Welcome To The Berlin Funkadelic Electro Revival
Beatmag interviews… Lotterboys
Andrew Laughlin gets to grips with the Jack Daniels-marinated sex-funk stew of The Lotterboys
“What I really, really love is simple riff music,”declares Shapemod of The Lotterboys in a light German accent, “I think that often has similarities to dance music – things like ACDC or whatever. It’s so simple but funky as well. A friend just gave me a nice CD of KISS too so I’ll look forward to hearing that.”
He’s also quick to recognize what a clubbing hot spot his home-base of Berlin has become.
“The Panorama Bar is pretty cool,” he reckons , “The Berghain is a really huge club and is more gay orientated while the connected Panorama bar is smaller but opens from 3 AM to the afternoon next day.”
Combine these two aspects with a heavy dose of grunge-funk and you have The Lotterboys. Imagine a heavier, techier Scissor Sisters fronted by Bootsy Collins and you’re halfway there. Perhaps they’re best summed up by their bouncing vocoder version of Black Sabbath’s ‘Iron Man’, to be released as a single featuring Princess Superstar in September.
The Lotterboys comprises Shapemod (known to his mum as Sebastien Muller) and DJ Festisch, his partner in the longstanding Terranova, but the icing on the cake is the sleazoid lyricisim of Paris The Black Fu (AKA Mack Goudy Jnr) of the Detroit Grand Pubas. That the Pubas last album was called ‘Ass Creatures From Uranus’ give a good idea where he’s coming from…
“The whole idea of The Lotterboys compared to Terranova,” explains Sebastien, “was to really go for that live sound. We wanted one singer and an arrangement that was geared to playing live. We also have a drummer now, bass guitarist and Fetisch doing electronic stuff. It’s much more of a live sound. Sometimes we have percussion and an extra bass player but that is dependent on budget.”
The name Lotterboys derives from a gang of 1930s ‘Swing Kids’ who danced to American big band jazz that was banned in Nazi Germany.
“I don’t know whether they [the original Lotterboys] were the earliest DJs,” he ventures, “but they were definitely the first people to use two turntables. They were actually using two gramophones together, which is quite crazy.”
His ‘day job’, Terranova, have had a large degree of global success (though not in the UK) over four albums with their tough song-based electronica featuring the vocals of the Stereo MC Cathy Coffey, so isn’t The Lotterboys dissipating their focus a little.
“Terranova was a project that we have worked on together for a long time, Fetisch and I,” says Sebastien, “The Lotterboys was more of us thinking it would be a good idea to do something new and not just rely on that name. We liked the idea of doing something totally new. I started as an industrial rock guitarist. Of course, Paris has his club history and techno background from Detroit. He’s also loving the funk. I think The Lotterboys is the first time that he is really acting as a singer, using his normal voice and I think that he is really enjoying it. We were all listening to a lot of different music and it wasn’t forced at all as we combined it. It was just what came out of our heads.”
Their album ‘Animalia’ looks set to draw attention, not least because the cover art is by Peter Saville, designer of numerous seminal record covers, particularly New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’. A prestigious name secured through DJ Fetisch’s little black book.
“He’s an old friend of Fetisch,” Sebastien explains, “We did some music for him on a DVD that he produced and in return he did the cover for us. It’s amazing really.” Sebastien is also clear in identifying his favourite track on ‘Animalia’.
“I definitely like ‘Heroine’,” he announces, “because that was the first track we did together. We literally did that in two hours. It was so easy to make and I think that was also the track that started the band because we knew we wanted to do a project with Paris and this just worked. Then we played it to Eskimo records and they were really excited. It’s great to play live.”
The Lotterboys really come into their own when seen live, shows spiced up by the unpredictable presence of Paris The Black Fu.
“He’s mad!” laughs Sebastien, “Sometimes he freaks out totally, sometimes he doesn’t. It really depends on the mood. Paris is always drinking a bottle of Jack Daniels before gigs and he’s normally quite a nice guy but if he doesn’t get that, then he is angry. Therefore we now make sure it’s part of the rider.”
Unfortunately, UK heads will have to wait with bated breath to catch the Jack-fuelled Paris in action.
“We’ve been talking about a gig in London,” says Sebastien, “but its not confirmed yet. Fetish has played in the UK a lot and I think Paris has as well, but as a band we haven’t. We’ve played in Germany a lot and we’ve played in Belgium. Sometimes it’s a bit difficult to get all the people together.”
With Terranova’s fourth album ‘Digital Tenderness’ only released in February Sebastien seems a glutton for a heavy workload.
“I also just did an EP – ‘Loves Too Much’ under the Psycho Freak pseudonym with Jamie [Lidell] and Snax,” he confirms, “but it wasn’t really a joint project – it just featured them. I think they could well feature on the next piece I do as well. I’d like to get back together with them.”
Does ever get tired of it all?
“I’ve been doing it for quite a long time now,” he says with the weariness of an old soldier, “but I’m totally interested in new music, so that’s still exciting every day. Also, I really love travelling around the world playing my music. We went to Istanbul a while ago and some fans showed us the city the next morning which was really nice. On the other hand, this job doesn’t give you the guarantee of money, which is bad. Also, I think that the partying thing can be difficult, all the drinking and other stuff. It can be dangerous, I guess. You have to be really grounded to not fall into the trap. And of course, there’s the noise. Over the years, your ears can become completely fucked, which isn’t good.”
Has he not thought about taking precautions? Earplugs maybe?
“Not yet!” he laughs again, “Actually playing live is not as bad as DJing as you have a monitor on the floor and therefore it’s not that bad. It’s much worse when I DJ actually. Then I end up getting drunk and what with the noise, my head is crashing in the morning.”
Never mind the morning after, though – fingers crossed, The Lotterboys’ bourbon-inflected electro-steroid Funkadelic will make its way to a venue near you soon…
The Lotterboys album ‘Animalia’ is out 15th May on Eskimo Records
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