C'mon, everybody, get shtüpid

>> Gathering intelligence on DJ duo the Idjut Boys

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

The Idjut Boys? "It's just what we call ourselves--stupid boys," says a sleepy--make that slightly stoned and sleepy--Conrad McDonnell from his London flat. I love the way some Brits say "stupid," as if the word starts with "sht" and the U has an umlaut on it. And Conrad, one half of the London DJ/production duo, has just that sort of heavy accent that makes a lot of what he says almost impossible to understand, especially given the fact that it's 1 a.m. in London and Conrad is just about ready to nod off. Mind you, I don't have it so bad, because Conrad and his Idjut Boy partner Dan Tyler have just returned from a tour in Moscow where they didn't understand a thing, except that it was good.

"There's nothing I didn't like about it aside from the airline," he mumbles over the phone. "I mean, I don't speak Russian, and it's really quite different over there, but the clubs were all great. The sound systems were really top and the crowds were raging--people jumping up and down and going crazy. It was right on."

Conrad and Dan know good parties. The duo hooked up in Cambridge in the late '80s and in the early '90s moved to London together and started throwing their own U-Star events. The infectious, flipped-out disco-house sound the two played soon gained them a solid rep and devoted following, and before too long they were the toast of the town. In 1994, the Idjut Boys founded their U-Star label and released a string of 12-inches that had even super-producers like François K saying, "Who are these guys?"

But they've had their share of bad gigs, too. "Once we played at this redneck pub out in the sticks," Conrad remembers, "where we just about got our asses kicked. The promoter who hired us knew what we played, he just forgot to tell the locals and all the punters there wanted to hear was Led Zeppelin. That was scary."

As for Montreal, Conrad and Dan have only the fondest memories. "The thing I liked best about Montreal is sitting on top of that mountain early in the morning and getting high," Conrad says in a dreamy tone. "And the record shopping in Montreal is sick. I'm looking forward to that." Luckily, the two don't anticipate any language barriers during their visit to la belle province. "Dan speaks some French," Conrad offers. "I think his mom was French and she taught him." Not so stupid, those Idjut Boys.

With Tiga at Cabaret on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 11pm, $15