As one of the independent acts that broke out in 2009, Techy Romantics was one of the few who caught my attention. The band had a couple of unique songs that have the power to spread LSS. Their singles were instant request favorites on the local airwaves. They had a spot on the map all right, but quite honestly, I wasn’t sure where they wanted to head yet.
I kept a listening ear out for them, and upon stumbling on their newest single, I must say the future looks dreamy. The reinvigorated Techy Romantics sound has elevated so significantly, it left me with an aching feeling that if I ever see their second album in real life, I would literally devour it.
As the country’s most popular “chilltronica” band unleashes “Escape” as their sophomore effort, hie away with Supreme as we explore why this state-of-the-art trio thinks the local electronica waves will be swagging it to your nearest dance floor.
Supreme: Your first album “Touch” was successful. Did “sophomore jinx” ever cross your mind?
Camille: I never really thought of it ‘til you mentioned it now. We had lots of leftovers from “Touch” that it was foremost in our minds to get them all in another album. Whether or not it succeeds isn’t really an issue for us.
Ryan: I believe the songs we have now and the way they were written, recorded and produced have so much evolved that quality will surpass any bad tidings.
Your new single Escape is phenomenal. The sound is more layered and complex. It’s even... euphoric. What triggered this evolution?
Dondi: I was recently “born again” when I wrote the lyrics. And I found the one true source from which my talents come. It was so easy to write it knowing that God has blessed me with this gift. As far as I know, He wrote it. I’m just the guy typing away.
Ryan: I remember when Dondi and I were at the beginning of writing this song at his house. It was one of those forgettable work days. We recorded the guitar riffs and I just told him to write lyrics about escaping to something far better than the daily grind — be it to love, to fortune, to an ideal job, or to something more divine. Then, it all fell into place.
Why the album title “Escape”?
Camille: “Escape” is literally breaking free from my previous inhibitions that I had to struggle with while producing “Touch.” This being my first band, I felt very unsure then. I didn’t know what we would sound like. When people started noticing our music, I didn’t know how to act or feel about the attention — both good and bad. Writing and making music for “Escape” felt more natural.
Dondi: The whole process is an escape from “Touch.” I saw how we detached ourselves from the music and allowed our producer, our vocal coach, our engineer, the design team we picked, and our label do what they do best. In a sense, we encouraged others to remix the album in every way in all angles. I believe we got the best output from us stepping back and simply having faith in our team.
All bands have musical differences. Who fights everyone all the time?
Camille: I admit that I fight everyone all the time. It used to be Dondi, but now it’s me! (laughs)?
Dondi: Do I? (laughs) We do eventually strike a balance. From time to time, we argue or passionately converse about certain things. But at the end of the day, we are friends and we all want to stay that way.
Ryan and Camille, does being a married couple affect your band dynamics? Dondi, being the third wheel, do you get in the line of fire?
Camille: Yes, Dondi gets in the middle of things. (laughs) When Ryan and I start arguing in front of him, he either laughs it off or he just puts on his headphones and ignores us.?
Dondi: I think they don’t fight around me like how couples don’t fight around the kid. (laughs)
Name one electronica act you cannot live without.
Ryan: Daft Punk.
Dondi: New Order.
Camille: Locally, I’m a very big fan of Drip. I spent a lot of time watching them live before.
Do any of you listen to dubstep?
Camille: I’m not very familiar with dubstep. I only got to know about it through mainstream acts like in Rihanna and Britney Spears, which I must admit are two of my guilty pleasures.
Ryan: Maybe we could incorporate that sound one day, much like Britney Spears has done. Perhaps in the third album.
What’s your dream international gig?
Ryan: We’ve been fortunate to play in Malaysia and for the Baybeats Music Festival in Singapore. My dream international gig would be playing at the South X Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas.
Camille: I would really love to try Europe, and maybe some of the indie festivals in the US.
What’s the nicest thing a fan ever did?
Camille: It would have to be this person who helped us produce the Republiq show last Saturday. Seeing them so excited and passionate about our music and making it reach more listeners drives us to make better songs, perform better gigs. It’s highly enabling.
In the wake of the underground scene breaking out, from dubstep to solo DJ acts like Diego Mapa AKA Tarsius, how’s the future of local electronica looking up?
Ryan: The listeners are opening up their sensibilities. The more the crowd can be game to any kind of music, the more DJ’s can educate them.
Dondi: This is an interesting time for electronica. I think more and more artists will come out and explore their talents playing with software, hardware, analog synths. Electronica will be more inventive. The genre fusing with other genres will create new sounds.
Camille: Whether it’s performing live with a drum machine or “spinning” straight from your iPod, as long as the music is original and more and more people are opening their ears to electronica and different genres, then the future of local music is looking brighter than ever.
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The “Escape” album launch will be on Friday, Dec. 9 at Saguijo. Dancing starts at 9 p.m. Listen to the new single: techyromantics.bandcamp.com
Unfollow me @ twitter.com/PingMedina.