LIVE FROM TRIBECA: BEIGE

Beige is Roi Cydulkin and Thomas Campbell, a space-aged two piece from Brooklyn blending 70′s krautrock inspiration with languid, dark movements.  In anticipation of their first LP release, due early 2012, Beige will take the stage this weekend for our new Saturday weekly, Live From Tribeca on Nov 12.

How did you two start the band?
We began making music as Beige a little less than two years ago.  Initially we were a three-piece band with live drums, guitar and bass, playing slow, loud, repetitive, droning pop songs.  Eventually this developed into what we are doing now, which has certain similarities to our initial sound but is ultimately very different.

What are you trying to create with your sound?
We want to strike a balance between hard, aggressive rhythms and sounds, and more ethereal, atmospheric elements.  Except for the drum machine, there are no programmed parts, although we are implementing sequencers at the moment.  All of the parts we play live and on the recordings are based upon a mechanical and metrical approach to producing sound. The interaction between the rigidity of machinic programming and the inconsistencies of touch is essential to our sound, and we are always pursuing new means to negotiate this relationship.

So can you then define an ethos behind this project?
We want to make the kind of music that we would admire ourselves.

As you have a very specific way of producing, do you have an equally as specific way in the way you write?
Our process is not always the same, but we usually begin with a rhythm and build all the other sounds around it.  We focus a tremendous amount on the individual sounds before we put them together.  We work both alone and together, with the former resulting in parts and the latter resulting in songs.

And finally, why the name?
Beige was the first name we liked.

Beige’s New York Favorites

Place to Eat: New Mexico Place, Graham Ave and Scholes, Brooklyn (Map it!)

Venue to Play: 285 Kent, Brooklyn (Map it!)

Interesting Place: Definitely Flushing, Queens

Record Store: Dope Jams, Myrtle Avenue, Brooklyn (Map it!)