The Whitest Boy Alive in Manila

Daniel Nentwig, Whitest Boy Alive's keyboard player, answered a couple of questions about the band.

Your music on "Rules" is striking for this idea: You play house/techno/dance music without the full-on electronics. Everything is live. Was this your goal when you started Whitest Boy Alive? How did you get this point?

"When we started TWBA we wanted to create a band that is able to play music in a way you would program it on a computer. All the members have been producing electronic music before they joined together as TWBA and are influenced by early house & techno music. This music finds it´s own roots in disco & soul music from the 70's and that has always been performed with real instruments and by real musicians. Fast-forward 30 years: we play an advanced sum of 3 decades of dance music - now again with our own hands and feet. On our album "Rules" we manifested this intention."

Can you describe the difference in feeling when you DJ or use drum machines and use synths for this type of music vs playing it live?

"It feels good to make people dance, it does not matter how you do it. It´s all about having a good time. For TWBA it is most important to be able to react and interact with the audience. Also interaction between members of the band while playing a show is condition to make the magic. ... or maybe we are just better with instruments than with drum machines?"

Erland Oye has said in past interviews that the Whitest Boy's goal when playing live is NOT to have the audience paying attention to the band, and where the band is like a DJ. Can you elaborate on this?

"Well, some attention might be necessary to make us feel good on stage but ... the idea behind Erlend´s remark is: let the audience relax and feel free. Let them dance! Don´t stare and stand still. Put away your cameras and cellphones. Don´t listen too closely. sing along. Enjoy yourself!"

Do you have any emerging goals/plans for the band at the moment?

"In February we played in Colombia and Chile for the first time and realized that we have a huge following in south America. Also Mexico has always been outstanding for us. We want to come back and visit more North & South American countries.

Last year we started working on new songs with different influences, like African beat music from the 70's. We are trying to expand our variety of genres without changing the way we play our music. Eventually there will be a new album sooner or later.

In March we are going to play for the first time in many East Asian countries. We are very excited to meet new people and make new friends there. Since 2006 we have been improving our live show constantly. Now it´s time to perform again and to convince our new audience."

Schedule/Venue
Republiq
Resort World Manila
[Republiq]

Ticket: P2500
Saturday March 12, 2011 6:00 PM