Multiple Man is Chris and Sean Campion, identical twin brothers based in Brisbane who pump out dark dancefloor vibes though their clang and throb.Gary Numan has one of their shirts and their new 4-track 12” maxi-single “Persuasion” will be released as an international three way between Spanish labels Burka For Everybody and Catalina Tapes and Adelaide’s No Patience.The video, filmed and designed by Alex Dunlop and produced by Chris, is a static fuelled VHS ode to 1984 while the track itself moves away from their more upfront synth punk of earlier work to include flirtations with Cabaret Voltaire like pop. It’s a release that helps consolidate the Campion brothers up there with Melbourne’s Nun as some of the best in Australia working with programmed and synth music.We caught up with the brothers to talk nightclubs and the mysterious Jack Knife.Noisey: Your last record Guilt Culture had a cleaner bouncier sound but the bounce is now massive.
Sean: This was always the plan from the band's inception. The new material was in its infancy and being demoed shortly before Guilt Culture's release. The consensus was to work towards something less minimal and primitive.
Chris: I stumbled upon the bass line almost by accident. As soon as I did, it became apparent that I would be an asshole if I didn’t make it sound like Harold Faltermeyer. I hope calling it ”clean and bouncy” never catches on.The B-side is a remix by Jack Knife What has he done to the meat beat?
Sean: The mysterious Jack Knife slices and dices “Persuasion” into a full bore techno grunter. He gives it a lot of darkened disco thump. The kid has moxy.
Chris: Knifey is like us, he knows more about Italo and proto-EBM than being a functioning adult. “Persuasion's” the closest thing we'll ever put out that your dad might like. Jack’s remix made the whole thing a big pop hook and then he added hi hats. What a genius.You have some VHS manipulation going on in the video too. What did you think of Alex's original idea/concept?
Sean: Alex is a champ who does wonders on zero budgets. We shot a bit of footage of me annoying people at the Brisbane casino. We were very politely asked to fuck off.
Chris: The house always wins. Alex wanted a scene where I give birth to Sean’s face through my chest like Total Recall. I don’t know what happened to this footage. We spent hours on it.Sean, you have a truer punk outlet in Unpeople. As Multiple Man leans in a poppier direction do you find this is important?
Sean: It's nice to have a bit of a yell from time to time. Stamp out disco.You say you have embraced inspiration in Cabaret Voltaire’s cut-up flirtations with pop, Grace Jones’ Amazonian club bangers and the dayglo industrial soundtrack of To Live and Die In LA. What is the best nightclub experience you have had?
Sean: I got kicked out of the Family nightclub in Brisbane for completely legitimate reasons. I tried to take a shortcut home and fell two stories onto train tracks.
Chris: I don't know much about nightclubs. I just go to badly attended rock shows. I saw a drunken guy take a swing at a police horse near Suncorp Stadium once. That was by no means a good experience.
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Sean: This was always the plan from the band's inception. The new material was in its infancy and being demoed shortly before Guilt Culture's release. The consensus was to work towards something less minimal and primitive.
Chris: I stumbled upon the bass line almost by accident. As soon as I did, it became apparent that I would be an asshole if I didn’t make it sound like Harold Faltermeyer. I hope calling it ”clean and bouncy” never catches on.The B-side is a remix by Jack Knife What has he done to the meat beat?
Sean: The mysterious Jack Knife slices and dices “Persuasion” into a full bore techno grunter. He gives it a lot of darkened disco thump. The kid has moxy.
Chris: Knifey is like us, he knows more about Italo and proto-EBM than being a functioning adult. “Persuasion's” the closest thing we'll ever put out that your dad might like. Jack’s remix made the whole thing a big pop hook and then he added hi hats. What a genius.You have some VHS manipulation going on in the video too. What did you think of Alex's original idea/concept?
Sean: Alex is a champ who does wonders on zero budgets. We shot a bit of footage of me annoying people at the Brisbane casino. We were very politely asked to fuck off.
Chris: The house always wins. Alex wanted a scene where I give birth to Sean’s face through my chest like Total Recall. I don’t know what happened to this footage. We spent hours on it.Sean, you have a truer punk outlet in Unpeople. As Multiple Man leans in a poppier direction do you find this is important?
Sean: It's nice to have a bit of a yell from time to time. Stamp out disco.You say you have embraced inspiration in Cabaret Voltaire’s cut-up flirtations with pop, Grace Jones’ Amazonian club bangers and the dayglo industrial soundtrack of To Live and Die In LA. What is the best nightclub experience you have had?
Sean: I got kicked out of the Family nightclub in Brisbane for completely legitimate reasons. I tried to take a shortcut home and fell two stories onto train tracks.
Chris: I don't know much about nightclubs. I just go to badly attended rock shows. I saw a drunken guy take a swing at a police horse near Suncorp Stadium once. That was by no means a good experience.