Sleigh Bells - Work Reloaded

Meet Sleigh Bells. In 2010, the Brooklyn-based noise-pop outfit enjoyed great success with their debut album Treats due to a “genre-swerving” and universally appealing sound, which also garnered the attention of industry heavyweights such as M.I.A., Spike Jonze and Diplo. Now, with their second album, Reign of Terror, Miller and Kraus approach a much darker tone, thus sonically distancing themselves from their first album. A risk? Maybe. But according to both, this was just the sound they had to play this time around. We sat down with them and found out why they chose a darker tone, what their work ethic looks like, and how a night out with Diplo usually ends up.

Thanks for your time. You are currently promoting your new album Reign of Terror while its lead single, “Comeback Kid,” is catching up steam. Could you tell us a little bit about the relation between the tune and the LP and how it is comparable to the last album?
Derek E. Miller: That is one of the few songs on the record that conveys a positive message. It is also the last song we recorded for the album. Reign of Terror is not like a downer record but it’s on its toes, but lyrically and informatically it is much darker than Treats. Having now recorded the entire record, we put off all the darkness and negativity out of our chest, so it was really nice to switch gears and turn into a whole new lane.
Alexis Krauss: I feel that song is an answer to all the other things that we have mentioned in the other songs. It definitely is in its own place addressing all the issues that drive the album.
DM: It is a really positive thing, being a “Comeback Kid,” you know, getting your stuff together, moving passed the darkness.
AK: Absolutely.
DM: “Comeback Kid” is the bright spot on the record.
AK: As Derek already said, it was the last song that we recorded and if we would be still recording right now, we would certainly pick up the vibe and direction of “Comeback Kid.”
DM: We had like two days left until we had to turn in our album, and it was just a handful of power chords and I made the beat in an hour or two and then we just went with it. It’s just one of these songs that happen really quickly, because it was easy and it felt just right.

How did you experience the success of your debut album Treats and how do you want the people to experience Reign of Terror?
DM: Honestly, I just hope they like it [Reign of Terror]. We are not like, “We are doing this for us, and we don’t give a fuck about what our fans think.” Fuck that. I care. I want people to like it. If we would put the record out and everyone hated it, I won’t pretend, I would be bumped as shit. I care. I want. We invested in our art form. Everyone likes to be understood, so we are no exception in this field.
AK: We are both very ambitious people, so it is just obvious that we want our music to be appreciated and to be heard. As far as the success of Treats is concerned, it definitely exceeded our expectations. Every show that we played had a bigger and better crowd which is a good feeling. Now, while recording Reign of Terror, it was really good to know that somebody will buy the record (laughs).
DM: Definitely. Knowing that we have a fanbase out there definitely helped us recording this piece. You know, some people out there will be psyched to hear it. It’s not like we started from scratch with this album. That’s a first.

You both reside in Brooklyn. How did you first meet up?

DM: I am from South Florida and moved up to Brooklyn in March 2008, specifically in search for a singer. I would be out and about looking all around, started to approach girls like, “Are you a musician? Do you sing? Do you make records or anything?” And you know, they would usually know what’s the deal, that I am no punk and that I am not hitting on them. And I would be like, “Yo, you should come back to my place and listen to my demos.”
AK: (laughs) Creepy!
DM: Yea, (laughs), real creepy.
AK: When I met him, I was out on a dinner with my mother and he was waiting tables and got into a really friendly conversation like he just described.
DM: Her mother is really talkative, asking me all these questions like, “Are you Brazilian?” “No, I am from Florida.” “So what are you doing in New York?” “I am looking for a singer.”
AK: And my mother instantly pointed at me even though I was doing something completely different. But that’s what just mothers do, pass along the word in awkward situations. (laughs) And the rest is pretty much history.

You now live in Williamsburg?
AK: I live in Greenpoint.
DM: I sort of bounced around at first and I am residing in Greenpoint for a year now as well. I like Williamsburg. Some people are there because of the so-called hipster culture but for me it is just a live and work type of relationship. I am usually on tour. When I am not on the road, I am usually in the studio. In addition, all my friends live there.
AK: It has everything a great neighborhood should have. The food’s great around there, many great restaurants. It is residential but just minutes away from Manhattan. Really comfortable.

How was the final phase of finishing the album?
DM: It was some sort of a blur. Just work, work, work. We finished up touring 16 months for Treats on June 11 and went back to the studio by the 20th. So we really did not have a break at all. We are really no big vacation people. I would rather save this time and work, like I don’t have anything better to do with my time. That’s just where our minds are at. If we are not on the stage we are thinking about our next record.
AK: Of course, touring and recording is plenty of fun for us as well so there was no real need to step away from all this for bit and clear your head. There was no need to recharge batteries. We were immediately like, ready to go, let’s start the transition to the next record.

Once you get to the recording studio, what does your creative work process for work look like? Do you have some idea already mapped out in your mind before you hit the studio?
DM: Absolutely. I had a ton of material.
AK: It is literally all he can talk about. I am waiting for it to happen within this touring cycle again. During our first tour, he could only talk about our next album. Reign of Terror! Reign of Terror!
DM: I really feel bad for everyone. I had the title like a month after we finished Treats. So I would hit up everyone like, “Hey, we have this new record in the making. It is called Reign of Terror“, “By the way, this new record that we are making, it is called Reign of Terror.” I would be on Gchat with my friends like “yo, I’m making this new record…” and they would get back at me like, “Shut the f*ck up about Reign of Terror, dude!” Sorry, man. (laughs)

Passion is key. How do you translate the ideas in your head into actual records?
DM: I keep the ideas super loose, and slightly unfocused until we track them. I use my iTunes voice recorder when there is a spontaneous idea and I am on the road, and I don’t have my guitar with me and I can’t memorize it differently. So I can hum or sing it in.

