About halfway through the six-week Magical Properties tour, I had the opportunity to sit down with Body High boss hog Samo Sound Boy to see how the tour was progressing. About halfway through, tour boss (and all around exceptionally nice dude) Daedelus (AKA Alfred Darlington) popped in to help tell one of the best tour stories I've heard in years.Noisey: So you went to Sarah Lawrence. What was the progression from school to Samo Sound Boy?
Samo Sound Boy: I was DJing in college a little bit, and I had a couple different radio shows, and then started throwing parties with friends and stuff, kind of just to have a place to DJ. So we'd have parties in this basement on campus that we'd DJ ourselves, and I got more into that. I had my setup on my desk in my dorm room and just spent all my time learning to mix… Schoolwork suffered for it for sure. [Laughs]But you still graduated, though.
I definitely got pretty sidetracked. I also had an internship with Mad Decent right when it started. Diplo was running it out of the Turntable Lab, which used to have a warehouse in Dumbo, so I'd go in there a couple days a week and just count records for like five hours a day. [Laughs] They had maybe two releases out at that point—they didn't even have a website or anything… It was super early. I remember one week, [Diplo] called me and was like, "I might not need you to come in next week… I don't think Mad Decent's gonna end up even working." He was gonna call it off! And then he was like, "Okay, just come in," and, obviously, it kept on going. And it was unpaid, obviously, but he gave me like five copies of the Blaqstarr Supastarr EP and was like, "Sell these on Ebay."Not bad for compensation. Did you carry what you learned at Mad Decent over into Body High?
Yeah, man. I also studied writing and screenwriting in school, and I literally use that stuff all the time. 'Cause all the PR and the press releases, I do all that myself. And I'm definitely glad I learned those skills; I think it makes a huge difference.So how'd this tour come together?
[Daedelus walks in] Well, this is Alfred's creation and it's really cool because he invites people he's excited about. And so he got in touch and it worked out, and I'm really glad it worked out that way, 'cause going to Michigan and Cleveland and stuff… I don't really have that opportunity by myself, so it's awesome. There are a lot of spots I've never played before.Where are you excited to be playing?
Arizona, which will be cool. I have played a barbecue in New Orleans [laughs] but we're going back there to play this festival, BUKU, and I wouldn't be getting booked back there otherwise. We're going to Atlanta… I haven't been there since I was like nine.What's the tour dynamic like? You guys are in a van, who sits bitch?
It's really good. Salva, Ryan Hemsworth, myself, we have a tour manager, and then there's John Timeboy, who's doing the visuals, which are really crazy. And I didn't expect it at all, but when we started, John asked what we were into visually and then he whipped up a visual show for all of the support, too, which is really tight. And luckily, the van's pretty huge so nobody has to sit middle seat. It's all pretty good. [Laughs]Thus far, have you noticed any tracks that go over especially well with crowds?
Yeah, definitely. This is probably just a plug, but a bunch of the new Body High stuff definitely goes off. I've been playing the new Floyd Campbell, which is off our next release, and this track "Bank Walls," the title track, seems to go over really well.Finally—and Daedalus, you're welcome to chime in on this—any crazy tour stories?
Daedalus: We have been haunted by weather. Some weird mojo on this tour for snow; we've had a few dates on this tour that have incurred the wrath of the weather gods. Oh, well, and the hotel thing… [Laughs]
Samo: This is actually insane. We stayed at this Courtyard Mariott in Boston that was one of the nicest places we've stayed.
Daedalus: They were bending over backwards for us the whole time, they were SUPER nice.
Samo: Really really comfortable beds… We were gone, but Salva was still there with his friend James who's touring with us, and all of a sudden, they heard somebody from the hotel knocking on all the doors.
Daedalus: And of course they're making loads of sound trying to make tracks…
Samo: But, like, the place was getting evacuated, there were like fire trucks… They texted us, like, "The hotel's on fire!" 'Cause we had all of our shit there…
Daedalus: All of our gear, so it's conceivable that if the whole place burned down, we'd still be able to play shows, but you know, you start losing your underwear in a real significant fashion… It's dangerous.Samo: So we were waiting for an update and found out that apparently, a dude was with a prostitute in another room and something went wrong, so she maced him, but the mace went into the hotel ventilation and got spread everywhere in the hotel. So they evacuated the whole thing, and when we came back after the gig, the windows were all open and they had to get these industrial fans in all the hallways… We came back and it was freezing cold and there were eight ambulances…
Daedalus: But mind you, this was all told to Salva by a man who had two teeth. So the story is dubious—maybe it was just someone smoking meth in the halls, who knows?
Samo: But they were definitely fumigating the place. We have the evidence of that, so who knows what it could have been.
Daedalus: The Men in Black or something… Or maybe Salva was just making such fire tracks that, you know, ten engine fire… It's possible.Catch the rest of the Magical Properties tour when it comes to your town!
3/8 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West +
3/10 - Houston, TX @ Fitzgeralds +
3/18 - St. Louis, MO @ 2720 Cherokee $
3/19 - Lawrence, KS @ Granada $
3/21 - Breckenridge, CO @ Three20South $
3/22 - Vail, CO @ Avon $
3/23 - Boulder, CO @ Fox Theater $
3/26 - Tempe, AZ @ Club Red $
3/28 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah $
3/29 - Los Angeles, CA @ Fonda Theatre $
3/30 - Pomona, CA @ Glass House $
3/31 - San Francisco, CA @ Independent $
4/2 - Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall $
4/3 - Portland, OR @ Branx $
4/4 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile $
4/5 - Vancouver, BC @ Electric Owl $
+ = w/ Salva as support
$ = w/ Two Fresh@emersonyeah has more twitter followers than you. Spoiler Alert: THEY'RE ROBOTS.
