The band from London who wouldn't look out of place in a Benetton advert Don't Wait Animate meet up with us at The Haggerston to discuss why exactly they have decided to merge two genres of music together. They talk candidly to Dazed about their love for computer game soundtracks, their unhealthy obsession with Streets of Rage 2 and why to show appreciation for their music you should dance or punch someone in the face... don't worry they aren't violent, just enthusiastic, well meaning folk, whatever you do though, don't save over their computer game positions...Dazed Digital: You describe your sound as 'Strumstep', what exactly does that mean and where did the phrase come from?
Don’t Wait Animate: One of our fans came up to us quite inebriated one night after our set and screamed at us "strumstep" stupefied, we accepted the term. It is a response to the sound and atmosphere we create using a live band we merge dubstep with indie, borrowing the beats, the breaks and wobble bass from dubstep. However much we are influenced by dubstep we still retain indie sensibilities, an indie heart if you like, most of the recorded tracks retain that kind of vibe.
DD: What problems do you face in terms of not quite belonging to either musical genres, is their love from both sides?
Don’t Wait Animate: The main problem is getting booked! Promoters don't know where to put us because our live set is so different to our recorded songs. We have been placed alongside many different musicians, with a varying degree of success, regardless of response we are able to feed off the crowd - if they hate us we want to play to them more! Our live performances are appreciated by both our indie contingency, and our dubstep connoisseurs, which are particularly into the tracks we haven't laid down - they tend to work better live.
DD: Do you feel there has been an influx in groups who take reference from a hybrid of sounds to create their own musical genre?
Don’t Wait Animate: It's happening more and more, peoples tastes are so diverse now. The question; 'what sort of music are you into'? Is a taboo nowadays and is punishable by public thrashing. It's a postmodernist world, form and genre are dying a slow death.
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