Like many religious martyrs, Jimmy Edgar boldly embraced temporary celibacy, directing his creative energy to create XXX, his latest full-length album all about sex.
This Sunday, Edgar will be in town to play LSD/DSL at EVE, presented by Schematic Records and Otto von Schirach's Triangle Earth Records. The night will be intense, taking its cues from Coil's Love's Secret Domain (LSD) and Egyptian Lover's Dick Sucking Lips (DSL).
Crossfade caught up with the Detroit native to talk about Miami dancing, rhythm and blues.
Crossfade: Any upcoming collaborations you have going on? Anything coming up that we should know about?
Edgar: Yes, tons of shit. Right now, I'm working on co-producing, sort of engineering, We Are The World. They're like this up-and-coming group from L.A. and they do some really amazing dance routines for their show. They have their hands in a lots of creative elements. And then, I guess I got asked to do a remix for DJ T and I just did one for Sepalcure. Off the top of my head, I'm constantly staying busy with stuff like that.
What influenced your last album? Often people say R&B and funk. And you self-describe on MySpace as R&B.
I guess, technically. Those were sort of the influences for the technical aspect of the music. Just because I grew up as a drummer and all those genres are incredibly rhythmic, so I wanted to sort of combine dance music with like that rhythmic thing. I think they go together really well. I think my last album was less about the technologies of songwriting and stuff. All of those songs were written on piano first, so they actually have somewhat of a melodic structure to it. That was like just getting in touch with my Baptist church background. Not like a church affiliation, but that's where I learned to play music. 'Cause my friends from high school were musicians. And you couldn't just be a white guy and walk into a place like that. So I had to sorta join the band in the church to get involved. And that was, you know, a big inspiration. And then just writing the songs ... They were all just sort of based on the typical sexual frustration, relationship bullshit, stuff like that.
You play piano and drums. Do you play any other instruments?
Yeah, bass guitar. That's really the only one I claim. You know how it is, when you're a producer, you need to learn how to play everything. I was lucky enough to have a foundation in rhythm and drums. I basically did that solidly for 12 years. I started superyoung. Then, you know, piano is a percussion instrument. So basically, I could play piano really well just from playing drums. All I needed to know was where to move my fingers. So that only took a couple of years. And then bass guitar is like ... They're all essentially the same thing. Because it's just your rhythm right there. I can only really play slap bass. That's like incredibly rhythmic and funky.
You have some connections with Miami. You've worked with people down here. Do you feel like there's a growing connection between Detroit and Miami?
I don't know specifically what it is, but I know that Detroit and Miami have a really strong connection. I always sort of joke that Miami, in some areas, was like a tropical Detroit. I don't know why. But I also think Miami has this really kind of raw attitude, and especially the way the girls dance and shit like that. It reminds me of Detroit a lot. I think that's really cool.
Girls in Detroit dance like girls in Miami?
Hell, yeah.
That's awesome.
It's a certain flavor, you know.
What should we expect from your at the show LSD/DSL?
I'm planning on something really special. I've been working on what I wanted to do with it, especially in Miami. Because the last time I played in Miami was a disaster, just because the whole show went down shitty, and things like that. So, I was really interested in coming back. And I got sort of my visual setup going. There will be visual projections during my performance. I'm going to do my top box decoder thing, and just do my live set. I picked out really special music for it. And I just like, you know, I have this affinity with Miami, so I think it'll connect. I just want it to be slamming and I just want to see everyone dancing. So that's my number one goal.
Jimmy Edgar as part of LSD/DSL, presented by Schematic and Triangle Earth. Sunday, February 20. Eve, 1306 N. Miami Ave., Miami. Doors open at 10 p.m. and admission costs $10. Visit miamieve.com.
Follow Crossfade on Facebook and Twitter @Crossfade_SFL.
