It’s day one of Lollapalooza and the Friday line up offers a diverse range of musical genres from electronica, folk, rock to Dance Think. If you’re unfamiliar with the genre of Dance Think, it is new genre crafted by Michigan’s My Dear Disco. It combines electro-pop with funk, rock and techno. Live it translates to music that you can dance too but with a twist.
“It’s a dance rock infused band, so there are going to be five people with five different types of sounds. There will be some bagpipes, screaming guitars, a giant megaphone, a clear drum kit and this giant red bass,” says singer Michele Chamuel. “It’s all going to come together into this groove, where each individual can stick out and make a body move.”
And yes, you read that right. The dance band has bagpipes.
“People love the bagpipes. We almost faded them out at one point because we kind of had the same thought. Does this really make sense? But then we noticed that people would kind of go ballistic whenever we used them. So, now we use them all the time…Well most of the time. They’re a staple of the show,” the MDD says.
So after jumping up and down and letting out a few screams of excitement, the band has being getting ready for Lolla. During some of their pre-Lolla preparations, the band stumbled upon a new way to get amped up for shows.
“We like to get pumped spraying ourselves with a fire extinguisher. We got into a little bit of a mess at a TV station doing that, but they were very patient with us.”
Granted, this was an accidental discovery. The band just got a new van. Lolla is actually the first trip that the band is taking in the new vehicle, but a stoway from the old van made it to the new one: the fire extinguisher. What didn’t make it: the safety. So when they were loading and a suitcase ended up on the extinguisher, mysterious mist started spraying everywhere. They quickly realized it was from the extinguisher.
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“It did pump us up and it was a good motivator. That’s the type of effect we want to have on the crowd: this blowing up fire extinguisher that’s just unexpected to happen”
Fire extiguishers aren’t the only way the band is preparing. Water, ear plugs, sun screen, plans to “leach off the hospitality of the major artists” and the most important item: “oil blotters.”
“If you go and look online, you can see that we don’t have a speck of oil on our faces. It’s beautiful: good clean pores.”
Of course, their fun personalities, unique instrumentation and clear complexions aren’t the only reasons to check them out. You’d want to be at this set because it will “melt faces.” Plus, they say they also beat all the other in an arm wrestling and thumb wars match.
“So, if you want to see a band that’s better at thumb wars and arm wrestling, come see us.”
My Dear Disco plays on the BMI Stage at 3 p.m., Friday, August 6. You can also catch them at various after parties. On Saturday, they’re playing a free after show with Neon Trees, but the venue is a secret. Keep on eye on My Dear Disco’s website for clues. And for those not able to join the band at the fest, be sure to check them online or in another city. They do a pretty unique cover of Lady Gaga’s “Pokerface” – that’s the bonus of two Lolla artists for the price of one! Although, we did find out that the band doesn’t plan to overdose the Lolla goers with their cover of that song.
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