Music Radar: Interview with Deap Vally

Los Angeles’ duo Deap Vally delivered a series of raucous performances during the CMJ Music Marathon this year. Untapped Cities sat down to chat with Julie Edwards and Lindsay Troy after one of their CMJ performances at Williamsburg’s Public Assembly. The rockers shared details from some of their favorite shows to date and even told us about their coffee rituals.

Untapped Cities: Tell us about the spaces you were in when you wrote the songs.
Edwards: We were in a huge converted industrial factory building in downtown Los Angeles. Two floors are practice spaces, so there are like four hundred bands practicing there, and the other two floors are garment manufacturing. The room was ugly, with ugly carpeting, but we dolled it up.

Troy: We also write wherever we are. Like gypsy writing, in the car, if I get a melody or lyric idea, or on the floor. I do quite a lot of writing sitting on the floor.

Edwards: In the bathtub.

Troy: We wrote a song in the car at a gas station.

What has been one of your favorite venues or shows so far?
Edwards: We played a festival in Paris called Rock En Seine. It was in this incredible centuries old park, with old fountains and old statues. It was outdoors and beautiful. History was there. We have been fortunate to have played so many interesting weird amazing shows. We played in this murky basement in Manchester. A stinky moldy basement. It was awesome.

Troy: A lot of the shows we played are out of some weird movie. Like The Saloon in San Francisco, what kind of movie would that be?

Edwards: We played a show at the oldest bar in San Francisco. The Saloon, it’s not really a venue, it’s a bar. There are lots of ballroom dancing-kind of people who all know the jitterbug and dress like it’s the ’40s. There was a lady there who was literally the oldest lady in San Francisco. She was hunched over at the bar. She was exquisite.

Troy: She was like out of a painting.

Edwards: We are from LA and you don’t see many old women there because before you start to get old you fix everything.

Troy: It was beautiful to see that.

What sort of places do you spend your days in while in Los Angeles?
Troy: I think we are both in outdoor spaces a lot. I’m super into Griffith Park. It’s so beautiful.

Edwards: I live on a mountain, so I’m surrounded by trees and insects. Lots of bugs and critters.

When you buy coffee you go?
Edwards: We get smoothies in Silver Lake.

Troy: I go out to buy coffee everyday, cause it gets me out of the house.

Edwards: I’m the opposite. I can’t leave the house without coffee. The days when I have to leave before coffee, I’m a little nervous.

Troy: Part of it is the whole ritual of going out to get it and entering the public outside world.

Edwards: I think that’s healthy. I can probably use that.

Deap Vally are currently playing a series of European shows and will be releasing their debut album in 2013 under Island Records. Full show schedule here.   Follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Get in touch with the author @Hernando1.