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PLUGGER'S COPYRIGHT DEFYING DIGI-HOMAGES

Plugged to death!

Italian electronic act PLUGGER sample various well-known classic acts — Pink Floyd, The Stones, the Beach Boys, Led Zep etc — and construct tracks purely out of samples of those bands. So 'The Lunatic', where they de-/re-construct Pink Floyd, has audible bits of 'Great Gig In the Sky', 'Money' and so on by The Floyd, made into a flowing On-U-style dubby melange.

'Plug the Voodoo', their Hendrix homage, has bits of 'Purple Haze' and 'Foxy Lady' and 'Castles Made of Sand' in the mix, while 'Sweet666' has 'When the Levee Breaks', 'Kashmir' and other classics by Led Zep mashed up in the mix. The tracks stand up well, they're done with reverence and subtlety, and the first instalment of PLUGGER's 'research' is the 'Sunrise Edition'.


“We have such big plans on releasing it that we are putting out five editions of the record, following clockwise your daily mood,” a PLUGGER operative tells DJ Mag. “Morning, Daylight, Sunset, Night, and Sunrise. This way, the PLUGS can take care of every aspect of your feelings. I personally don't dig that much music for just one kind of mood. After a while it gets boring, and its finiteness makes me sad.”

“We are very complex creatures,” the Italian continues. “You can be in a sexy fucking mood, but after you've screwed the world, you want to relax and have some tenderness after your cigarette. I like to imagine people not having to change PLUGGER on their stereo just because it's time to call your chick a cab. You can choose a different mood, and the PLUGS can be with you forever.”

This is all very well and Avalanches, but DJ Mag asks if they're aware how powerful the copyright lawyers of the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and so on are?
“Are you aware of how powerful my mum is when she gets upset about something?” he replies. “I coped with my mum, lawyers won't be a problem. Besides, if Mick Jagger would listen to the PLUG we have done of the Rolling Stones, he would not be doing any of the super-heavy thing.

His new sound he has been obsessively looking for is right there, before his eyes. Deconstructing and reconstructing, for ever and ever. This is what we do.”

PLUGGER claim that eminent composer Ennio Morricone has given them the seal of approval — “PLUGGER is the new thing that will shake rock,” he allegedly said — and that these huge acts have nothing to be angry about. “We love them. Every single note they played. Every single word they sung.
It's inside us. Our DNA is made with that.”

PLUGGER have been developing interactive audio-visual shows at which they wear plastic welding masks, “where the audience can play with us in real time with the smartphone. For us, the future of clubbing and gigging is in that direction. We developed a special app to do that. When I go out I wanna 'do' stuff, not only be a passive cow”.