s a bunch of bands we love, but my heroes are these guys.
DC: I love Mancuso and Harvey. That sounds like a good bill to me.
How does the band keep itself entertained on the road? Any bus games you break out for motorway gridlock?
SM: Yes. Answering interview questions as a group turns out to be a good way to pass the time.
What tips would you give a new band about to embark on their first ‘proper’ tour?
SM: This is really our first tour, and we’ve been pretty lucky with everything, so I’m not sure we’re at the point where we can be rattling off advice. But I will say that make sure you love the people you’re in the band with. I couldn’t imagine doing this with people I’m just so-so about.
Tell us about your latest release…
Our self-titled album came out on July 6 on Tummy Touch. In Europe and Japan you get a couple of fresh B-sides that aren’t available (yet) in the US.
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As it says above, The Phenomenal Handclap Band’s debut album is out now; find them on MySpace HERE.
