9 o'clock Nasty emerged glistening from the plague pits of Leicester. They play with glitter and they take no prisoners. Relentless and yet full of love they take a side eyed look at the world and punish it with driving beats and mild sarcasm. Investment for fun and wealth creation. Welcome to the world of the Disco Investors. Buy it, fuck it up, move on, repeat. Here’s a wild idea. Let’s vote for politicians that make the really rich people even richer. Let’s do that. Obviously that will benefit everyone, the poor, the old, the marginalised, those in need. Obviously. Billionaires are well known for equitably sharing wealth.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Kamil) Hey 9 o'clock Nasty, super nice to have the chance to chat with you. This is the third time I'm interviewing you. How would you summarize the last several months?
We’ve been working away. We hope to put out a third LP called “Culture War 23” this summer which will pull together not just the 10 singles from September to June but also another 10 new songs. It’s exciting because we’ve given ourselves a bit more freedom creatively for this one.
We’ve also been working with other people which is fun. The next release “The Worms” with I Am The Unicorn Head is incredibly exciting and another opportunity for us to put our disco trousers on.
Who helped you most in your musical journey?
Right now, collaborators like I Am The Unicorn Head, Golden Plates, Mark Wise, Hugo GT. People that have worked closely with us on stuff in a way that made us think harder about what we do. Hugo in particular has given us a clearer vision of what we want to sound like and how we can achieve it.
Before, hundreds of people. Literally. Every time you play live, every time you rehearse, you’re learning and building confidence. This will sound incredibly harsh and sarcastic but I think the times we have seen bands that were absolutely awful: that helped us gain the confidence to think “we can do better than that, let’s kick this off” were incredibly useful.
Your latest release is 'Disco Investors'. Can you share with us the background of its creation and did any unusual things happen during its creation?
Disco was one of the first songs from our new “two studios” approach. Last year we worked and lived in the same building - it was our studio, our global headquarters and where we slept. Eventually we decided living in normal houses would be a good idea and we have established a couple of places where we can write and record. Disco started with a drumbeat, a bassline and a vocal melody - pretty much unchanged from what you hear on the final result. We layered it up and built it and it became harder and funkier and more crowded. At that point it is tricky - you love your song and you don’t want to take anything out, but there is a huge skill in knowing when to say no and when to cut. For this song we were lucky to have the help of Hugo GT, a mad bastard from Canada who is a really gifted mixer. He took a listen to the song and probably cried a bit, then he reprogrammed quite a lot of the drumming to open up space, stripped down the guitars and blended the vocals. Usually we’d expect to have quite a long conversation with someone over a mix, but he sent us his first take and we just went “YES” that is it.
He is an absolute genius and we’re lucky to have had two chances to work with him.
What social issues are you most passionate about?
Respect. Everything flows from that. Respect for human rights. For personal freedom. For dignity. For a future where we have a planet to live on that isn’t a toxic waste. It’s too difficult to say “this issue is the one.” They all connect. The rise of the misinformed, the rise of greed culture, the rise of “do as I say” culture, are things we kick against. We’re essentially against stupid and against greed and particularly against stupid greed.
How do you stay up-to-date with the latest musical trends?
Ha ha. We have literally no interest whatsoever in any trends. On one level that is because we’re not trying to blend into anything, we’re making our own thing. On another it is because so much that we do hear is…. Poor.
Don’t get us wrong, we listen to new music constantly. When bands like The Qwarks or Everything but the Everything put out a song we are excited. Molosser Crude was incredibly big news for us when they popped up. Arch Femmesis and De Staat rock our worlds. We love music, and have zero interest in manufactured trends.
There is some very exciting indie music coming through. Real talent and innovation. We constantly repost and link to the things that excite us. Check it all out.
What do you feel is the best song that you have ever released and why?
That is a supremely difficult question! It will vary from day to day. Every song has a story and it is difficult to separate that from thinking about “the best.” We don’t agree, of course.
Pete says Disco Investors because that is the song he’s listening to on heavy rotation right now. When we listen back to it, we’re often surprised by some of the details Hugo managed to bury in there. There’s a real technical challenge in taking what was a very complex wall of sound, and making it into the best final song it can be.
For Sydd we had two choices. The first was “What Have You Done for Me Lately?” Which wasn’t a single - it’s just buried on an EP from last year. Lyrically it is one of the best things we’ve done and it has a real drive to it. For anyone that first listened to a new single of ours and said “what next?” it is probably a good choice.
Sydd’s second choice is the same as Ted’s. We haven’t released it yet, but The Gastronaut is probably the most accomplished thing we’ve made. It’s supremely strange, it’s got a great groove to it and it is our first release to rely on piano playing rather than guitars to propel it along. Although often we search for directness in our output - we always look for a quick impact - The Gastronaut is much more subtle and probably a bit of a risk as a single. But it is a freakishly good song.
Why do you want to record and release your own music?
The devil makes us do it. We’re obsessives. We love music and making it is just central to what we do. There is a real joy in just letting these little creations go out into the world.
Please discuss how you interact with and respond to fans.
We use a newsletter and social media to say our part, and we try to answer people that contact us as openly and generously as we can. Low Fat Jesus was a bit of an eye opener because suddenly we had people projecting some quite strange ideas onto what we were doing and asking some very awkward questions they maybe hadn’t thought through properly. With hindsight we could maybe have been less abrupt with them. We welcome people contacting us and we’re more than happy to try and engage with anyone. If we feel a conversation is uncomfortable we’ll be polite about it. We wish people would stop asking us for nudes.
What’s an average day like for you?
There is no such thing! We all work, we live, we love. We each do band stuff a little differently, and we have to accommodate each other’s approach for the band to work. Sometimes it can be really intense and require a lot of work, sometimes we can just be sat in a bar and boom and idea just pops up.
What can I wish you regarding your career and private life?
Our lives are our responsibility. Wish for us to be generous and kind to the people around us. They probably deserve a bit of a break from our bullshit!