Sometimes you’re looking for a live show in the city of angels and the normal Sunset Strip venues just aren’t going to cut it.  GPS yourselves right over to Silverlake tomorrow evening and make sure you get to the Satellite (formerly Spaceland) early (Early- as in before or on time.  Not fashionably late.  Not change your outfit 57 times to make sure you look like the appropriate American Apparel clad kid) because Darwin Deez is about to rock your socks, and possibly his own, right off.

Lucky for me, and the every ingenious perks of e-mail, I got to get down to it with Darwin Deez while he’s mid-tour and I’m stuck in So Cal.  Here’s what he had to say! 

LN:  Alright let’s dive right in – how’d the Darwin Deez musical ensemble form – craigslist?  Personal Ads?

DD:  Hi there!  Deez-band is a by-product of the scrappy NYC work-a-day lifestyle; three of the four of us worked at the same East Village vegan restaurant, I as a waiter and Greg and Cole back in the kitchen. Andrew I met through performing at the famed Sidewalk Cafe open-mic.

LN:  Valentines day is around the corner- if you had to draft a candy conversation heart- what would yours say?

DD:  ‘cha boy

LN:  Can we expect a little D squared at SXSW this year?

DD:  We will be there!  I love the craziness of those few days, so magical!

LL: You’re stranded on a deserted island and can only bring 3 CDs- pick your poison!

DD:  Nico’s Desertshore and David Gilmour’s On an Island. I could also use a Bruno Mars cd to direct sunlight to start a fire.

LN:  I’m not going to lie- I’m a little jealous of your mad dance skills - where’d you pick that up?

DD:  Practice!  And years of tap-dance.  It pays!

LN:  When on tour, do you guys do the same dance routines or do you come up with new ones every couple of shows?

DD:  New ones materialize every once-in-a-while, but we will generally repeat one until it reaches “triple platinum’ status and is retired for good.  We find creative ways to rehearse new ones on tour from time to time – in hotel rooms, hallways, or parked roadside.

LN:  Main musical inspirations?

DD:  Musical inspiration can be so fleeting and immaterial that it’s impossible to nail down exactly where it springs from.  Some current sources are drinking green tea; reading Mina Loy, Novalis, and Susan Sontag’s journals; Arthur Russell et al.

LN:  Word on the street is you attended the same music school as the MGMT kids- any collaborations take place?

DD:  Less of a ‘music school’ per se than a liberal-arts institution; but yeah, I did attend the famed Weselyan University, alma mater of MGMT, not to mention T. S. Eliot, V. S. Naipaul and George Fisk Comfort. Also, Das Racist.

LN:  Any pre-show vices or rituals?

DD:  Yeah, we have a slew of tour rituals that kind of morph on a daily basis – we used to do a circle hug, now we have a circle kiss, we have a rotation of non-sequitur phrases, Busta Rhyme quotes, and viral youtube-related nonsense that compulsively surfaces right before we walk onstage.

LN:  I hope the youtube stuff means that you occasionally do the fork in the garbage disposal- ding ding ding!  Extra credit awarded to anyone that got that!

LN:  What’s up for you in twenty-eleven?

DD:  All-star collaborations, romantic relationships, and festival main-stages.

LN:  Craziest show/tour story to date?

DD:  You know, we try to keep ourselves as sane as possible on tour – we generally forgo the party scene on most nights in favor of an extra few hours of sleep.  It’s impossible to show up in a new city each night for months and months and be ‘the party’ for that night.  We’re a chill band, ya know? 

LN:  When you’re trying to get the party started do you turn to twister or operation?

DD:  I’ve never been much of a Twista fan, so I’d have to say I generally turn to Operation Ivy to get the party started. 

LN:  True/False- you are a radar detector?

DD:  Actually, YOU are.

So off he continued into the Sunset (or sunrise- lord knows no one in this industry ever gets enough sleep!) on his pursuit to get to Silverlake, where all the cool kids will be Saturday night.  Check out the vid I posted above and get ready for a contemporary dance party that will ensure a cardio rate that means you can skip your normal training sesh the morning after.  See you there- in my dancing shoes for an all night pop-rock-a-thon!

To check out where Darwin will be next feel free to cyberstalk him at www.darwindeez.com!