Beats Antique recently announced an extensive ‘Creature Carnival Tour,’ which included Emancipator, Shpongle, and Lafa Taylor. The tour kicked off last week, and makes its way to the Best Buy Theater in NYC tonight, October 23rd. The tour promised: “a spectacle for the ages, filled with breathtaking performances, improvisational serendipity, audience participation, and many more surprises to come.”
We had the chance to sit down with Beats Antique drummer/beats-maker/producer Tommy Cappel, talking about the tour, the band’s performance at Austin City Limits, and more. Enjoy!
How was the theme for this tour conceptualized? We really wanted to have fun this fall with the carnival vibe and since Shpongle, Emancipator, and Lafa Taylor are all friends and musical peers, we thought our collective fans would enjoy printing out masks and beinspired to dress up and have a blast!
Now that the tour is underway, how has life on the road been treating you? The road is our 2nd home – we have our own time traveling vessel – lined with natural wood and little cubby holes for humans and pouches. Our heads poke out everyday and see the surrounding landscape and plan for the attack to begin after sundown with beats and beauty…
How was ACL for you? ACL was awesome!
What was your favorite part of the experience? Looking out at the sea of faces and hands!!
Tommy, In an interview during your time in Austin, you joked that you wanted to skip your own set to go see Lana Del Rey perform. Did you get to meet her? Ha Ha – I’ve always wanted to see her live show, and of course we were scheduled at the same time! And no, I have not met her, what’s up Lana?
What is your favorite venue to play when you come to NYC? We’ve always had fun playing in NYC, there’s been quite a few, but I love playing at the Brooklyn Bowl – something about bowling, beats and eats! Looking forward to playing Best Buy Theatre this time around!
Why? NYC is an amazing city – there’s a vibe there like no other in the world! I used to live there back in the mid to late 90’s, so going back to play some big shows always makes me proud.
How is this tour different from ones that you’ve done in the past? Any major changes or additions? Additionally, what is constant about your live performance? What is essential Beats Antique in regards to your live shows on the creature carnival tour? Creature Carnival tour differs from past Beats Antique shows in that we are trying a broader concept. We are excited about experimenting with crowd participation. Our specific live performance is an amalgamation of the history of Beats Antique – it has flavors ranging from our first albums to our more recent A Thousand Faces show. We’ve also created fun moments along side Lafa Taylor as he is our Master of Ceremonies for the night, as well as opening the night with his set of experimental hip hop – the night moves on through a beautiful set by Emancipator, and takes off with a great Shpongle DJ set. At this point we feature a local artist that submitted to perform, and then we launch into fun times!
What is the inspiration behind Beats Antique’s distinct style of music? There are obvious cultural/historical influences but anything more personal and profound that inspires your creations/style of art? The esthetic charm of music, dance and performance is the driving force behind Beats Antique. We love creating unique sounds and combining with cultural, traditional and modern music and dance. We really just get into the studio and go with the flow to create something we are turned on by.
Be sure to catch Beats Antique – along with Emancipator, Shpongle, and Lafa Taylor – tonight, October 23rd, at the Best Buy Theater! Tickets are available through the Creature Carnival official website.
-Marisa Frydman (@musicalmarisa)