. . . is how Ethan Kath of Canadian electronic duo Crystal Castles sees the mutant squelches and out-there dance music created by the group's recalibrated synths, as he tells Jim Carroll
THE MORE CLOSELY you examine how Canadian electro punk tearaways Crystal Castles operate, the more contradictions you find.
The Toronto duo take their sound from old video games, and share their name with one, yet profess to hate computer games. Singer Alice Glass and multi-instrumentalist Ethan Kath are not very fond of doing interviews, yet have enjoyed widespread mainstream and underground media buzz from music blogs to Channel 4's Skins.
They make the most out-there dance music you'll hear at present, yet have very little truck with either clubs or dance scenes.
For all their clandestine behaviour and cryptic, coded messages, however, Crystal Castles are still akin to an old-fashioned band pushing their debut album.
That album, though, doesn't remotely sound like anything else around right now. A colourful and chaotic riot of beeps and bleeps, Crystal Castles sounds like an invasion of alien beings coming to do battle with an arsenal of battered amusement arcade machines.
The fact that Kath's recalibrated keyboard features a recycled sound chip from an old Atari goes some way to explaining the radical, mutant squelches and squawks that have become the band's signature sound. Yet their use of such back-to-the-future effects also cloaks the duo's sharp grasp on the art of sonic manipulation and songwriting. There's more than just a noisy deconstructionist riot going on here, as tracks such as the soft, shuffling Tell Me What To Swallow show.
The Crystal Castles tale began in earnest when Kath saw Glass performing with her old band, Foetus Fatale. He already had several instrumental tracks recorded with a notion to make distorted music and knew instantly that Glass was the one he was waiting for.
"As soon as I saw her perform, I knew I could trust her and that I wouldn't have to look over everything she does," recalls Kath. "Whatever she'd put on my tracks would be fine and she would never write a clichéd lyric. We also both loved the same obscure noise bands, so there was a connection."
The pair's first studio sessions together in 2005 produced their timeless tune theme, Alice Practice. The story goes that Glass was just checking the levels on her microphone and Kath didn't realise that he was recording her. An accident perhaps, but one that quickly found its way online and worldwide. Even though Kath initially dismissed the track as simply the duo "messing around with sounds", it marked the start of the buzz. Limited-edition seven-inch releases and tours followed.
It was at those live shows that Glass began to bloom and shine as a frontwoman. A compelling presence on the stage, she spends the entire show bouncing around and yelling at the audience with great gusto, while Kath remains crouched and usually hooded over his synths.
"The live show is where Alice comes into her own - it's her space," says Kath. "I'm not sure why, but the fans sometimes feel the need to hold onto Alice as if she is Morrissey. They really feel they have a bond with her." That bond may also come down to the audience discovering a band who really, truly, do not sound like anyone else. That, says Kath, was always the intention from the get-go.
"We wanted to do something which was out there without copying someone else," he explains. "It's like all those noise bands we both loved but, instead of distorted guitars, we use messed-up keyboard sounds. At the same time as that is going on, I also love New Order and Joy Division and wanted to use the same kind of beats. So that's what we set out to do: a noise rock band in a fight with New Order."
That's where the video game chips came into play, but Kath is at pains to stress that this doesn't mean they're video game nerds or nostalgics.
"We both hate video games and we're also not named after a computer game, that's just a coincidence. The sound came about because we were breaking apart electronics and toys to get annoying sounds. You can get sounds out of any electronic device by opening it up and poking around. You can open up your watch and if it makes a blip, you can sample it and then use it as a synth.
"My favourite instrument was a circuit board from the early 1970s that was made to teach budding electricians. That made some amazing noises."
Since their rise, other acts have come to them looking for a touch of the Crystal Castles magic in the shape of a remix. Kath was always happy to oblige, mainly because it meant they could get more of their own tunes into circulation. Acts and labels who've paid good money for a remix from Kath may not be too pleased to hear him break down how a Crystal Castles remix works.
"We started doing remixes because bands were contacting me when we were in desperate need of money," explains Kath. "It was just good timing. Bloc Party wanted to pay us to remix their song, so I just chopped their vocals up over a Crystal Castles song we weren't using.
"The thing I like about doing remixes is that I can get our fans some more Crystal Castles songs, sneak them another taste, because I used all unreleased songs that were just sitting on my laptop."
• Crystal Castles play the Electric Picnic on Aug 30, Dublin's Academy on Oct 1 and Belfast's Spring Airbrake on Oct 2