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Interviews Features Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip Interview
Interviews Features Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip Interview
| Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip Interview |
| Written by Lynsey Cameron |
 InterviewDan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip It feels like the kitchen at a party, we are friends of friends, but the friend who connects us is yet to arrive, know the feeling? Strangely this is what interviewing Dan le Sac and Scroobius Pip felt like. Crashed on sofas, with B Dolan (one of their support acts) a huge man behind a well-used black laptop, an almost unnoticeable figure sits in a classroomesque chair typing nonstop, seemingly oblivious to the interview happening inches away. I feel simultaneously relaxed and undeniably awkward. They’ve had already had one interview after getting out of the van half an hour earlier but seemed unphazed. Happy to be in Glasgow, a city they know well, ‘almost like a going home break’. Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip are not the easiest to define and they seem to like it that way, with Dan’s first input to the input being ‘genre is a pain the arse’. Most famous for NME slating anthem Thou Shalt Always Kill, I ask them if they feel as if they are in its shadow, instead Dan describes it as their ‘gateway drug’ to debut album Angles with heavier tracks like Magicians’ Assistant, a chilling song about a girlfriend’s suicide being their heroin. The tour group are at a total ease, chilled out during the interview, and politely silent after their greeting nods. We get onto the topic of relationships and how the boys deal with this on tour, Dan makes a smug nod toward the girl on the laptop. She looks up for a second time, ‘Well that’s my girlfriend there so…’ I later see her at the merch desk while the boys play; there is no laptop in sight. Pip wishes he had thought of this first, ‘I’m having a bit of a dilemma at the moment, I’m on tour for my girlfriend’s Birthday so it’s either fly her out, or grovel for a few days once I get back.’ It is reassuring to see the real person behind the all-seeing voice of Scroobius Pip, David Meads, the man behind the moniker shines through. ‘Maybe we’ll be able to employ her by the world tour.’ Another break from the laptops, and we all smile, the awkwardness fades, our connecting friend has arrived in the form of laughter.  Originally a spoken word artist, Scroobius Pip, named after the Edward Lear poem started working with Dan after working in the same HMV. A true duo, Dan is generally silent but every quip is worthwhile, Pip’s stutter is one of the most intriguing features of the interview, it is as if his brain is too fast for his mouth. Pip’s witticisms are key to their sound, tracks such as Get Better may sound nothing but preachy on the album, they take force live. A fact the boys are entirely aware of. Written on tour, new album Logic of Chance is not as immediately warm as Angles, something Pip attributes to the way it was written. ‘It’s all about how they are live and reaching their full potential live…if you’re listening on youtube or that, nuances are lost, key parts of bass or beats are lost on the radio.’ And though it may all sound like artist bullshit, it is impressively true live. Get Better which I shamelessly labelled preachy, becomes a summer anthem, sporting surely one of the best lyrics of 2010, with ‘I wanted to write a song that would reach out and touch kids…but not in a daily mail way.’ Pip is an unstoppable performer on stage, literally spitting lyrics into the crowd and leaning into them with a forceful bravado, a major switch from the laidback character lounged on the sofa. PRs bundle flags into our hands on the way into the crowded venue, declaring ‘Pip is not a terrorist’, a nod to their tongue in cheek style. Dan opens the gig with a special introduction, which had previously mentioned to me with great enthusiasm, which he is proud to say will only be played in Glasgow. When he strolls onstage smiling broadly, the bagpipes blending with beats, I immediately cringe. My exact words earlier being, ‘as long as it’s not bloody bagpipes’ awkward indeed, I guess I was wrong. If it had been a kitchen party that would have been the point of ‘seeing what was happening in the living room’. The sweaty room matches the warmth of the crowd, and pip is playing them perfectly, with opening song Beat That My Heart Skipped, sporting excitable Glaswegians through the mic. When a cocky fan asks the boys for a beer, he is jestingly covered in Pip’s water, but this is Glasgow, and its not long before the boy soaks Pip in return. As the security scramble toward him, Pip shakes his head later thanking the boy during closing song Letter from God to Man. It’s the personality of Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip which makes them special, spoken word with industrial beats is hardly mainstream stuff, yet Letter From God to Man, was a Radio 1 favourite. Smart lyrics and basslines never get old. They are truly charming, each with their own amusing traits, Pip evens edits his swearing at one point, something it seems Dan would have no interest in. They are opinionated guys, but to use their own turn of phrase, ‘not in a daily mail way’, something which is evident in their lyrics. Though Pip is glad not everyone has the same socially aware style, explaining the reason for his often reflective speeches, he coyly says ‘all I do is talk so I want it to be interesting’, something Dan jumps on immediately, ‘All he bloody does is talk.’ They bicker like a clichéd married couple, Dan playing the disgruntled husband rolling a cigarette, while Pip muses over beautiful lead singers, and how they are used and abused. It becomes the party kitchen again, with Dan angrily declaring Biffy Clyro the new Biffy Clyro while we talk about genre. Pip attributes this entirely to fact that the band have realised how attractive their lead singer is, we see a glimpse of his soft metal youth when he compares this effect to Incubus, of whom he was a huge fan. The best they are hoping for is the ‘George Clooney effect’ of getting more attractive with age. They deem it unlikely and we instead drift onto the topic of beards, Dan rolls a cigarette and the interview comes to end, though the chat continues. I’m left wondering whether to stay or go re: the clash. This has left me with one idea only, Pip for Prime Minister. www.lesacvspip.co.uk |
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