Stay green

>> Chicago’s multitasking James Curd
is old enough to know better

JEEPERS KEEPERS: James Curd

by JACK OATMON

What do iPod commercials, TR-303 acid house tracks, early ’90s-style pogo punk choruses and switch-stance frontside 360s down staircases have in common? Other than the obvious truckload of self-destructive nihilism, that is. One groovy cat from Chicago, James Curd, is the multitasking maniac who delivers on all counts. And if you don’t believe me, just YouTube him for a serious earload and eyeful as he and his band Greenskeepers lay down the law with live jumbles of new wave, rock and funky, four-on-the-floor beats, while he shreds with his skateboard “Plan B style.” As it happens, he also holds the torch of Chicago’s fleeting but historically pivotal house scene.

“To be honest, it’s nothing like Australia or Japan, Europe, England,” says Curd about clubland in Chi-town. “Even Canada is more progressive when it comes to electronic music. Living in Chicago, there are two, maybe three nights a month where you’ll be out, you’ll look around and you’ll be like, ‘Damn, this is nice.’ That’s better than someplace like New York. New York is even worse. But that’s just what I do. You can go out any night of the week and hear trance and hip hop.”

Like any self-respecting producer and skateboarder, Curd harbours a tinge of affectionate curmudgeon-hood toward the flavour-of-the-month new-jacks that run rampant. “All the music now is made by people who aren’t musicians. There’s like one note and it sounds like a fire alarm. And people go nuts for it because it’s got an ’80s electro-style sound. If someone adds like two more keys, like Justice, they’re the king. The music that young kids are listening to right now is definitely more lighthearted and fun, but it’s just terrible music. They’re playing like, “Ghostbusters” and Venga Boys, but everyone puts a smile on and laughs at it and they do a stupid dance and have a fun time.”

Trash-talking aside, Curd naturally takes the trends with a grain of salt. “There’s definitely more job security in what I’m doing. I honestly can’t believe that playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, like ‘Go ninja, go ninja, go!’ is still going to be cool next year.”

With Simon B at Salon DaomÉ
on Friday, Nov. 9, 10 p.m., $10