It's not good journalistic form to say certain things about famous people, but I'll confess: James Scott Tamborello, or Dntel of Postal Service fame, is a pretty odd dude to chat with (only further hamstringed by my own awkwardness).
Luckily, in Dntel's case, his music speaks for itself–the electro-artist's expansive music career boasts a discography spanning back to the late '90s and a long list of collaborators that includes Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard. Despite the impressive list of accomplishments, this is the artist's first ever tour–and it hits Detroit Bar (with One AM Radio and Geotic) tonight. Our chat with the artist is after the jump.
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OC Weekly: I saw that you posted about Bjork's new track “Cosmogony” on Twitter. You're a Bjork fan? Any plans to remix her?
James Tamborello: I don't really do that sort of thing. But, this actually came up in a recent interview … when I was doing the first Dntel album, Life is Full of Possibilities, I wrote to Bjork a some point to try to get a CD to her, but I don't know if she ever got it.
That sucks. Well, how about the Enya remixes? What was the motivation behind releasing those?
Well, I listened to her a little in high school and I didn't really hear her music until last summer. And I started picking songs off her records and I liked the idea of focusing on little parts of the song I liked the best and playing them over and over again.
Do you generally prefer female vocalists or male vocalists?
Um…I tend to like … I guess I like …male vocalists that have higher pitched voices? It sort of appeals to me because I have a deep voice. So, you know, whatever I don't sound like.
How did the tour with One AM Radio come about?
We were both thinking to tour, and I guess we all got together and decided to do it, all three of us [with Geotic], at once. We've worked out two of the older songs they're [One AM Radio] going to sing.
What can fans expect at this tour? Anything new and exciting?
Oh, there is one kind of interesting thing — we made a tour EP, it has like the three of our bands remixing each other and playing each other's stuff. It's a six-song EP where people who come to the show will get a copy. I'm excited
Have you come up with a setlist already?
Yeah, with six alternate songs I'm going to switch in sometimes. It's a mixture of–well, there's probably more of a focus on Life is Full of Possibilities. I wanted to play more of the old songs–play them one more time and be done.
What's exciting and interesting to you right now?
I guess I've been going more towards instrumental electronic music. It changes every week. I really like Ramadanman, and I like a lot of things going on in England right now–it sounds really cheesy, but, post-dubstep stuff.
Oh my god. Post-debstep, huh? That sounds …
Yeah, that'lll make people cringe. It's kinda what's happened after … dubstep.
I can honestly say I've never listened to that. I've listened to dubstep …
It's kinda got a beat that's similar and comes from dubstep, but it's more experimental.
Dntel performs at Detroit Bar tonight, 843 W. 19th St., Costa Mesa, 9 p.m. $12, 21+.
