From forming in Birmingham, UK just a few years ago and setting up shop currently in Brooklyn, NY electronic outfit Deluka are taking the attention of eardrums from listeners all around the world. The band is a combination of The Sounds meets Gossip but they add their own flair of dirty punk to make their sound all their own, in essence think The Bravery fronted by Joan Jett. Deluka just won the "Freshman" video of the year at this past Springs MTVU Woody Awards. From their much talked about live shows to fun debut, You are the Night (arriving next week) Deluka are ready to step out of the sweaty clubs they have packed for years and into the limelight. Take a look at my interview with singer Ellie Innocenti as we discussed the band's formation, not being pigeonholed and their funky name. Here is my interview with Ellie below..I guess so, it's nice to know that people voted for us and wanted us to win, I think that is more important than the whole MTV thing for us. Although MTV was a big deal when we were kids, so it still feels nice to be associated with it and that people get to see the video and hear our music of course - it's a good stepping stone for a band of our level to reach more people.
How did the band form?
We all met at a place called 'The Jug Of Ale' in Birmingham. Although it has now closed down it was a legendary hang out/pub and music venue, where we all grew up watching bands there, playing in earlier bands too, and Kris used to DJ on the most popular night. We all kind of learnt our craft at this place...I played my first gig there when I was 14! way underage and trying to drink alcohol! We all came together because of our common interest in dance and indie music and trying to do our own thing with it. I wrote songs on an acoustic guitar but was into electronic music and Kris wrote loops and instrumentals, so we both had what each other needed. I had songs and arrangements and Kris was amazing at production and electronic sounds.
What does the name of the band mean? Does it have a interesting origin story?
The name comes from a character out of a popular motion picture of the 90's; Pretty Woman. We named ourselves after the down trodden drug addicted prostitute friend of Julia Robert's character 'Kit DeLuca'. She just always seemed like the more interesting dysfunctional character, plus she had the best one liners. It's not rocket science, it's just a name, and it sounds cool so...
Your style is DIY electro-punk, very fresh and very creative. Who are your influences?
We have many an influence, we collectively love bands like LCD Soundsystem and Soulwax but we also love new wave stuff like Blondie, Talking heads, The pretenders. Then there’s the spiky guitar sounds of Gang of Four and Wire. Personally I have always loved David Bowie, Prince and Iggy Pop. I could go on forever...
The sound of Deluka is also very experimental, where you ever weary about bringing your style to the masses and how you would be received?
Not really no. We set up our little 'myspace' page like all bands do, and then these gig offers kept coming in from exotic places like Paris, Berlin and even Romania. We found ourselves in airports and on these amazing adventures all because we'd uploaded our off-kilter pop songs to a website, it's pretty crazy. Our friends in other bands in Birmingham were like "how do you keep getting these gigs out the country!?". I couldn't answer but, I guess we were doing something right!
Early on in your career you gained notoriety from NME, how did you respond from such high praise from music’s most respected magazine?
Well it's very nice to get the recognition and to be brought to the attention of more people, but the british music publications are notoriously fickle so it's best to take it for what it is, and not think that you are the dogs bollocks just because you get a mention..it really doesn't mean that much in the long run, building a loyal fanbase is far more important to us than being flavour of the month.
You hail from Birmingham, with the slew of bands that have come from there, acts like Black Sabbath and Editors. Do you feel you need to uphold the musical legacy of what that city has given the world?
It would be nice to bring something positive to the image of the Birmingham music scene. It famously gets ignored by the British music industry and it would be nice to get it some overdue attention. Editors are a cool band but aren't really from Birmingham and Black Sabbath really don't have that much relevance to people our age in Birmingham, so to give the younger generation an internationally successful band to call there own would be pretty cool.
Being from a dark place like Birmingham, does that city influence your sound?
Well the people in it do, and the nights out.. It's really more the experiences within it, so I guess so kind of!
With acts like La Roux, Chew Lips, Little Boots and yourselves do you think we are seeing a rise in female fronted electro bands?
Well there is more of late, but its still miniscule compared to amount of men in music. It's stupid really, like 'female fronted' is a genre, I don't really look at it any differently. And as far as the electro thing is concerned, we never try to chase fashionable genres, we just try and make music we like with the instruments we find ourselves owning.
I ask this question to every foreign act I speak with, is it still a big deal for a foreign artist to make it in America?
Yes! America is so big, it would be a huge achievement...just touring the place is a big deal and was quite a shock to the system; 10 hour drives were something new for us!
Yes! America is so big, it would be a huge achievement...just touring the place is a big deal and was quite a shock to the system; 10 hour drives were something new for us!