Hercules and Love Affair Catch-Up Q&A

I just did a really fun catch-up interview with Andrew Butler from Hercules and Love Affair for Anthem magazine that I highly recommend you check out if you're a fan of the band.

They've got some incredible stuff up their sleeve, from going in a more techno pop direction to bringing on two new vocalists to adding a psychedelia bent to their work.

It's not unexpected for you to make this leap from disco to techno pop kind of stuff, but... I'm curious as to what prompted the shift. Did you wake up with the urge to start doing techno pop or was it more organic... ?

A.B.: To be honest, the closest people to me in New York, I realize they're so rooted in house. They're younger, they're a bit more rooted in house music, and we share that love for the community feel of early house culture and rave culture. There's a sincerity to it all. Optimism. Utopianism. Some of the kids that really inspire me in New York are house. It's almost a lifestyle.

That's not to say there isn't any disco on the record―there definitely is―but, like, my favorite parties to DJ over the past couple of years had a lot of classic house, and the kids that came out were really into it, vogueing and dancing. It felt like the old way again. Late 80s New York, early 90s trippy house music on the West Coast―all that stuff is speaking to me currently. I had been collecting disco records for, like, 10 years. I was really into that sound and I still am―I love going to an all-night disco party like Horse Meat Disco or something―but there's a little bit more of a throw-down when it comes to house music. Your guts are a little more out there with the harsh claps and big vocals and all.

Read the full interview.