WAX LYRICAL: BENOIT & SERGIO

Benoit & Sergio have been touring all summer taking their enormously emotive, electro-disco blessed sounds to Europe, Asia and the States. 
“We just played ENTER. in Ibiza. That was epic,” says Sergio, one half of the Visionquest signed duo, also revealing that on the same night they learnt that it’s OK to use your fingers when eating sushi. Later this month sees the release of ‘Adjustments’, their two-track EP on Culprit, radiant with a tropical Kraftwerk vibe. 
They’ve just finished working on a song called ‘Those Long Neglected Words’ for an indie rock project that asked various artists to pick a planet or moon in outer space, and make music from NASA recordings of that particular location. B&S decided to take their sounds from Jupiter. DJ Mag can’t wait to hear that, and we’re also holding our breath for their first album, that Benoit & Sergio promise is in its final stages.

First-ever rave experience?
Sergio: “I grew up in Iowa, about a five-hour drive to Chicago. A lot of my friends started going to Chicago for raves in high school and then throwing baby raves in Iowa on weekends in places like Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. So, technically, some rave in Iowa in high school was my first rave experience. But in terms of the first rave in which I realised their immense magic — that would have been at Metropolis at Mutek in Montreal in 2004. Matthew Herbert was playing. He started his set with ‘Everything in its Right Place’ by Radiohead — never has a song spoken so perfectly to a moment.”

What is the most crucial dance record of all-time?
“‘Talking Loud and Saying Nothing’ by James Brown. Brian Eno has said there were three great beats in the '70s that have become the blueprint for other dance music since then. Neu's motorik beat, Fela Kuti's Afrobeat, and James Brown's funk. ‘Talking Loud’ is so 'in pocket' — effortless.”

Name three tunes that never leave your ‘bag’...
“We don't DJ, so our ‘bag’ is technically our live set. Explaining why we never take certain tracks out might sound a bit arrogant and pretentious. But we could say that, though we rarely play it anymore, ‘What I've Lost’, one of our first tracks from years ago, has always stayed in the set, just in case. It has been requested more than other tracks. Maybe because it didn't sound like many other tracks that came out four years ago.”

What’s your lights-up, end-of-the-night tune? And why is this tune so special?
“‘Naive Melody’ by Talking Heads — it's dancey but super complex emotionally, like the end of any great night winding towards home.”

If you could meet anyone — alive or dead — who would it be?
“Some elegant, minor historical figure like the third Earl of Shaftesbury. We'd discuss things we had read that day at dinner and we would never put pressure on each other to entertain.”

Imagine the world is going to end tomorrow. What are you gonna do tonight?
“We would try to organize a dinner at Der Goldene Hahn in Berlin with some of my friends — we'd drink and eat and then walk over to Club Der Visionaere to say goodbye to anyone we knew. Then call mom, then listen to Kurt Vile's ‘On Tour’ on repeat in the dark.”

Please give us three words to describe your life.
“No melody harder.”