Imagine walking into a room and instantly smelling the sweet scent of our basil lemonade cocktails while simultaneously getting enveloped in a fog machine. Sign of a good night, right? That's exactly how we felt when we walked into Spin Magazine's party on Saturday. Co-hosted by Ray-Ban sunglasses and with Kanon's Basil Lemonade and Salty Dog on the menu, #spinflipout definitely had us at hello. The night started out with music sets by Canadian DJ A-Trak, whose mix of hits had the entire (sweaty) dancefloor moving and shaking to the grooves of the 90s and now. What do you get when you mix a rock band with a saxophone and one (majorly underrated) cowbell? The Rapture (and not the kind where the world ends) – whose "House of Jealous Lovers" took us back to last summer when they played for us at our beach house (sigh).
Finally, Crystal Castles' electronic beats had the crowd surging towards the stage as soon as they started playing. Front-woman Alice Glass (our new crush) even stage-dove. Talk about showmanship. We even spotted FOK Scott Lipps on the side of the stage taking in the tunes. Between the drinks and the smog machine, let's just say things got a little...fuzzy. Luckily for us, we had nightlife photographer Kirill there to capture the night the best way he knows how.
And even luckier for us? We got to talk to The Rapture before their set about playing in their hometown, false alarm raptures, and the success of their signature cocktail. Check out Kirill's photos above and fall more in love with The Rapture below. And as always, thanks to Spin for having us – looking forward to the next one!
Kanon Vodka: There has been all of this "Rapture" talk this year and there was supposed to be a Rapture on Friday apparently. How does it make you guys feel to share a name with it?
Gabriel Andruzzi: Missed it again. No, I think it actually happened.
Vito Roccoforte: Yeah it did! We played Philadelphia. It was a crazy show.
GA: Actually, the world ended yesterday.
KV: That there was the actual Rapture yesterday?
VR: I feel reborn today. It's been the best thing ever for us. The first time it happened we were going to announce our album coming out that following Monday, so, it was like a bunch of free press. We've gotten more traffic on our Facebook and our Twitter than we've had in years. And then we played a show yesterday.
KV: You've got the Internet on your side!
VR: It helped a lot. They put hundreds of millions of dollars into promoting that, so...
KV: And you reaped the benefit.
GA: We got hundreds of millions of dollars of free promo.
KV: How would you guys describe your band in five words?
VR: Gabriel Andruzzi, Vito Roccoforte, Luke Jenner...
GA: Those are our names!
VR: They're good descriptions. That's it.
KV: What's the best part about playing during CMJ?
VR: It really depends on the party and the show. We've played and it hasn't been good, and we've played shows and it's been really amazing. I mean, the best part is that if you do do it right, and you play the right party, a lot of different people could check you out from a lot of different places in the world. And it could leave an impression. Which has happened in the past and we haven't realized it; like that "Olio" thing at Pianos. We've had a lot of shows over the years that people have seen us at, that keep popping up in our lives.
GA: I think that we're home. Which is both the good and the bad thing about playing CMJ. It means that we're home, but it also means that we have to go to work.
VR: I mean, as a New Yorker I kind of avoid CMJ myself because I do music for my life. When I'm home, the last thing that I want to do is go to shows. I stay at home. But, yeah, it's great to be able to go play, and then I'm going to jump into a cab and take a 10 minute ride home.
KV: Is the energy different when you're in New York?
GA: Yeah, New York shows are always special.
KV: How do you guys prepare to take the stage? What are you doing between now and playing?
GA: You know, we don't really do much. We do stuff for about ten minutes before we take the stage. We change our clothes or put together our instruments, or something. We saw a friend earlier today, and he was like, 'Oh, are you guys excited? Are you anxious to play tonight?' I'm like, 'No, not at all.' He's like, 'Dude, that's not even on your radar.' And that's pretty much it until like twenty minutes before the show.
VR: We kind of like sit around together and relax.
GA: Try and get everyone out of our hair.
VR: I hold my drumsticks. Beat on things. Gabe walks around with his sax for like 3-5 minutes. Plays it. And we're pretty much ready to go after that.
KV: And how do you guys unwind after a show?
GA: It depends on the day and the show. Sometimes we just go chill on the bus – lay down on our backs and close our eyes. Sometimes we go do DJ sets and party.
VR: I try to take a shower immediately after. First thing on the timeline. I try to get offstage and get into a shower no matter what I'm going to do.
GA: If it's like a particularly tough show, which has only happened like once in the past two months – get wasted.
KV: That's what we like to hear.
VR: If it's like either extreme then I'll tend to get wasted. It has to be like really extreme.
KV: What would we find in a Rapture cocktail?
GA: You made one! Last summer at the Kanon summer house.
VR: Yeah, we're really wondering why that didn't take off!
GA: Yeah, like what the hell's up?
KV: Maybe we should do a new one with you guys.
VR: Chuck! What was in the Rapture cocktail up at Summer House?
Chuck: There was ginger beer, Kanon Vodka, coconut water.
GA: There had to be something else.
KV: Magic?
VR: It was pretty good.
GA: Whatever was in it, that would be it.
Photos by Kirill Was Here.
