Disco Spirits: Holy Ghost! Kicks Off Dance Dangereux

Retro is always in, but disco often is not. Luckily, that which is currently retro also happens to be disco. Enter psychedelic electronica duo Holy Ghost! (the exclamation is theirs) Before the New York duo kicks off Fake Music’s new Dance Dangereux party series at Lan Club on February 25, better half Nick Milhiser gives tbj a rundown of the band’s music, what Beijingers can expect from their live set, and the current state of disco in New York …

the Beijinger: How did you guys meet? Was it through your first group, Automato, or even earlier?
Nick Milhiser: Alex and I met in the second grade. He was in Mr. Soloff’s class and I was down the hall in someone else’s class. I forget my teacher’s name at the moment, but basically we met when we were 8 and started playing music together shortly thereafter.

tbj: How would you describe the music of Holy Ghost!? How different is it from Automato’s sound?
NM: I guess I would describe Holy Ghost! as pop music inspired in large part by the various older dance records that we love. When we do remixes we tend to ignore the pop format and shoot for longer, dubbier arrangements better suited for the dance floor.
HG! and Automato are pretty different stylistically speaking; Automato was a rap group and Holy Ghost! obviously is not. But I think the approach to writing is similar and both groups share many of the same reference points and influences.

tbj: Who are some of your most important musical influences?
NM: Just to name a few – James Murphy, Tim Goldsworthy, Gino Soccio, J Dilla, Pete Rock, David Axelrod, Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards, Tony Thompson, Jerry Fuchs …

tbj: What is the state of disco in New York right now?
NM: There are a lot of New Yorkers making great music of all kinds right now, disco-inspired and otherwise. Everyone always complains that New York nightlife isn’t as good as it used to be, nor as good as it should be. While this may be the case, New York’s still pretty great. There are a handful of clubs we really enjoy playing and there are always great parties popping up in weird lofts and illegal spaces, fun daytime parties in the summer and smaller dive bars with great DJs.

tbj: Will this be your first time in China? Will you be going anywhere else besides Beijing?
NM: Yeah, this will be our first time in China. We’re excited, as it seems like most everyone we know has been there and had a great time. We’ll also be going to Shanghai and Hong Kong. Look out China!

tbj: What do you guys do to prepare for a set? What kind of set will you be doing in Beijing?
NM: We’ve been so busy working on the record we haven’t had too much time to prepare yet. But our semi-hiatus from DJing over the past few months has given us some time to stock up on some choice new jams which we’re looking forward to playing. Expect some older disco, new edits of older disco and a little house, but nothing too hard or aggressive at all.

tbj: What are some songs you’re looking to remix? Do you usually contact the artist first or focus on making the music? Do you guys only do remixes or also collaborations?
NM: With the exception of Panthers, we have never sought out a remix ourselves. Generally, the artists or the labels or both come to us and if we’re into it, we do it. I would, however, love to do a remix for a band called Maserati, which is a band our friend Jerry was extremely dedicated to before he passed away a couple months ago. I really wanted to remix their song "Monoliths" but he wanted us to do something new. Hopefully we’ll be able to work on something at some point.
As far as collaborations, we’ve had lots of help on this record from many talented people – Juan Maclean played some guitar, Luke from The Rapture, Chris from Penguin Prison and Ben from Hockey all sang backup vocals, and Caroline from Chairlift and Michael McDonald each sing on a song too.
So, yeah, we love collaborating with other people. Expect other things with Penguin Prison, Turing Machine and Friendly Fires in coming months.

tbj: Do you guys ever fight or disagree on the music? Or on other things in general?
NM: No, we never ever fight … Yes, of course we fight, but we’ve known each other so long that we kind of just bicker like an old married couple. Seriously, the way Alex and I “fight” is very similar to the way my parents fight. The most aggressive we get with each other is limited to sighing heavily or rolling our eyes.

tbj: What projects are you working on now?
NM: Well, we recently finished a cover of the Friendly Fires song “On Board” which should be out soon but other than that we have put almost everything on hold in the past few months in order to focus on finishing our album – no touring, no remixes, nothing. It’s very exciting for us because we’ve been working on it on and off for almost two and a half years. After we leave the studio next week, we hit the road DJing again and then start planning to play live.

tbj: What have been some of your favorite cities to play in and why?
NM: We’ve had great experiences all over, but the first cities that come to mind are Glasgow, Berlin and Paris. All three of those places are just great nightlife cities and when people go out, they really go for it and expect to have a great time. People also seem really knowledgeable about dance music in those cities too … and of course, at home. Few things are more fun than a hometown DFA party.

Join Holy Ghost! on Feb 25 at Lan Club as they kick of the Dance Dangereux party series with a night of nu-disco. Lan. 4/F, LG Twin Towers, 12B Jianguomenwai Dajie, Chaoyang District (5109 6012/13) 朝阳区建国门外大街乙12号LG双子座4层