Aluna Francis and George Reid shot to fame this year and have been recording music on George’s Macbook since 2009. The duo have created a new wave of electronic R&B that’s about to hit the festival scene hard this year. AlunaGeorge are currently shaking up the Top 40 charts with Disclosure and their “White Noise” track. We caught up with them after their gig at Liverpool Sound City music festival to discuss their music, style and recording techniques!
How did last night go?
A: Ye it was really good, we were really pleased with how many people turned up to watch us. We didn’t have a sound check which is why I was fumbling around!
When did you guys first meet?
A: We met around 3 years ago on the internet. The face to face meeting itself was nothing to speak of. It was an awkward coffee meet up. Say you met someone from the internet ….
G: (interrupts to defend the meeting) Well here’s how it was in my opinion. I was meeting someone else and he brought Aluna along.
A: (Aluna gets excited) ‘YEE because the guy I was working with at the time was obsessed with George. He kept on bigging him up and wanted us to meet. So really it was kind of nothing to do with me because I’m not involved in remix. So I came along to the meeting and me and George said hey!
G: And that was it…no I’m joking, we started playing music together and got to know each other whilst we were doing that.
What was the first CD you guys brought?
G: I remember when I got my first HiFi, I think I had (laughs to himself) Huge Hits 96, Michael Jackson History album, I also had an album by a band called Space.
What was your first festival experience?
A: Ooo erm Glastonbury, yeah sneaking into Glastonbury.
G: Did they throw you over the fence Aluna?
A: Haha no we went under the fence. I actually went with totally non festival people. A bunch of girls from school and we were absolutely clueless. I don’t know how we got in, or what we did when we were there. I do remember that we did do a lot of passing out and not knowing what had happened to us.
G: I’m not a huge festival guy. I kind of prefer to go to gigs. I went to Reading because Radiohead were headlining I had seen them a year before at Victoria Park, but was kinda disappointed. It just didn’t feel right because it was still light and the wind was blowing sound everywhere.
Who would you like to feature on a track?
G: Ooo I dunno…….(ponders for a while)
A: Pharell ?
G: Pharrell would be cool, Busta Rhymes just putting it out there ! No one really does duets anymore….
A: (Aluna laughs) Me and Sam Smith said we would do a duet.
We love your Montell Jordan cover……it went down so well last night……
A: So you want me to do a duet with Montell Jordan?!
FS: Go for it !
How do your style and music go together?
A: Well I think we use style as another vehicle to express just a different kind of creative element to maybe what goes into the music. So the simplicity, bold shapes and graphic lines that we use from the visual side of things does speak of the way that we keep music stripped back. We try and keep the music simple we do take it back to guitar and vocals and make sure the simple song structure is there.
We think the 90’s is making a comeback in terms of fashion and music. If you could bring something back from the 90’s what would it be?
G: I’d bring back Eric Cantona, I think he was brilliant in the 90’s.
FS: Haha are you a United Fan ?
G: Sort of through my Dad.
A: One thing that has definitely comeback is the blow up tongues on trainers. We were talking about LA Gear trainers yesterday with the band. Do you remember them!! They had wicked flashing lights on them.
What are your pre stage rituals?
A: I’ve got plenty
G: Mine is panic !
A: Mine is just vocal excercises
Where did you record your album?
A: Various places.
G: Yeah some in my bedroom, some in the studio we have in West London. Some in Nut ? studio Henley.
FS: Its so easy to get engrossed in the minutia of getting one sample out of thousands for a drum beat or fixated on the right level of reverb for one particular nuance of the song …we’re just wondering how that translates to the live performance and whether you see them as two distinct things?
G: Erm, I don’t think we do to be fair, because I’m playing keyboards and I’ve always hated having to go out and play exactly the same thing, it drives me mad. So I have a loose/ vague this is the right key/ I’m normally playing something along the lines. We’ve tried to get the drums as accurate as possible because that took a lot of effort in the making of the track. It’s really close to how it sounds on the album but if it is a bit different on the night then I kind of like it.
