The once and future chesterfield kings

>> Les Couch Potatoes are back in action and breaking out the steak-house

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

Their excellent debut album of last year, Cool Ride, never materialized in stores. Nor have they played live since last summer. And they are, of course, called Les Couch Potatoes. But rest assured that turntable tyrant Nic B and console cowboy Jean-Michel Lapointe, the masterminds of the easygoing live-band house unit, are hardly slacking. Standing on the verge of inking a contract (at press time, they were still trying to find a pen that works) and eager to trot out the revamped live show (now with a drummer to supplement sax, percussion, guitar and vocals care of Bran Van's Stéphane Moraille), the two took five to babble on a bit (often at the same time, a journalist's nightmare) about life in their own private Idaho.

Mirror: So what's up with Cool Ride, anyway?

Nic B: It was supposed to come out last summer, but we've been holding out, taking it slow until we find the right label. We've already turned people down, categorically, because what they wanted didn't correspond to us. What they wanted was almost an image makeover, a change of look. And that's not us. The frontperson, live at least, is the singer. It's not the two of us.

Jean-Michel Lapointe: Like I'm expected to lose 50 lbs in a week or something.

NB: Because on a musical level it's pretty accessible, we're after a major label to put it out and distribute. A major or a large independent, who would have the financial means to support it.

M: I understand that you have made a deal in France, if not here.

J-ML: Yeah, with Le Maquis, who also carry David Chung, Etienne de Crecy and Alex Gopher. It's French Touch, but not like Daft Punk, who simply loop disco samples. It's more the new generation, inspired by Masters at Work, using live musicians the way we do.

NB: They're licensing the album for Europe, which means we have to make it a bit longer. We're recording three new tracks to add on, and there'll be two remixes by artists from over there. All the basics are done, and the new tracks will complement the older stuff well. One new track is more tech-house, but it stays in the spirit of Sunday-afternoon music, not the afterhours sound.

J-ML: It's organic, I find, and more smooth than dancefloor tech-house. Steak-house! Let's call it that.

Pop go the tater tots

M: The album was prepared a year ago, and the tracks go back as far as four years. Do you find it tired or out-of-date, now?

NB: It's surprising. I was listening to the album in my car the other day, and thinking, "Ah, c'est cool." It ages well.

J-ML: There will always be little elements that you wish you could change, but that's inevitable when you hear the same piece hundreds of times. I try to put myself in the listener's shoes, and I agree, it's aged well.

M: I think Cool Ride has more pop potential than most house, because of the approach you mentioned: the sunny, barbecue vibe.

J-ML: It's more oriented toward home listening, or for Walkmans. It's also perhaps less repetitive than real house tracks. Even if there are no vocals, one gets the impression that it's a song. It's pop music.

NB: We listen to a lot of pop ourselves. Stevie Wonder, New Order--they're not much alike, but they come from the same place, short songs with a solid melodic structure.

J-ML: Those elements that stick in your head and make you remember the tune. We want to do songs that people will remember in five or 10 years. See, strict house starts with a beat, and then bass, and then samples on top. A singer, on the other hand, will start with a lyric or two and build a melody around it. That's closer to what we do.

M: Do you guys think you need to crack Europe first before North America follows?

NB: It's often that way. People here, instead of supporting the local industry and being ahead of the pack by signing local artists, wait to see how it works elsewhere. It's the safe way. Look at Fred Everything--he's much bigger over there. It sometimes seems like everyone's asleep at the switch here.

M: So what have you two been doing in the meantime, while waiting for the big deal?

NB: I'm still DJing regularly at Jingxi, once a month at Stereo and out of town. I go to France to spin quite often.

J-ML: He spins, and I do commercial music. It's a bit slow right now, but I'm getting little jobs, doing music for Web sites and radio jingles. I like the Internet stuff better, because it's for young, hip people. You come in with something and it's not, "Well, uh..." It's "All right!" You don't have to explain everything.

Live, with DJ sets by Krista and Nic B, at Living on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 9pm, $10