Ever since the 2009 release of debut EP What I’ve Lost Benoit & Sergio have found themselves in increasingly high demand. The quirky, creative pair have been championed by a global house scene keen to validate its recent, at times muddled forays into low-slung, synth-pop fusionism. Hype and headlines have therefore followed along with, according to the boys, a disproportionate sense of their position in clubland’s current pecking order.
“We’re just not aware of the hype at all” Sergio explains. “We’re touring a lot more than we used to and there’s a pressure with that to maintain artistic focus, but we don’t feel like we’ve exploded or anything. Our whole approach to making music hasn’t changed; we’re not suddenly cruising around in limos like superstars or anything. We’re only just beginning.”
Sergio – Sergio Giorgini – was introduced to Benoit – Benoit Simone – by a mutual friend at someone’s birthday party in Washington DC, early 2008. There was, however, no deliberate intention to start working together, and What I’ve Lost casually materialised more than a year later on Bruno Pronsato and Ninca Leece’s Berlin-based The Song Says imprint.
Only a handful of releases have followed that. Cuts like Midnight People (gritty techno) and Walk & Talk (melancholic, bittersweet soul-dance from the Visionquest-signed EP Where The Freaks Have No Name) demonstrate impressive swagger as do more recent poetic offerings Principles, Let Me Count The Ways and Boy Trouble but placed alongside the discographies of other contemporary dance artists over the same period they represent mere baby steps. In an increasingly fast-paced digital climate, where labels are expected to release new music with relentless assembly line zeal, and where news sometimes travels too quickly, Benoit & Sergio’s calls for a little perspective where their profile is concerned have real credibility.
“We feel like we’ve got a lot to learn; that we’re on this huge learning curve right now,” Benoit offers. “We’re starting to imagine what our debut album will look like, gathering ideas and inspirations, and starting to try out things in the studio. We’ll be recording over the summer, looking to take things back to the feel of What I’ve Lost… kind of soft, lo-fi and poppy.”
But then Benoit & Sergio’s live show is also gradually evolving. “It’s a happy learning process much like when we’re in the studio” Benoit confirms. “We’re soaking up so much information; I mean five or six months ago we didn’t know what we were doing on stage and now there’s a definite structure. We’ve been on the road a lot, which has bred valuable experience.”
Sergio has already alluded to the pressures that come with balancing expanded tour and production commitments. Successful balancing ultimately requires some degree of schedule and procedure, so do the boys worry that creativity-stifling routine could be just around the corner?
“No, not at all; being busy is proving to be a strange blessing” Sergio counters. “These days, we can’t be in the studio together whenever we want, so when we do find the time our process is a fresher one. We’re still meticulous in our work, but the time constraints force us to think instinctively. A lot of original thought still goes into our shows too; we’re playing in so many different countries to so many different people that there is never time for full-on routine. To be honest Benoit and I are still all over the place; most things we do are new and spontaneous and, at this stage of the game, that’s good for our music.”
As is the pair’s dual residence in Washington DC and Berlin (Benoit having previously grown up in Paris, and Sergio in Iowa). “DC is totally off the map” Sergio says. “It’s off the chart, home to all these freaky, under-the-radar experiments. We love it, it’s so individual as far as music is concerned. Berlin, on the other hand, is right on the edge of what’s current. We love the energy. Having that yin and yang mix of wide open and bubble-like music scenes is great; it uniquely defines us.”
That all said, Benoit & Sergio’s latest single release – the whole reason we’re here having this interview – is part of an ‘covers’ double-sider with Slow Hands on Double Standard, the vinyl-only label run by Wolf + Lamb’s Gadi Mizrahi. Edit and covers culture has generated plenty of controversy this year; critics claiming that the low-effort piggybacking on classic tunes by a number of contemporary artists closely linked to the Wolf + Lamb camp is, ultimately, dulling dance music’s cutting edge.
“We don’t want to be thrown in with the edit’ phenomenon; our previous work confirms that we shouldn’t be” Benoit stresses. “The Double Standard thing [Benoit & Sergio offer a deep, slowed-up electro-funk take on Daft Punk’s Around The World; Slow Hands tackle Sade’s Sweetest Taboo] wasn’t planned; we’d been playing around in the studio and this interesting jam just happened. We thought Gadi might like it and that was that. Around The World’s been getting a great reaction, but then it is our own vision and sound. We make the music we want. We’re not part of any particular movement.”
Nonetheless, ‘underground pop’ is a scene buzz word jumping ever more manically on the tips of clubbers’ tongues today and Benoit & Sergio – whose influences and stylistic reference points range from Talking Heads and Paul Simon to Larry Heard and Ricardo Villalobos - are being associated with it. “We don’t even know what the phrase means” Sergio laughs. “Underground… Pop – the two contradict themselves. Sure, there are elements of techno and pop in our music but I don’t think it’s easily labelled; a term such as underground pop just ends up pissing off the purists. Benoit and I work hard; our music has a lot of layers, melody, a real culture of sound… it’s not gimmicky. Anyway, we’d have said a track like What I’ve Lost is more romantic techno than anything else…..”
Ironic banter aside, Benoit & Sergio are excited by the prospect of what lies ahead. The clubbing landscape is finally ready, they feel, for the kind of abstract, pioneering ideas they regularly like to indulge. “We hear people moaning about the volume of records being released these days, and how so many of them are substandard, but what about the good ones?” Benoit asks. “There’s been a welcome shift to musicianship and musicality, and real cross-pollination of sounds. That’s good for us; we love the fact we can play What I’ve Lost next to something like Midnight People.”
Moving forward, the slick-haired, sharp-suited duo will look to properly progress their debut long-player, as well as a new set-up for live performance. They have, it seems, the ideal breeding ground. “There’s a big appetite for different music, I think” Sergio suggests. “We’re really excited by what we might unearth in recording our album. And we’re developing our live sets all the time. Long-term we’d like to add a drummer and some heavier guitar elements; make ourselves more band-ish… push that whole Coachella sound. It’s an open playing field.”
One in which Benoit & Sergio are set to run riot. Very rock ‘n’ roll...
Words: Ben Lovett
Benoit & Sergio/Slow Hands’ Covers EP is out now on Double Standard (US).
