RFC Interview: Walter Meego

After countless DJ sets around town recently and a sold out headlining gig last month at the Empty Bottle, local funky electronica trio Walter Meego reemerge tonight at the Dark Room in a brand new incarnation they call "Super Meego Soundsystem." Combining the performance aspect of their live show with the seamless flow of their DJ sets, the Meego Soundsystem will mix, edit and loop tracks on the fly via a wired mix of turntables, laptops and other electronic gadgets. RFC recently caught up with Meego's Jarrett Spiegel to discuss more about the band and their latest scheme to get the dancefloor moving.

So...how was last week's DJ gig at Betty's. Any crazy debauchery go down with the bondage/Bettie Page theme? Last week's gig at Betty's was good fun. It was the first time we ever performed our Super Meego Soundsystem set (we did it kind of sneakily) and people seemed to be up for it. The Super Meego set is something we're all really excited about getting out and playing. The music is really, really fun and we have a lot of fun doing it. There wasn't any really excessive debauchery at the event but our manager won a raffle for what turned out to be a vibrating, two-pronged dildo that was infused with pressure-sensitive lights (L.A. Gear-style); so that was pretty amusing.

For those who may not be familiar with your work, explain more how "Super Meego" differs from the regular ol' Walter Meego?

The traditional Walter Meego performance is more like going to see a regular band. It's just us playing instruments on stage and playing OUR songs. The Super Meego Soundsystem is something we're ultimately only interested in playing for clubs. It's a lot more like a DJ set than a performance. It's a combination of different musics, most of which is other peoples'. While seeing us perform live is like a general live performance where you'd want to be attentively viewing, the Soundsystem set is something you're gonna want to dance to. Our interaction will likely be lesser and the focus will be on the jams.

What do you call your style of music? (electro-pop? experimental? dance?)

We don't really have any sort of genre-specifictitle for what we do. I guess its ultimately just pop music. We try to make pop music thats fun and palatable but also a little experimental by nature (think groups like Gorillaz or Basement Jaxx).

What's the next recording project for Walter Meego?

The next recording project we're doing will be our next single. The immediate plan is to continue releasing a series of singles. The next 12" will comeout on Brilliante. The A-Side will be titled "Romantic" and will come out on September 19th in the U.S./October 17th in the UK. It will be accompanied by remixes from our friends Salva and Flosstradamus and will also be the subject for our first music video.

Sounds good, but you got to get an album out...you owe to the people. Oh, by the way, which one's Walter?

Unfortunately, there is no real Walter. The reality is that we're kind of like Wu-Tang - we form like Voltron. The only difference is, when we form, we become a guy named Walter.

Water Meego's latest single, "Hollywood," is out now on Brilliante Records. For more info, check out WalterMeego.com.