Written by: Mario R. MartinBuy “Invaders Must Die” On:
In 1989, the very first Batman film starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson as the “Joker” yielded one of the best lines in recent film history. Nicholson, donning a purple suit and a smile, delivers the gravely, “this town needs an enema.” Music in 2009 needs that same enema. Enter The Prodigy.
The early 90s rave/electronica scene belonged to The Prodigy. The mastermind behind it all, Liam Howlett, joined by MCs Keith Flint and Maxim Reality, has always had the vision and the ear to create ethereal soundscapes and keep bodies in motion.
Howlett carved out a great niche for his Prodigy outfit. By the late 90s everyone knew about The Prodigy from the giant buzz surrounding the 1997 record "Fat Of The Land" which featured the incendiary (no pun intended) “Firestarter” and “Smack My Bitch Up”. While “Firestarter” garnered much praise in the music world, it was “Smack My Bitch Up” that was the underground sensation due largely in part to its video which was quickly pulled by MTV for content.
While the late 90s lent The Prodigy the success they deserved, the follow-up to "Fat Of The Land" entitled "Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned" was met with little fanfare despite its blazing beats and numerous guest appearances. It seemed the critics wanted another “Firestarter” out of Howlett. Unfortunately for them, Howlett had other plans. That’s to be expected from an electronic genius. After all, in 1999 he was asked to produce Madonna’s record, only to turn it down. Not bad for a guy from Essex.
But like anything, the stigma of a lackluster record (according to critics) fades. It fades faster if you gather the same elements for success and rework them in a new context. And in a world of American Idols and corporate radio that only programs songs featuring Akon or T-Pain, the state of the music industry is in the toilet. Never mind the fact that the the economy is sitting alongside the music industry in that same toilet, the world needs something to celebrate. The world needs The Prodigy!
Fast forward to 2009 and the delivery of the highly anticipated "Invaders Must Die" record and world tour. The result is a perfect amalgamation of sound, fury, lyrics and of course, breakbeats. It has quickly become an undeniable record and the tour as it gains traction is a must-see spectacle.
Catching up with The Prodigy is a pleasant experience. Nestled in a private villa at the Sunset Marquis Hotel in Hollywood, California, the trio are sipping tea and eating toast. After a long press day, the gentlemen are just that, gentlemen. They are all cordial, soft-spoken and eloquent. They are all thankful at every compliment and proper. They also seem to be enjoying the sun and 75 degree temperatures, unlike their native UK where we’re told it’s “fucking cold!’ And so starts the conversation...
MRM: What new or different technologies did you utilize on the new record?
Liam Howlett: We tried to do the opposite really. We tried not to get drawn in by technology. The basic tools are the same and I tried to make a less digital record this time. Tried to make it more analog.
And definitely the writing process was much more like the first two albums. Instead of writing and finishing a track and putting it to bed. Mixed. Done. Next track. This album I’ve been juggling three or four ideas at once. I’ve been trying to figure out if it’s more about my attention to each track or whether it felt more exciting like that rather than rinsing an idea until it’s fucking dead, ya know?
Maxim Reality: But the thing about technology is that people think technology makes you write good tunes, it doesn’t. New ideas, new equipment, yeah. The good thing about technology is that it becomes smaller and smaller so you can make music on the road where as before you couldn’t.
MRM: How are American audiences responding to the new record and to the tour?
Liam Howlett: Amazing. Really good.
Maxim Reality: Yeah, and I think when you go out and see people standing in the back and nodding their heads and so forth it’s because the band on the stage isn’t kicking the energy out to the crowd. We’re trying to suck you in.
MRM: Could Prodigy be a good club act or is it best set for outdoor festivals and the like?
Keith Flint: I don’t know the club scene really. The only club scene I’ve seen is very R&B to be quite honest. I don’t think I’ve been to the right clubs.
Liam Howlett: It’s quite separated in America. It’s probably not the right answer but something like the Warped Tour is specifically that type of music. Where we know that in England, we’d be on that tour. Here it’s just one type of music in clubs...
Maxim Reality: Every time we come here we feel like a new band. Just call us a band and we’ll fit into any category. That way we’re not stuck in the electronica category.
MRM: What would you do differently or what have you done differently this time around in this musical climate?
Liam Howlett: Well, we don’t really get involved in the marketing of the records. We’re into making the artwork as good as we can and the videos, all the creative shit. But from what I can tell, the internet plays a big part. Which we’re now in to. I think we went through a long stage where we weren’t into the internet.
Keith Flint: We really enjoy it. Without getting too tripped out, it’s another outlet. We make films as we go and post them to our website. It’s great.
Liam Howlett: We’ll probably do three films while we’re here in fact. If I were into a band, I’d want to see what the fuck they were doing on their day off running around being mad and dressed up.
Maxim Reality: It’s great to let people see us the way we want to be seen, and not just from somebody’s mobile phone taken on the street or at a show.
As another sunny day in Los Angeles passes, the anticipation for the high energy band from Essex increases. As night falls and the temperatures drop little by little, the famed Palladium on Sunset Boulevard starts to fill. The tension rises and the beats begin to fill the air, until BOOM! The bass kicks in and every follicle shakes. Playing hit after hit, Howlett is buried in a sea of computers, monitors and every electronic component known to man. Maxim Reality and Keith Flint are the hype-men in The Prodigy circus as bodies bounce and hands wave in the smoke-filled air.
To close the song “Smack My Bitch Up,” Maxim Reality meets the song’s crescendo with eloquence as he sternly holds court with thousands of followers yelling, “that’s right! That’s what we fucking do!” Amen.
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