Chrome Hoof Interview

This was for the Viceland.com Blog.

Why was everyone calling Devandra Banhart’s stuff ‘freak-folk’? He just had long hair and sang about butterflies the whole time. There is some guy that does the express check-out at Tesco’s on Liverpool Street that looks way freakier than him. And I bet he’d sing about wanting to skewer city bankers with shredded baked bean tins if we gave him a chance. You can tell, it’s in his eyes. Chrome Hoof sound like if Silver Apples and Neu were the house band on that planet where the Clangers lived and they all dress in tin foil monk outfits. Chrome Monktime! Jarvis got them to support fellow cowl-wearing dudes Sunn O))) at Meltdown and they have a record out next week on Southern that sounds like flying in a spaceship around Sun Ra’s head. Pretty freaky.

We caught up with Milo and Leo Smee, Chrome Hoof's founders to see what makes them happy.

Vice: So you're set to support Klaxons on their next tour, even though you started out years before they even formed. Are you secretly jealous of their success?

Milo (drums/keyboards): No. They're a good bunch and have been working really hard and we like their songs. It's an incredibly rare occurrence for us to like new bands, especially lyrically. It's refreshing to hear something we like actually pushed and doing really well.

Your stage show is bright and shiny and makes me feel like I am in some strange future past. Ho do you feel about ‘nu rave’?

Leo (bass): Kids want to feel part of something when maybe not much is going on so they just invented a term, a genre. As an old person who was part of the late 80's/early 90's rave generation I can see no comparison with either the music or movement itself. I'll still be wearing repugnant tracksuits when they have al swapped theirs for blazers.

Tracksuits? Aren't you more into metallic monk cloaks?

Leo: Several of us suffer from stage diorreah and pissing problems, no lie. The outfits go someway towards helping this. Pointey white shoes and skinny jeans wouldn't really work for us.

How do you relax?

Leo: Hot knifes and speed bombs.
Milo: Putting ourselves up for ridicule and taking it really badly.
Leo: And snooker and darts.

Hoofs are pretty disgusting anatomically. What’s the name
Chrome Hoof hoping to achieve?

Milo: It is futuristic yet earthy. An attempt to pleasure two mistrisse's simultaneously you could say.

Chrome Hoof's ‘Pre-Emptive False Rapture’ comes out next week on
Southern Records.