COVER STARS: AZARI & III THE I’S HAVE IT…
AHEAD OF THE RELEASE OF THEIR NEW SINGLE AND AN INTIMATE LONDON SHOW, MICHAEL TURNBULL TALKS TO HOUSE MUSIC LOVERS AZARI & III…
Toronto may not seem the most obvious place for the emergence of an intergalactic, polysexual, funky house, all-singing, all-voguing quartet, but that’s exactly what’s happened with the formation of Azari and III. Dinamo Azari and Alixander III had been DJ’ing for years until one Boxing Day they found themselves spinning against each other in a fierce clubland competition. The pair united, picked up Fritz Helder and the bizarrely named Starving Yet Full along the way, and – in the shape of their eponymous debut – created one of the darkest, sexiest, electro-pop albums since Fischerspooner’s Odyssey. The new single, ‘Reckless (With Your Love)’, will not only having you sprinting for the dancefloor, but it also carries a political message on the dangers of HIV. With rumours of Madonna asking them to tour with her and fans including Johnny Depp, Tinie Tempah and The XX, Azari and III are without doubt ones to watch in 2012.
Michael Turnbull talks to Alixander III and Starving Yet Full to find out the real story on how they met, when is the right moment to wear a furry codpiece, and their definition of a ‘Man Hooker’.
Do you go out much when you’re in London? Alixander: Not so much; we’re normally working. My hotel room was the best place I went. Did we have a party in our hotel room? Ha ha... sadly, no. You have great stage names, is there some mythology behind how you all came together? A: That’s the question we hate most; so whatever is out there is probably not true. We sometimes lie about where we all met. Starving: Oh, we totally met on the Drop Zone ride in Wonderland Theme Park. We were all holding hands, wished each other good luck and then met at the bottom. Was there an artist you bonded over? A: Not really, we just met through the Holy Ghost team who brought us together. And within 49 hours of meeting him we had written the music for both ‘Man Hooker’ and ‘Hungry For The Power’. We liked the image of a ‘Man Hooker’ being one guy in the darkness, looking for love and sex, and being lost at night and sleeping all day. Is the guy gay? A: Not really. I guess gay culture came
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‘above ground’ in my teenage years. But everyone is gay. What does it mean? OK, well, it means you’re a homo; maybe it means you’re flamboyant; who knows what it means any more? It’s a very blurred line. There are more people thinking, ‘You know what? I could fuck that guy. I’d never really thought of it before, I’ve always thought of myself as a straight guy but hey, why not?’ The social attitude no longer makes people fear that if they go and fuck a guy they will be ostracised by their jock buddies. Is Toronto very gay-friendly? S: Canada is known for being open and proud; it is famous for having one of the biggest Gay Prides in the world. A: You might have a harder time in rural Canada, but we wouldn’t know! Entering Toronto is like entering the safe zone. It’s like Babylon, you can get away with anything.
What music did you grow up on? A: Whatever came on the radio really, from Jerry Lee Lewis to Eddy Grant. That was until I was old enough to form my own opinions. Then it was like the original 80s British indie shoegazing stuff. I would enter local radio show competitions to win tickets. I saw Happy Mondays on the Pills and Thrills tour. I saw My Bloody Valentine on their first tour. S: The radio was never really on in my house. But I do remember there being a one-hour special TV show on a Saturday and they played a bunch of different stuff from Stevie Wonder to George Michael to Celine Dion. So now when you’re on stage you’re channelling Naomi in George Michael’s ‘Freedom’ video? S: Exactly! Voguing seems to be big again. Is it happening to Toronto too? S: Not really. I remember about four or five years ago I first caught on to voguing and then, before I knew it, everyone was going home and learning to dance. At the time it was to R’n’B, then dance, then house. But now everyone vogues to anything! Hell, I’ll vogue to rhythm dancehall! A: Why be limited? I used to listen to techno all night. I was like “Fuck house music!” Voguing has modified. It’s a little less harsh... not as confrontational. S: At the time when the houses mattered, you had Old School; you had Old Way, which was pretty much the Madonna ‘Vogue’. Then that gave way to New Wave,
where everything is more about who can spin better, who can dip harder, who can do a better hand performance – it’s huge. How was coming out for you? S: I’ve never been that ‘in the closet’ kid. Even from the clothes I wore as a kid and the way I carried myself, people would say to my parents, ‘Oh I think your son is going to be gay when he grows up.’ A: Starving Yet Full is beyond gay, straight, human! He’s definitely his own creature. Are you seeing anyone? S: Not at the moment, I just want to focus on what we’ve got going on here. But I’ve got a date on Friday, actually. I got a random text yesterday from a guy I gave my number to. So we’ll see... Alixander, are you gay? A: Majority straight. I don’t have time. I’ve had a girlfriend for the last ten years. Back then I would say I was straighter. What’s your audience like? S: Being at the front, I can see that normally, the first rows are our gay fans with a bunch of girls, then right at the back are the super-straight boys. Do you prefer playing your own gigs to festivals or club nights? A: We like to play shows. Festivals are great – whether it’s five in the afternoon or five in the morning, you just go out on stage and there’s a crowd of people. We’d rather play a beautiful hall with a nice balcony so people feel like they are seeing an actual show. Even though our music is considered dance music because of the beat, when we perform it live you don’t need to be in a club. It’s almost better in an environment where you can hear and see the performance not just lasers. What’s your wardrobe inspired by? A: We’re all a little different. I’m stuck in this Mod look. I’m a slim Italian. I like crispy shit. S: He likes to be comfortable. Normally, I wear a chiffon shirt or something flowy. I like to move around a lot with my hands. It depends on the mood I’m in. There was a fur cod-piece for Lovebox. A: Maybe we’ll all be in suits one day, but Fritz is definitely the more S&M-y one out of us. And Cedric [aka Starving Yet Full] is like a bag of Skittles. Everything is bright colours...
‘Reckless (With Your Love)’ out on 12 February and the band’s self-titled debut album on 19 February. Catch them performing a full show at Heaven on 2 February.
http://azariandiii.com/
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