Broken Bells Perform Live on the Interface

One of 2010's nicest surprises so far has been the emergence of Broken Bells, the James Mercer and Danger Mouse psych-pop collaboration. It's no secret that Spinner's been on the Bells tip from day one -- they performed at our first-ever SXSW pop up show last month -- but prior to that, we literally got them in our studio the day before their self-titled album was released. Unlike their performance in a parking lot, our studio time with them was a much more orderly, controlled affair.

Originally, Broken Bells seemed like a somewhat odd pairing: Danger Mouse of Gnarls Barkley, who propelled Cee-Lo into new, crazier dimensions, and Mercer, whose band the Shins had risen to the top of the indie food chain during the mid 2000s. But to them, it didn't seem odd at all.

"We met each other at a festival about six years ago," Danger Mouse tells Spinner. "We just kept up from there just as acquaintances and we'd see each other at festivals and shows. Then a couple years ago in 2008, I'd heard James was about to do something different than the Shins and was maybe looking to do a soul record or maybe work with somebody else and I jumped at it. I really wanted to give it a shot so I got in contact with him, we hung out, talked and then went right in the studio."

In terms of an aesthetic vision, Danger Mouse says the two initially got together to hash a few ideas out, but ultimately, they just wanted to rely on what he describes as "simple songwriting techniques."

"A lot of older psychedelic music, old R&B and soul music were influences," he says. "But obviously, we have a jump on them. We have an extra 30 years of influences that they didn't have back then when they were doing those songs. The simplicity with what we were doing, that was important to us."

Fans will get a taste of that simplicity this spring, as the group has recently announced their first headlining tour. Until then, check out this exclusive Broken Bells performance.