The Diplomats of Solid Sound Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Feb 10th 2010 4:32PM by Lauren Nicolas
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The Diplomats of Solid Sound have traipsed all over Europe and the American Midwest sharing their own brand of classic soul and funk. Armed with a new record of material they are hopeful will be released in time to coincide with their stint at SXSW, the Iowa-based ensemble are gearing up to hypnotize Austin with their sweet, soulful grooves. Spinner recently spoke with band members Doug Roberson (guitar/vocals) and Nate Basinger (organ).

How did your band form?

Doug: We started in 2001 as an instrumental band along the lines of Booker T and the MGs. It wasn't until we got girls to sing background parts on a recording we did backing up Andre Williams that we thought, "Wait a minute. We need girl singers!"

How did you choose your band name?

DR: There was a '60s band called the Diplomats. They were a soul band, and we thought, "That sounds cool, what can we do with it?"

Nate: We realized we needed to add more words to it so we wouldn't worry about infringement, and the "Solid Sound" part stuck. It really represents what we do.

How would you describe your sound?

DR: We're an amalgamation of classic soul and funk music. American soul.

NB: We have one foot in the soul and funk traditions of James Brown and another foot planted in the garage rock tradition of someone like the Sonics.

Who are your musical influences?

DR: Little Richard, Elvis Presley, James Brown... there's a lot of Motown influence. As long as you can filter it through your own sort of stylistic choices, there's a wealth of American soul music that you can build on.

NB: We all listen to Motown and Southern soul, and classic country like Hank Williams, too.

Beatles or Stones?

DR: Stones.

NB: Beatles.

What's your biggest vice?

DR: My worst one is probably record collecting. Right now I'm into vinyl 45s that are soul- or funk-oriented so I can DJ nights and play 45s.

NB: I bite my fingernails. It's terrible.

Your music has been featured in a number of TV shows ('Reaper,' 'The Osbournes,' 'Cathouse'). What show are you into right now that you'd be stoked to be featured on?

DR: There's a crazy new cartoon on FX called 'Archer' that would be fun to hear us on, but a major motion picture would probably be the best because of the potential payoff as far as outreach goes ... After that, I'd have to say 'Lost.'

NB: It'd have to be something like 'Chuck'. A lot of those shows we've been on, I've never seen, so it would be cool to be on a show that I actually watch.

Who is your musical guilty pleasure?

DR: I really have a thing for Claudine Longet – she's like a French Astrud Gilberto.

NB: I have so many! I can't even think of one right now. I have to defend my tastes all the time.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

DR: We played a Mod all-nighter in Spain. You hear they party there, but I thought, "Whatever, we know how to party!" We finally hit the stage at 12:30AM, we're drunk, and the crowd is unstoppable. The DJ played soul 45s to a packed dance floor, it's 6AM and no one's leaving! At 8AM, I finally said, "I have to go to bed." I met an American girl who happened to be staying at our hotel. We walked back and fell asleep in her bed. When her friends came back they wasted no time kicking me out.

NB: Being from Iowa, we have a lot of problems with weather -- floods, storms. During one of the worst winters on record we took our lives into our own hands just going to gigs. The scariest ride was driving through a storm where there was snow on the ground, it was raining, there were tornado sirens going off and black ice everywhere. That winter probably took five years off all our lives with all the stress. A lot of the new songs are about those times.

Lauren Nicolas is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.