Basically, I just try to keep them as loose as possible basically until we hit the studio and discuss new music.

Is there any particular reason why Reign of Terror is darker than Treats?
DM: My family and I went through some real horrible stuff. I really can’t open too much about it is expressed through the music. It was a really tough time and I am still here, which is good enough for me.
AK: All the lyrics will be included in the record.
DM: That’s a big difference from Treats, which is good since we put lots of time and thought into the lyrics of the record. I was really bumped the first time around because a lot of kids wanted to sing along during the concerts but were missing the lyrics.
AK: It was hilarious sometimes as you could tell that they were actually singing the wrong text, meaning they probably their own lyrics to it which is great. (laughs)

The guitar won over the sampled beats on this new album. How come?
DM: Reign of Terror is our specific guitar record which makes sense as it is my main instrument. That’s what I grew up with playing. I got a little sick of it for a while and moved to production and to beatmaking for a while. All of a sudden, I sort of gained a renewed interest in guitars as I fell in love with the music of The Jacksons and their impressive guitar elements. A lot of people don’t take the guitar too seriously these days and only focus on simple chords whereas what The Jacksons have done to the guitar was simply gorgeous. It is basically what I have been interested at that time. It could also mean that I won’t do that again anytime soon.

No features on the album?
DM: Just the two of us.
AK: I sang everything and he played everything of the record.
DM: Yeah, we like it that way. That way any success or failure will be credited to us. If somebody else comes in and even does a little bit of work or co-production and there is just a little bit of success, they could easily try to strip it away from you. We are pretty aware of situations like these. So we basically look at it like this: if it’s good, it’s on us. If it’s shit, it’s on us.

What about remixes?
DM: We are still trying to decide on this. We are talking to some of friends. We are friends with Warren from Bassnectar and have touched upon this and he is a really good dude so we will see. Diplo did a great rework of “Tell’em” off of Treats. I’m a little bit on the fence as far as remixes are concerned like most people are. Everyone knows that most of them are not really good, but who knows. It is a possibility but we are not sure of this as of yet.
AK: If we meet the right person and the vibe is right, it definitely comes possible. We are not hyper-aware of it to be honest. Maybe a few months down the road, it definitely could happen. We will see.
DM: We are pretty insular to some extent, but yea, if the right person approaches us, we are definitely open for remixes and collaborations. We like to keep it organic and spontaneous on that matter.

How does the creative energy between you two translates on the stage and tour life in general?
DM: It always relies on whether the crowd is with us or not. If you happen to have a great set it is obviously easier for me. It is a circular thing so we both interact with each other on stage quite naturally.

AK: There’s two of us on stage. It is hard to ignore each other obviously (laughs). Although we are pretty much aware of each other’s performing ways, minor accidents cannot be avoided unfortunately (laughs). Sometimes I want to go HAM and he is just in a chilled mode and tries to do something more subtle and he would be like “get the f**k away of me.” (laughs)
DM: I hit up my head with my guitar by accident during a concert in Atlanta which was rather unfortunate. (laughs)
AK: Yes, that was quite enjoyable. I just danced around him and he headbangs and crashes all of a sudden.
DM: Yea, I was waiting for that happen, and not in a good way. (laughs) But yea, this is just an exception. People approach us and be like, “How come you guys don’t kill each other while on stage?” We run all over the show and do not collide, usually. Somehow we are super-aware of each other and it works out.

You have a few live dates set with Diplo in Florida. Quite an energetic combination. How did that come about?
AK: Major Lazer took us out.
DM: We met Wes (Thomas Wesley Pentz aka Diplo) early on. We are big fans of Mad Decent and I like Wes quite a lot. He is a polarizing figure and that’s always a good thing. More than anything though, he is always hungry for new music. He is really good on putting the spot right on and is always on up to the times. So yea, it is like a natural marriage to us. Also the flow of the bill, because Liturgy, who are also joining the lineup, is something more like a metal band and we are somewhere in between of what Liturgy does and Wes does. This is just a good example of what we were talking about earlier, when we work with other people. We went out with Wes and our friend Chris Pauls in Brooklyn one night and got wasted. After like six shots of Whiskey, he was like, “Yeah, let’s do a f*cking show in Florida together!” Like me, he is from South Florida as well. Next day we emailed him and he was dead serious about it.
AK: It was good to see that he is not a person who talks shit but backs it up.

Touring with Diplo, live dates in Europe, and a new album coming up. What’s up for 2012?
AK: Hard work. (laughs)
DM: We will do a big screen tour, still confirming dates.
AK: I would love to do some new territories in Asia and South America.
DM: We have some festivals in Europe this summer, maybe even a fall tour and some North America festivals as well. We just love touring and always keep it busy so maybe come up with a new record in 2014.

Reign of Terror is out on February 21. Pre-order it on iTunes.

Interview by Aymen Ahmed and Petar Kujundzic
Photography: Patrick Odell