Binary Week: LexiconDon

If you’ve been a regular reader of electronic rumors over the past year or so you’ll understand the difficulty I’m having finding something new to say about LexiconDon. Toward the end of last year they released their staggeringly good début album, ‘Pink + Blue’, and about that time we featured them on the site…a lot.

Also, LexiconDon were featured in all three of our Top 20s Of 2010! Albums, Songs and reMixes!

With the success they’ve had in recent months you could consider LexiconDon to be one of Binary’s flagship bands, and they are a band. Whist starting out as a project consisting of just Fabien Ordorica (he of Fabian fame) and energetic frontman Alex Koons, the act is now a four piece incorporating live guitar and bass, and in a scene dominated by DJs and hipsters hunched over Ableton controllers that’s something special.

It also gives the impression that LexiconDon sit at them slightly more rowdy end of the Binary spectrum. The music has a rawness, a live quality, to it. Injecting ElectroPop with the energy of post-punk and a narrative lyrical style that speaks of day-to-day lives and loves that we can all relate to. But LexiconDon are no one trick pony, their début record is one that flows from smooth DiscoPop to pumped up Electro-Punk before you realise it’s happening.

Alex gives us the lowdown on all things LexiconDon:

ER: How did you guys get together? Was is always to make electronic music?

AK: Fabian and I met at a studio in Hollywood appropriately named Hollywood Sound in 2007. I had actually been rapping since I was like 16 and Fabian was producing hip-hop tracks at the time. I don’t remember specifics but we ended up recording a song called “The Secrets Out” and the rest was history. We recorded a full length rap album, but about a year later wrote the song “Staying With My Girl” that would initially change our whole style.

ER: And how did you then get involved with the Binary posse?

AK: Josh and Kyle came to the first show that we played “Staying With My Girl” at. I honestly feel like they saw the potential of what could come if we continued to write songs with that same kind of feeling.

♫ LexiconDon – Boy Vs. Girl Pt.1

ER: Your sound seems to owe a lot of British SynthPop and Post-Punk artists, in that it feels more raw and live than your average SynthPop, is this where your influence lies?

AK: Personally, I draw a lot of influence in all genres. I love Celine Dion and Yanni songs, just as much as I love The Church and Psychedelic Furs.

ER: Who are your heroes and influences, both musical and otherwise?

AK: My dad is a big hero of mine, and I think a lot of the reason I am so into music. I have been a big Kanye fan since ‘College Drop Out.’ The Talking Heads, Third Eye Blind, and Atmosphere have played a pretty huge roll in the soundtrack for my life as well.

ER: Your songs seem deal with the everyday, lives and loves and losses, are you just making the soundtrack to your own lives?

AK: Yes.

ER: What’s in LexiconDon’s studio? What are your favourite bits of kit?

AK: Logic, armed with any plugin imaginable, a midi keyboard, an Mbox, an MXL condenser microphone, and a SM 57.

ER: And what makes up your live set up?

AK: Our live set up is like a rainbow with a pot of blow at the end of it. It’s made up of four guys having a lot of fun on stage, sometimes a little too much.

ER: How has the inclusion of live drums and guitar evolved the live sound? And will this be more and more influencing the studio sound?

AK: The drums bring the tracks to life. Fabian’s drums already are so important in his production and when played on a kit there is a certain breath that the live performance takes. Sam’s guitar and bass has added to the energy of the whole show and really makes a difference giving these tracks a totally different feel on stage. I think the studio sound will differently evolve like the live show has.

ER: If money was no object what synth would be your dream purchase?

AK: A Yamaha VSS30 I had one when I was a kid and wish I never sold that bad boy. Its not a synth but it would be really bad ass to have a real Roland 808 too.

♫ LexiconDon – Sleep 2 Dream

ER: How does being part of Binary help you guys as musicians?

AK: You are always surrounded by such amazing musicians and people. In no way is it a competition, but hearing the new stuff everyone is working on all the time just make us want to work harder. It’s like pushing each other to reach our maximum potential. It’s a pretty amazing thing to be a part of.

ER: I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you about, the Student Body video, or how you felt about the reaction to it. Opinion seemed to wildly differ between those who (like us) though it was a harmless, and quite funny, bit of fun satire and those who (and I quote) “couldn’t watch it to the end”. Personally I felt that if the video made someone feel uncomfortable then that said more about the viewer than the video. What did you think?

AK: All I know is that making that video was one of the funniest things we have ever down. It was amazing working with everyone and the video turned out perfectly. I guess we had a different point of view because we got to be on set, and we wrote the song. In the end I don’t think we have much to say to the people who think its super pedo. It deserves a reaction yes, but it should be a light hearted one at best.

ER: Did it even cross your mind that some people would be uncomfortable with the video when you
were making it?

AK: Yeah, I think we knew that it would upset some people. There is always gonna’ be a paradox in anyone’s art. People can look into anything too hard and make something out of nothing. I don’t think we were prepared for some of the reactions from certain people. It was rough having people very close to us not getting it.

ER: How are you feeling now Pink + Blue is out? Proud I’d expect?

AK: Yeah, very proud and it feels good that its out. It took a long time to make that record. I really don’t think its reached its maximum potential, but so far I think we are all pretty happy with where its at.

ER: How do you feel it has been received?

AK: We are happy with the results thus far. Its rough writing SynthPop in a lo-fi, Chillwave saturated forum.

ER: One of the great things about Pink + Blue is that it contains quite a mix of styles, is this just ‘cos it represents the last few years of LexiconDon evolution or can we expect you to mix it up a bit in future?

AK: Its because Fabian & I write in such a sporadic way. We have no formula, we have always just made songs that we like. Every single song we have made has been done in such a different way, and when we try to repeat previous attempts, it never works the same. We hope to have a bit more consistency on the next record but be prepared for a roller coaster of genre crossing.

♫ LexiconDon – Heart Attack

ER: Can we expect to see you touring Pink + Blue, and sign of you guys crossing the Atlantic?

AK: I am pretty sure we will be hitting the road sometime in late May. As for crossing the Atlantic, which by the way would be a dream come true just playing a show over seas, might be a little while away. In reality we need a higher demand in the states and elsewhere. The next year holds a lot of gold and we intend on grabbing as much as possible to share it with everyone else.

ER: Are LexiconDon more cereal or pile of pancakes for breakfast kinda’ band? Would that change the morning after a show?

We are more like a 4 shots of espresso on ice and a cigarette band. The morning after the show we would probably be a bloody mary.