Fearless live in Laois
In his studio in Shoreditch, London, Fearless is explaining why Death In Vegas’ new album, Trans-Love Energies, doesn’t contain any headline-grabbing collaborations. On previous records he’s worked with such luminaries as Liam Gallagher, Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval, Paul Weller and Iggy Pop. On this occasion, lead vocals are handled mainly by Fearless (real name Richard Maguire), with two appearances by Katy Stelmanis of Canadian newcomers Austra.
Why change a winning formula? He realised he was probably taking the collaboration ethos to extremes when he travelled to India to work with Dr Subranamian, a Hindi arranger who oversaw the strings for the 2002 album Scorpio Rising. “Going to all the different continents, working with such a huge cast of people....the whole thing was brilliant. But it was time to move on.
“You see other DJ-type bands where the outsiders they bring in tend to get all the attention,” he continues. “That set the seeds of it. Of course, there was also the live element, in that we couldn’t play in concert with them. Ultimately a change was important.”
It’s been a while since we heard from Death In Vegas (originally called Dead Elvis, they were forced to change because there was already a Dublin label of that name). In the late ’90s they were, along with Fat Boy Slim and The Chemical Brothers, at the forefront of the so-called ‘big beat’ scene. A propulsive mash-up of dance-floor rhythms and gothic introspection, 1999’s The Contino Sessions was a huge hit, as was Scorpio Rising three years later (its druggy, ethereal stand-out Girls would later feature on the score to Sofia Coppola’s Lost In Translation).
Ever since, Death In Vegas have kept a low profile. After 2004’s understated Satan’s Circus and a split with his long-term co-songwriter Tim Holmes, Fearless put the band in suspended animation. Seeking fresh challenges, he moved to America, went to photography school and, more or less on a whim, started a back to basics garage outfit “I went away for a year, which then turned into six years,” he says. “Time went by so quickly. I never intended it to be that long a period.”
With Death In Vegas such a success, why start all over again with a rock group? He shrugs. “Death In Vegas was very much a studio concept,” says Fearless. “It was quite an unconventional way of working. We didn’t have a band which rehearsed and then went out and played shows. It was more complicated than that. The way the songs were constructed was quite complex. I wanted to do something that was back to basics.”
After 18 months touring the world in a beat-up van, supporting acts such as Perry Farrell and The Raveonettes, Fearless decided it was time to go back to the day job. But anyone expecting the big-beat Death In Vegas of old is in for a surprise. Recorded in America and London, and named after a Sixties hippy group from Michigan, Trans-Love Energies is a sort-of concept album about romance, which Fearless imagines being set in a far-flung future. With the emphasis on subtle grooves and down-tempo vocals, it’s a world removed from the strident sounds with which DiV made its name.
“I was living in New York but doing all of my mixing in a studio in Michigan,” he explains. “I started researching the Trans-Love Energies commune and found their story to be fascinating. Equally, I just really like the name, which is very evocative.”
Raised in South Africa and Britain, Fearless was a teenage prodigy, making a name for himself with high profile remixes and landing a record deal aged 19. Success came quickly, and it wasn’t long before A-list pop stars were lining up to work with him. Whilst making The Contino Sessions, for instance, Iggy Pop was the only guest whom Fearless had to fly out to see (they ended up working in Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady studios in Greenwich Village). Everybody else came to him.
For all Death in Vegas’ early accomplishments, the first the wider world heard of Fearless was when it was announced in 2004 that Death In Vegas would produce Oasis’ sixth album. However, the recording sessions were aborted after a few weeks, with Noel Gallagher going on to produce what would become Don’t Believe The Truth himself.
“It was great,” says Fearless tactfully. “A really good experience. I’ll be honest, it’s a hard one to go into. I can’t talk about it without putting someone else in a weird position. But I had an amazing time with them and was very happy I did it.”
The Oasis debacle came at a bad time for Fearless. He’d just handed Death in Vegas’ fourth album, Satan’s Circus, to his label BMG. But his decision to ditch the high profile cameos in favour of a more introspective style didn’t go down well around the boardroom table. Convinced the record didn’t have any singles, and that big-beat was over anyway, BMG gave Fearless his freedom. He went on to self-release Satan’s Circus. The LP was well received. The problem was that Fearless didn’t have the budget to market it properly and, as a result, it foundered. After that, it wasn’t a difficult decision to go to America and enrol in university.
Fearless was in Shoreditch when London exploded into riots last month, although, holed up in his studio, he witnessed little of the devastation first hand. He was just back from a month’s holiday on Inishbofin. Somewhat improbably, it turns out Fearless is a regular visitor to the North West. Originally from Belfast, his father now lives in a cottage at the base of Mount Errigal in Co Donegal, where Fearless recorded the vocals for the new album. “I did it in a little studio above the garage. We visit all the time. My wife is an artist, so it appeals to her as well. It’s an inspirational place. I feel as if I’ve been going there my whole life.”
*Trans-Love Energies is released September 23. Death In Vegas play Electric Picnic Electric Arena, Stradbally, Laois, on Saturday.
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