Calling itself a “rock band from the future,” dance-rock outfit Gemini Club says it reflects the times.
“Everybody’s lives have been invaded by computers,” the band’s electronic mastermind, Daniel Brunelle, told RedEye, “and a rock band’s should be too.”
The classically-trained Brunelle, singer/songwriter Tom Gavin and DJ Gordon Bramli mash up all their influences — and sometimes feed their songs into a computer — to create Gemini Club’s dynamic mixture of straight-ahead rock and dance floor electronica.
Members, who just released a new EP, “Future Tidings,” talked with RedEye recently about their sound, influences and experiences.
What’s a live show from Gemini Club like?
Gavin: There’s a huge human element involved in the show, what with live vocal sampling and all. There’s a lot of things that happen only once during a show that may never happen again, just because of a certain moment. Our set is, start to finish, no breaks. Absolutely everything that you’re hearing is created live. There’s no playback tracks, every drum beat is queued, every bass line is queued or played, and every vocal is sung, so it’s a very live version of electronic music.
How did the group form?
Gavin: Dan and I had been making music together for a while, since we met in 2003 at the University Center. My singer/songwriter attitude really kind of mesh well with Dan’s electronic prowess.
What’s the craziest thing that’s happened to the band thus far?
Gavin: At our very first show, which was a house party at this multi-million dollar studio … Tom gets up on top of this table [to perform] and some girl hopped up there with him and starts MTV rap-video grinding up on him.
What’s one completely random thing about the band?
Gavin: Dan and I met in juvenile hall. No, actually that’s not true.
Brunelle: Tom and I are both huge news dorks. We’re crazy politics junkies. All of our band fights are about politics. We don’t argue about music, we only argue about politics.
How would you describe your sound?
Brunelle: Our band is really three distinct personalities. There’s Tom, who’s really coming at it from a traditional singer/songwriter point of view. Then there’s me, who’s kind of got a foot in both electronic music and … with a classically-trained point of view. Then we have Gordon, who we perform with, who from Day One has always been a DJ. It’s really kind of an interesting learning experience for all of us to combine these three completely different histories and approaches into one sound. I think somehow it all fits together.
Gemini Club
With: French Horn Rebellion, Database
When: 9 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Sonotheque
Tickets: $8 at the door
Listen to Gemini Club’s “Show Me a Showdown” at redeyechicago.com/chitunes
