Nah probably the last thing Rowlands agrees
Sometimes it's just overwhelming," begins Rowlands, his words struggling to keep up with his own excitement. "When I'm in front of the decks, playing a sequence live, I can sense that the people I'm playing to are feeling that as well. Simons agrees: "I went to a party in Ladbroke Grove last month, and it was every bit as good as any acid-house rave I've ever been to. It didn't matter what music was playing - calypso, whatever - this was dance music and an enjoyment of it. The underground, slightly illicit spirit that existed in the late Eighties/early Nineties is still alive.
There was that old feeling in the crowd - people were smiling and dancing, and it was great."The Chemical Brothers are coming alive Simons is sitting up, and Rowlands is leaning forward The grey veil of disinterest has lifted. The Marquee shut, and that didn't mean the end of rock music. The impulse of people to go and listen to music with their friends and have a good time is still there, and that's what's important," laughs Rowlands. "Nah, probably the last thing," Rowlands agrees.While some ruefully interpreted the Sugababes' triumph as the final nail in the coffin of an ailing dance culture - irretrievably emasculated by the recent demise of the super-clubs - the Brothers feel vindicated. "Today, dance, pop, rock, hip hop, R&B - it's all the same! The crappy mega-clubs have gone, but I don't see that as a bad thing. Why shouldn't a pop band be rewarded for shaking up dancefloors? "Their record ['Freak Like Me'] was a big club track I don't think it did dance music a disservice," Simons says. Rowlands checks himself: "Well, it may not be quite like that, but the way we express ourselves using the instruments we play - the computer, the synthesiser, the mixing desk, the sequencer - is just the same as other bands."With such an attitude against pigeon-holing, it's no surprise that Rowlands and Simons are not in the least bit bothered about losing out on this year's best-dance-act Brit award to the girl band Sugababes.
Listening to our records or seeing us live is just the same as listening to The Darkness's CD or seeing them play live," explains Rowlands, before Simons interrupts, cackling like a smutty schoolboy - presumably imagining himself and Rowlands decked out in spandex catsuits, like the Spinal Tap-esque rockers. We just bring together many different musical ideas and then filter them through our experience of clubbing," Rowlands says.Like musical bumblebees gleefully cross-pollinating different genres, The Chemical Brothers are, and have always been, much more than a dance act "Our music has always existed outside of dance music. And although we might make a really beautiful record with, say, Beth Orton or Hope Sandoval on it, it will still have our sort of rush about it. What we like about our songs is that they exist in a world of their own. 'Block Rockin' Beats' for us was a record to kick off a Saturday night with, but it went out into the world and won a Grammy for best rock instrumental.
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