Laneway doesn't really need an introduction. The premier music festival in Singapore has been serving the Pitchfork faithful for five years now (yes, you’re that much older), and its upcoming edition is yet another stellar representation of today's indie cosmos. Case in point: Battles.
Dave Konopka tells us more about the math rock legends' first show in the city, living up to their impossibly well-received debut album, and why there's room for some fun in their tunes.
The last time you played here was in 2009. Do you remember anything about that show?
I do – I loved it. I remember Singapore being very clean. Well, my first impression was that it was really clean.
You've had two albums out since then, including La Di Da Di.
Yes, the only difference this time was that we switched up our process again. We were way more conscious about not being so deeply entrenched that we ended up lost in the project. It was a lot of bouncing ideas back and forth off one another.
Much has been written about how your music is meta-commentary on man’s interaction with machines. Do you see it that way, too?
There's this definite dichotomy between what we can do and the tools we use, for sure. The most important thing about how this plays out in our music is that it's humans who are tapping into the capabilities of machines to make music. I think our music reflects this balance.
