AN ELECTRO DUO CALLED AMERICAN DOUBLES

By Dan Hutton on April 13, 2017 in Arts

American Doubles is an Australian electronic music duo based in Melbourne. Made up of Robert Smith and Justin Hamilton, their debut single, Swell, an underwater opus of sorts, recently hit the airwaves. The Beast caught up with Mr. Hamilton during the month…

If I had to describe our sound in one sentence… I’d say it’s synth driven pop with an upbeat outlook!

My first memory of music is… staying with my grandmother who was mad on classical music. She had an extensive collection and an amazing hi-fi system that was played continuously at ear piercing levels to compensate for her deafness.

Growing up my parents listened to… everything from Nana Mouskouri to the Beatles and nothing beyond the 70s.

Our dream gig… would be Coachella, because it’s one of the largest and most famous festivals and so many of our favourite artists have performed there.

Our new single, ‘The Swell’, is… a summer breezy tune that takes a cruisy drive around the bay before leaping into a perfectly calm ocean.

We filmed nearly the entire video for ‘Swell’ underwater because… we wanted to capture the feeling of serenity. Filming underwater offers a sense of peace and calm, and at the same time accentuates the flow of movement.

If you come to see us play, you can expect… a high-energy performance, fine musicians, a room full of grins and syncopated heartbeats.

There was one time when we were starting out… that we met Mas Ysa at the Prince Bandroom while he was in Australia on tour with Phantogram. After chatting for a while he took us backstage and was showing us his some of the gear he was using when a roadie, realising we weren’t supposed to be there, said to us, “Who the fuck are you guys?” I said, “We’re an electro duo called American Doubles.” That was the first time I recall saying our band name to anybody.

If we could have chosen one song to have written, it would have to be… Barry Manilow’s ‘Copacabana’.

Our favourite song to perform would have to be… all of them! It largely depends on the audience, though. Which ever song they’re most receptive to at the time is usually our favourite to play.

One person we’d still really like to record with is… Quincy Jones.

Our biggest fan has got be… our close friends and support group.

We’ll know we’ve have made it when… hearing versions of our songs played in elevators.

To find out more about American Doubles, please visit www.facebook.com/americandoubles/