The Dandies Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Feb 15th 2010 5:51PM by Connor Welsh
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Forming in early 2008, the relatively unknown Swiss rock 'n' roll band the Dandies seem intent on building up their notoriety in the States. Starting as a union between two American brothers and two Swiss friends, their blend of classic and modern rock is nothing short of infectious. While 2009 was a rough year, 2010 promises to be much better. With an album release to be announced and a slot at one of the biggest music festivals in America, the Dandies' future looks, well, pretty dandy.

Describe your sound.

It's real rock with guitar riffs and hooks. We're a guitar band with a certain swagger to it. A rumbling bass and clear drums sums it up, pretty much.

What are your musical influences?

The bands that made us want to form a band were the Strokes and Kings of Leon. Bands like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Jet have also heavily influenced us.

How did you come up with your band name?

At the time when we were looking for band names, funnily enough, we saw ourselves as something like dandies. Back in the day of our mid-teens, not a lot of people wore skinny jeans in Switzerland. Believe it or not, people still don't understand it and give us looks and make stupid comments. Anyway, when we were forming the band, nobody really dressed the way we did in our home town. We were not stylish kids or hipsters or anything like that, but we stumbled across the name and it just stuck.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

That's a tricky one. It changes. There'll always be a song by, like, Black Eyed Peas or someone like that coming out, and I'll be humming it and be like, "Ooh, that ain't all that bad."

What is one thing you guys couldn't live without?

Oxygen. It's hard to single one thing out, because so many things in a person's life contribute to happiness. But music is definitely up there. Nothing can sum up a mood as well as music can. I mean, there's people who don't really like sports or don't like to watch TV or movies. Find me one person in the world who doesn't enjoy music! It can't be done!

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