Samo Sound Boy: I was DJing in college a little bit, and I had a couple different radio shows, and then started throwing parties with friends and stuff, kind of just to have a place to DJ. So we'd have parties in this basement on campus that we'd DJ ourselves, and I got more into that. I had my setup on my desk in my dorm room and just spent all my time learning to mix… Schoolwork suffered for it for sure. [Laughs]
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I definitely got pretty sidetracked. I also had an internship with Mad Decent right when it started. Diplo was running it out of the Turntable Lab, which used to have a warehouse in Dumbo, so I'd go in there a couple days a week and just count records for like five hours a day. [Laughs] They had maybe two releases out at that point—they didn't even have a website or anything… It was super early. I remember one week, [Diplo] called me and was like, "I might not need you to come in next week… I don't think Mad Decent's gonna end up even working." He was gonna call it off! And then he was like, "Okay, just come in," and, obviously, it kept on going. And it was unpaid, obviously, but he gave me like five copies of the Blaqstarr Supastarr EP and was like, "Sell these on Ebay."Not bad for compensation. Did you carry what you learned at Mad Decent over into Body High?
Yeah, man. I also studied writing and screenwriting in school, and I literally use that stuff all the time. 'Cause all the PR and the press releases, I do all that myself. And I'm definitely glad I learned those skills; I think it makes a huge difference.So how'd this tour come together?
[Daedelus walks in] Well, this is Alfred's creation and it's really cool because he invites people he's excited about. And so he got in touch and it worked out, and I'm really glad it worked out that way, 'cause going to Michigan and Cleveland and stuff… I don't really have that opportunity by myself, so it's awesome. There are a lot of spots I've never played before.
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Arizona, which will be cool. I have played a barbecue in New Orleans [laughs] but we're going back there to play this festival, BUKU, and I wouldn't be getting booked back there otherwise. We're going to Atlanta… I haven't been there since I was like nine.What's the tour dynamic like? You guys are in a van, who sits bitch?
It's really good. Salva, Ryan Hemsworth, myself, we have a tour manager, and then there's John Timeboy, who's doing the visuals, which are really crazy. And I didn't expect it at all, but when we started, John asked what we were into visually and then he whipped up a visual show for all of the support, too, which is really tight. And luckily, the van's pretty huge so nobody has to sit middle seat. It's all pretty good. [Laughs]Thus far, have you noticed any tracks that go over especially well with crowds?
Yeah, definitely. This is probably just a plug, but a bunch of the new Body High stuff definitely goes off. I've been playing the new Floyd Campbell, which is off our next release, and this track "Bank Walls," the title track, seems to go over really well.Finally—and Daedalus, you're welcome to chime in on this—any crazy tour stories?
Daedalus: We have been haunted by weather. Some weird mojo on this tour for snow; we've had a few dates on this tour that have incurred the wrath of the weather gods. Oh, well, and the hotel thing… [Laughs]
Samo: This is actually insane. We stayed at this Courtyard Mariott in Boston that was one of the nicest places we've stayed.
Daedalus: They were bending over backwards for us the whole time, they were SUPER nice.
Samo: Really really comfortable beds… We were gone, but Salva was still there with his friend James who's touring with us, and all of a sudden, they heard somebody from the hotel knocking on all the doors.
Daedalus: And of course they're making loads of sound trying to make tracks…
Samo: But, like, the place was getting evacuated, there were like fire trucks… They texted us, like, "The hotel's on fire!" 'Cause we had all of our shit there…
Daedalus: All of our gear, so it's conceivable that if the whole place burned down, we'd still be able to play shows, but you know, you start losing your underwear in a real significant fashion… It's dangerous.Samo: So we were waiting for an update and found out that apparently, a dude was with a prostitute in another room and something went wrong, so she maced him, but the mace went into the hotel ventilation and got spread everywhere in the hotel. So they evacuated the whole thing, and when we came back after the gig, the windows were all open and they had to get these industrial fans in all the hallways… We came back and it was freezing cold and there were eight ambulances…
Daedalus: But mind you, this was all told to Salva by a man who had two teeth. So the story is dubious—maybe it was just someone smoking meth in the halls, who knows?
Samo: But they were definitely fumigating the place. We have the evidence of that, so who knows what it could have been.
Daedalus: The Men in Black or something… Or maybe Salva was just making such fire tracks that, you know, ten engine fire… It's possible.Catch the rest of the Magical Properties tour when it comes to your town!
3/8 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West +
3/10 - Houston, TX @ Fitzgeralds +
3/18 - St. Louis, MO @ 2720 Cherokee $
3/19 - Lawrence, KS @ Granada $
3/21 - Breckenridge, CO @ Three20South $
3/22 - Vail, CO @ Avon $
3/23 - Boulder, CO @ Fox Theater $
3/26 - Tempe, AZ @ Club Red $
3/28 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah $
3/29 - Los Angeles, CA @ Fonda Theatre $
3/30 - Pomona, CA @ Glass House $
3/31 - San Francisco, CA @ Independent $
4/2 - Eugene, OR @ WOW Hall $
4/3 - Portland, OR @ Branx $
4/4 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile $
4/5 - Vancouver, BC @ Electric Owl $
+ = w/ Salva as support
$ = w/ Two Fresh@emersonyeah has more twitter followers than you. Spoiler Alert: THEY'RE ROBOTS.