Do you have a sort of passion for looking at different instruments like synths?
G: I like hearing stuff but I’m no whizz when it comes to synths. To be honest they are so bloody expensive, I really want to play around with those Nord electros. They’re just so pricey. I’d like to play around but I don’t like the idea of having four keyboards around me, It’s a bit Rick Wakeman. I think I’d like to have a stage piano just in case.
A: Well yeah because we were doing Radio One live show and George’s keyboard broke down and you had to use a Rows. A little mini Rows keyboard.
G: There is so much old great gear around that place, it’s amazing. I swear it’s cursed though, we’ve had audio interface breakdown, Aluna has had a fire alarm and last summer the keyboard broke ! It’s good though, the keyboard I have is pretty small at the moment so I can carry it around airports. The little Rose is delightful it sounds so good.
We love your Frank Ocean ‘Thinkin Bout You’ cover. Was that recorded in Maida Vale?
A: Yes that was recorded there, you should have been there to prepare me for when I met Frank Ocean! I think his opening line was ‘Hey I need to go to the toilet.’ Yesss that’s what I was hoping to hear.
FS: We suppose relating to that passion of finding different instruments, to work with do you have a particular software that you use at the moment or do you flip between them? We know the likes of Jamie XX come up with a bespoke piece of software?
G: Oh crikey, no I just use logic.
Have you always used that or has their been a progression ?
G: By and large I used to mess around with Cubase around 7 or 8 years ago. It seems now I have learnt what logic can do. Some programmes have their strengths and weaknesses. It would be good to learn another.
FS: How do you go about layering the drums?
G: Sometimes you can procrastinate with these things for so long. I guess you just have to go with it. Also it’s quite cool to then make yourself work around that early decision because it’s that limitation.
A: Yes retain the happy accident !
G: Having less to play with makes you more creative !
Where’s been your favourite venue to perform in?
G: We’ve been really lucky, we’ve had a lot of great shows.
A: One that sticks in my memory is XOYO. Quite a nice party/clubby venue.
G: Yeah that was cool. Two favourites for me were pitchfork festival in Paris and haltsred? In Sweden. The festival was a four hour drive from the hotel but it was like a moving postcard out the window, it was so beautiful.
Do you guys manage to get writing done when you’re out on the road?
A: We’ve been quite lucky in that it has all been very separate. We haven’t pushed it on the live side until this summer so we’re not going to be doing any writing for a while.
Did you go out last night after SoundCity?
A: I just stayed in the Garage till it closed and watched Bastille.
G: That venue had a really good vibe. Our sound guy said it took a couple of songs to get used to it.
This year has been a massive upward curve in terms of people hearing about you. Have you found that you have had to come up with a strategy for having your music played in terms of promotional material and advertising ?
A: I think we’re not very good at thinking about strategy so we tend not to try and be too clever. Our strategy kind of created itself in that we grew out of individuals just choosing to like our music and share it with other people. It’s never been an option for us to demand a listen to a song. The only thing we can do is give people more things to either look at and listen to and more ways to interact with us. There hasn’t been any opportunity for us to smash our songs in peoples faces with some sort of advertising strategy.
G: We have been really lucky with it, the radio have been really helpful with that. It’s nice and unbelievable how much it helps.
It’s really hard to pigeon hole your music into a specific genre. Is there anyone that you can think of in the industry who you think has a really strong melody and a really powerful beat with rich productions values that has an influence on you?
G: The best example for me was the second Justin Timberlake album. I think it’s fantastic. This new one has got moments on it, the production is actually brilliant. The songs in my opinion aren’t as good as they were. Some of them are really nice.
Good luck with you next gig, where are you off to next?
A: I think it’s Leeds.
G: (chants) Leeds, Leeds, Leeds !
AlunaGeorge’s debut album BODY MUSIC will be released on July 1st.
AlunaGeorge Perform At Liverpool SoundCity Music Festival In The Garage
The crowd went mad for their version of ‘This Is How We Do It.” In case you haven’t heard it already , here’s their collaboration with Disclosure…
