Sleigh Bells: Can You Hear Them Coming?

Sitting on the top floor balcony of a hotel bar, Sleigh Bells have the world (well, London) at their feet. They also have everything laid out in front of them in their music career. Starting out with little more than a handful of demo tapes, the New York based pair have since been snapped up by M.I.A as part of her NEET label and gone on to release their debut album - the barn storming ‘Treats’.

Gigwise caught up with guitarist Derek Miller and singer Alexis Krauss to discuss just how this all happened.

How did you meet one another?

Alexis: It was the Summer of 2008 and I finished teaching. I went out to dinner with my Mom and Derek was our waiter. My Mom is very talkative and so is Derek and they got chatting and Derek was saying how he was looking for a female singer to start a band with. We exchanged emails before I left and we got together about a week later and wrote our first song together which was ‘Infinity Guitars’. 

Was this style of music and this specific project something you’d had in mind for a while?

Derek: The only thing specific about it was that I wanted a female vocalist. Other than that it was just a case of making things up as I went along. I played in a hardcore band (Poison The Well) who were very heavy but melodic as well and I thin that description fits with what we’re doing here as well so those two things are something I always try and combine.

How did you feel when you first heard what Derek had been working on?

Alexis: I was excited and thought it was just so refreshing. I immediately identified with what he wanted to achieve and was lucky that my voice fit in with that. As soon as we heard both parts come together we were like “Wow” that actually works really well.

What were the first songs your wrote together?

Derek: ‘Infinity Guitars’ was the first ‘Ril Ril’ was another.
Alexis: We worked together that Summer in 2008 but then I went back to being a teacher when the holidays were over. So after that we didn’t work as much until the following summer in 2009 when we wrote songs like ‘Crown On The Ground’ and ‘A/B Machines’.

When did you decide to stop teaching?

Alexis: I decided not to go back January of 2009.

In terms of the pop side of your music who are your influences and inspirations?

Derek: Recently I’ve been listening to a lot of Phil Collins. His solo stuff and Genesis are great.
Alexis: In terms of melody I like a lot of 80’s pop like Madonna and Cyndi Lauper and then going further back things like Motown, Phil Spector.

What point did MIA get involved?

Derek: She first contacted us in September of last year and came to see one of our very first shows. That was so cool because we’re both huge fans of hers so it was great to have her involved. She’s very inspiring.

And you worked on her latest album too right?

Derek: Yeah I produced a bunch of stuff on there.

Her song ’Meds and Feds’ from that album was originally a Sleigh Bells song right?

Derek: Yeah, a lot of people think she sampled it not knowing that I worked on her album too. That song was originally a Sleigh Bells demo but we didn’t really record it properly and she did it in October of last year when she was making her album.

How was it working on her album?

Derek: I’d play her a bunch of beats and tracks that I had made for her and she’d like bits of each one. There wasn’t one thing she loved straight away so there was a lot of going away and trying different arrangements and speeds to get things right for her.

Was it always the intention to make the Sleigh Bells album so very loud?

Derek: It wasn’t actually, I didn’t even notice until I heard one of our songs in a play list with other bands. I was in Brooklyn and ’Tell ’Em’ came on in a diner and it was so loud it shocked me. The girl working in the diner had to run across and turn it down because it was so loud.
Alexis: You have to be careful when you listen to it on an iPod, you have to be ready to turn the volume down pretty quickly if you don’t like it.
Derek: I’m basically just real deaf so it’s just practical more than anything. A lot of people think we’re loud as an aesthetic choice but it’s just because I don’t like listening to music quietly at all.

Do you see Sleigh Bells as a long term project?

Derek: Absolutely, I’m dying to get back into the studio and even when we finished the album it felt really good. On the last day we finished ‘Riot Rhythm’ really quickly and I felt like we could have just kept going. There is already excitement about what the possibilities of this band are.

Have you written anything new? What does it sound like?

Derek: There is more of a metal influence on the guitars. Some of it’s happy, some of it sad. I don’t know - it’s hard to say at the moment.

What is a Sleigh Bells show like?

Derek: Hopefully a dance party. We want people to move, to be energetic
Alexis: It’s a lot about reacting to us and the noise that we make.

What made you want to sample Funkadelic on your song ‘Ril Ril’?

Alexis: We just really love that song and wanted to try and make something like that for a song but when we tried to recreate it we couldn’t get anywhere near it so decided to take a sample of it and build our song around it.

Derek: It’s actually one of my favourite songs on the album. It’s the only song that doesn’t rely on a dynamic and shows that we’re more than just the band who play things really loudly.

What are your plans for the rest of the year?

Both: Touring!

Derek: We’re touring with LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip in the States and the coming back to Europe to play shows in November.

And when will you get to record again?

Derek: Not until next Summer I don’t think. It’s nowhere near as soon as I’d like but then our album only just came out so I suppose I’ll have to try and be patient with it.