Photo by James Bunoan You look like an idiot when you dance. Everybody does, except for Prince. And maybe Usher. But that's okay, says Costa Mesa duo Dance Disaster Movement: push through humiliation, and you'll find liberation.
These kids came out of some pretty straight-faced outfits—singer/sampler/synthesizer Kevin Litrow (a.k.a. “Wires”) doubles in slowjam space-rock band Radar, and drummer Matt Howze (“Tic-Toc”) beat up the backstage in hardcore commando squad Treadwell—but now they've dropped the drone and the discord and decided to wreck the discotheque instead. They've already got a cult following—whose stylish all-white ensembles would stand out at every show not held at the Shack—which fits them just fine; the THX-1138 look is perfect for the shock troops in the dance revolution. And while it's all about fun—their Krautrock-y now-iz-the-time-ven-ve-danz! shtick is scientifically calculated to make people move; listen for yourself when their full-length comes out on Dim Mak early next year—it's still serious fun. If you're not gonna move, then get out of the Movement.
OC Weekly: So how do you get those whites so white?
Kevin: My mom washes mine.
Matt: Clorox. We wanna be sponsored. And everybody wears all black—everybody is so dark lately. This is positive energy!
Is there room in the Dance Disaster Movement for people on crutches, people with bones in their feet that have fused together, or the Amish?
Kevin: Yeah! We want anybody anywhere doing whatever type of dancing they want. It's your time to let it go—to forget about work, to forget about everything.
Sounds like half aerobics . . .
Matt: . . . and half spiritual detox! That's why we tell people who aren't dancing to leave. It makes it like a junior high dance, with everyone standing up against the walls. They're scared.
Kevin: And we don't want people to be scared.
Man, I never went to a single dance in junior high.
Kevin: I never went to any dances—not even in high school.
Matt: I went to one. It was a bunch of friends trying to build up the courage to ask girls to dance to Tiffany.
So how did you free your own inner dancers?
Kevin: For me, it was eighth grade—not the junior high dance, but we had a class contest where we were supposed to do a song, to go up on stage in front of the whole school and sing. I did Michael Jackson's “Bad,” and I won.
Do you think there's like a little bit—
Matt: Of Michael Jackson in all of us? Yes, definitely.
No, no, I don't think anybody wants a little piece of Michael Jackson in them right now. I mean: Do you think there's a rebel aspect to dance? Sort of likeFootloose?
Kevin: There's definitely rebellion. From Elvis Presley and rock N roll to the Twist to the freakouts of the '60s to Michael Jackson and Prince.
Matt: It's funny: dancing has been such a part of our culture and such a strong thing in all cultures, but it seems like there's such a malaise in the scene. People are bored. And we really wanted to stir things up.
Now this actually does sound like the plot toFootloose.
Matt: The funny thing is, I had an angry father who would quote Bible scriptures to me—and then I used the Bible against him!
Kevin: And then the “disaster” part: we don't care if you're raving out or a swing dancer—we want any kind of movement possible. That's the disaster.
So do you have special moves of your own?
Kevin: I don't know if the Seizure has been invented before, but it's basically when everybody goes absolutely apeshit. It's all disaster when you do the Seizure!
Matt: That's when Kevin's rolling around on the ground and doing backflips!
So it's like when you completely lose control of all bodily functions?
Matt:Yeah, everyone can piss themselves all at one time. It's the Golden Shower!
DANCE DISASTER MOVEMENT PERFORMS WITH INNAWAY AT DETROIT BAR, 843 W. 19TH ST., COSTA MESA, (949) 642-0600. MON., 9 P.M. CALL FOR COVER. 21+.
3 Replies to “Dont Be Afraid to Pogo”