I’m not normally a fan of putting up straight question and answer interviews, but mine and Hacks’ recent email exchange with the other Simian spin-off was just too perfect not to put up as is, Theo’s ALL CAPS answers and all. Here’s what Theo and Simon had to say on the Simian world takeover, the blog-o-sphere, and Hacks wanting their babies:

Trixie: The Black Ghosts sound decidedly different from the other spin-off of Simian, SMD, but a lot closer to the original band. Simon, did you intend to do a sort of disco reincarnation of Simian or is it coincidental?

Simon: It wasn’t intentional at all. I was the singer/songwriter for Simian and now for the Black ghosts so i guess the songs of both bands have my mark on them. My voice and the way i write melodies, harmonies and lyrics are quite distinctive so there are big similarities between the two.

Tx: Given the current atmosphere of dance-pop music with the squelches and really hard, nasty filtered stuff that’s going on with the whole Ed Banger/Kitsune/Ecler o’Shock sound being so huge do you feel like you have more of a challenge to connect with listeners? (Woo! Run on sentence, sorry.)

Sm: I guess some of the trendy kids that just listen to that distorted stuff might think we’re not cool enough but for us it’s more important to make solid tunes that’ll last and not sound dated in 6 months. We want to write great pop songs that are memorable beyond how fucked-up the bass sounds.

Tx: When Simian broke up, did you guys all conciously decide you were going to take over the world, or did it just happen?

Sm: Yeah we sat down in our pentagram and did a blood-letting ceremony and then scattered ourselves on the 4 winds to take over the mortal world, ha ha ha ha ha haaaaa!…. Not really, but one of the reasons Simian broke up was because there was so many ideas flying around that it was always a struggle to fit them all in, so it was inevitable that splitting up Simian would result in a splurge of musical output.

We’re all still good friends and are enjoying each others success.

Tx: Why are The Black Ghosts lyrics so angry and fucked up while being layered over these blissful pop, balearic-tinged beats? Are you trying to mess with our heads? Is it a reaction to the happy-go-lucky vocals that are layered over nasty beats, like in so many Justice or SMD tracks? Simon, are you heartbroken or just projecting?

Sm: Part of it is a reaction to the inane lyrics usually used in dance music, ‘oooh baby, make me dance,1234, yeah yeah yeah, sweat, love, shake it oooh’ etc. I just see it as lazy and unadventurous, there’s no reason that lyrics in dance music can’t be more interesting and tell proper stories. People can dance and think at the same time…hmmm maybe not!? But yeah i am heartbroken and i’m projecting, i figure whilst i’m still an angry young man i’ll make the most of it, there’s plenty of time for ‘mature’ songs about peace and sunny days.

Tx: What can we expect from you guys in the new year? A full scale US tour? And will you still be doing the long-form DJ + vocals sets when you do a US tour, or a “live” set that’s short and sweet? Maybe both on the same night? (Please?)

Sm: At the moment we’re enjoying doing the mutant DJ + vocals live set, sometimes it’s long form, sometimes condensed and features more ‘live’ elements. We’ll definitely be back in the US in the new year, not sure what sort of tour yet but the shows all went down really well out there so we’re looking forward to coming back. We haven’t got any plans to do a ‘full live’ show yet but if the albums a success expect to see us travelling about with a full robot orchestra.

Hacks: If you got into a break dance fight with SMD, who would win?

Theo: US EASILY. ALTHOUGH JAMES’ (of Simian Mobile Disco) HAIR IS A NATURAL CRASH HELMET FOR HEADSPINS.

Sm: i think Theo would be really handy cause he was a hip-hop kid, I remember James being quite nifty but he’s fucked his shoulder up so i reckon we’d have the upper hand… though Jas (also of Simian Mobile Disco) would probably throw in a wild card with his robot moves and then i’d wow the crowd with my river-dance moves!

Hk: Deejaying vs. live performance: what’s the difference for you guys? Or is there one?

Th: LIGHTER BAGS, LESS HANGING AROUND IN VENUES ALL AFTERNOON LISTENING TO SOMEONE HITTING A SNARE DRUM REPEATEDLY, NOT HAVING TO EAT HAM AND CHEESE AND PEANUTS AND DRINK WARM BEER AFTER A 5 HOUR DRIVE… NO IT CAN BE A LAUGH PLAYING LIVE, BUT DJING IS MORE FUN. OUR DJ SET IS PART LIVE ANYWAY - SIMON SINGS AND DOES LIVE EFFECTS / EDITS ETC.

Hk: How has the US response to your music been vs. other countries? Is it more/less, different, or pretty much the same?

Th: TOO EARLY TO SAY. WE’VE YET TO TAKE THE GHOSTS TO ANYWHERE ELSE PHYSICALLY, BUT IN THE VIRTUAL WORLD THE STATES ARE IN THE LEAD - WE’VE HAD LOTS OF REALLY GOOD FEEDBACK FROM THE US.

Hk: Do you feel like mp3 blogs and your fans taking on viral marketing strategies independently have helped you guys? What do you think about your music being posted on blogs?

Th: BLOGS CAN BE GREAT, ESPECIALLY FOR REMIXES AND ALTERNATIVE VERSIONS ETC. ALTHOUGH IT CAN GIVE THINGS A DISPOSABLE FEEL SOMETIMES - SOME OF THE BLOGS HAVE A 2 SECOND ATTENTION SPAN IT SEEMS AND A DESPERATION FOR NEW STUFF TO WAVE IN THEIR COMPETITORS FACES. BUT SOME HAVE BEEN VERY SUPPORTIVE OF OUR STUFF.

Sm: We both regularily use blogs to hear new tunes and see what people are up to. The industry is moaning about people not buying music anymore but the blogs are letting people hear much more music than before and that is the important thing… the money men will catch up sometime and we’ll all be rich.

Hk: Did you know that there’s a ring of blogs participating in “hype-jacking” (several blogs coordinating post times so that an artist is on the front of Hype machine for an entire week) your music? (And that we’re one of them?)

Th: NO ALTHOUGH IT DOESN’T SEEM THAT OUTRAGEOUS. OBVIOUS REALLY.

Sm: yeah i had noticed some blogs co-ordinating their posts, didn’t realise that was the reason though… power to the people!

Hk: Finally, can I have your babies… Or just do some exclusive remixes?

Th: HE WANTS OUR BABIES? DON’T THINK SCIENCE HAS TACKLED THAT ONE YET, ALTHOUGH ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER DID A DOCUMENTARY ABOUT IT ONCE DIDN’T HE?

Sm: Yeah please take em, their incessant wailing keeps on messing up my vocal takes.

(The Black Ghosts’s EP Anyway You Choose to Give It is available for download now on iTunes and to put in your hot little hands from I Am Sound.)