If you want an indicator of how Britain has changed in the 21st century, it could be summed up by Molly Schnick and Phyllis Forbes from New York band Out Hud. Where once Bond St represented the pinnacle of London fashion, now their first port of call on a shopping trip is Top Shop. The traditional cuisine of fish’n’chips and a fry is overlooked in search of a good curry, and most importantly, interest in the cherished Diana is in danger of being eclipsed by Camilla. “Why won’t they just let them get married?” asks Molly, “I mean she’s ugly and everything but everyone else can get re-married in a civil service except the royals.”

It’s hardly surprising to discover Out Hud’s awareness of all things British, given their dub-based dance sound and its connections to the hey-day of the UK rave scene. The five-piece have cultivated their various musical influences over the past eight years, drawing on house, dub, disco and electro. After a couple of low-key singles they released their debut album ‘Street Dad’ in 2003 to massive critical acclaim. This year’s follow-up ‘Let Us Never Speak of it Again’ continues to bundle all these influences into one coherent package that lopes from the sweaty dance floor to the smoke-filled chill-out room with ease. Yet none of the band grew up with the culture of glow sticks, pill-popping and loved-up ravers sniffing Vicks that dominated British music in the 90s. “Dance culture in America was for really rich people”. “It was really small and going to clubs was really expensive”, Phyllis adds.

Instead Out Hud came together over punk music. Molly and Phyllis were in bands together whilst at school in Berkeley, California, before meeting Justin Vandervolgen when they moved to Sacramento. “Justin was probably one of the first people I met once I got there”, explains Phyllis, “and we just started playing together. Nic [Offer] and Tyler [Pope] were around as well. It was all through music I guess.” The five of them formed Out Hud based on Phyllis and Justin’s shared love of dub and reggae and the idea of having a band with a live mixer onstage.

At the same Justin, Nic and Tyler started another group, who would become the ineffably-titled !!!. As one of the groups who seem to define New York’s current music output, it’s odd to find out !!! are not even from the city. But New York was to have a great influence on both them and Out Hud. “Sacramento is a good place to be in a band because it’s so cheap”, Molly explains, “and it’s so insular where you’re in your own little world and you get to make your own entertainment. Whereas moving to New York, it’s not cheap or easy to be in a band there but it’s the influences you hear everywhere and the experiences you have that you’ll never get in somewhere like Sacramento. You hear such different things on the radio in New York, like old house music, weird disco music and dancehall. That really influenced us; the sort of music I didn’t know existed before.”

Nevertheless Out Hud don’t see themselves as part of the city’s electro scene. “We’ve been doing this for eight years so it’s weird for us to talk about being part of a New York scene. Our sound has evolved certainly but you can tell from the first 7”s that we’re Out Hud”. Though !!! and Out Hud share band members and were formed at around the same time, they see the bands as having different ideals. “Their main focus is to make people dance, whereas ours is to experiment with stuff and do different things”, says Phyllis. “We don’t always have to be trying to write a dance song.”

The new album is their first to feature vocals, mainly from Phyllis though Molly contributes “the high, squeaky bits”. But they don’t share !!!’s overt political baiting either. Phyllis sees Out Hud as a more personal thing. “My original intention for doing the vocal was not to have it mean something super-poignant. I just wanted it to act like another instrument but it’s sort of evolved. It’s cool if it adds another dimension but the words are quite open. Whatever you think I’m saying that’s what I’m saying.”

One area where they do like to make statements is through their song titles. One track in particular stands out on the new album, both for the unwieldy length and content of the title. Is ‘Dear Mr Bush, There Are Over 100 Words for Shit and Only One for Music. Fuck You, Out Hud’ their grand political proclamation, or just a bit of fun? “It’s both”, shrugs Molly, “we’re definitely anti-war but we’re not political commentators, all we can offer is this song. I don’t think of it as very pointed but it certainly represents our point of view, that we don’t like Bush. We could just shorten it to ‘Dear Mr Bush. Fuck You, Out Hud’”.

This disavowal of a political standpoint still doesn’t stop them giving their opinions on one of Britain’s most important issues. “I think Camilla and Charles are well suited” says Molly. “We approve”, laughs Phyllis. Like the royals, dance music may also be struggling to adapt to the 21st century, but Out Hud represent its changing face. We approve.

words: Colm Larkin

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