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Music

We Spoke to Toro Y Moi's Chaz Bundick on His New Record with Les Sins

"Have you tried going outside of 130BPM?" - he wants people to be more open to electronic music.
Ryan Bassil
London, GB

Chaz Bundick reclines into the phone, his sentences calmly punctuating a slightly lagging international line. “You could listen to it wherever you want”, he says.

He’s referring to Michael, his debut record under the murkily resplendent moniker of Les Sins, an album that he hopes will make people more open toward different styles of electronic music. Following on from two excellent 12 inches - the up-beat bubbling soul “Grind” and the dry-mouthed house “Fetch” - the result is a well-designed, almost curated, document into a world that sits slightly darker, and stays out later, than his work with Toro Y Moi. Where previous Toro records delved into chillwave and pop, the bass of Les Sins pulls you to a pitch-dark dancefloor, a place you want to stay until first tints of sunrise creep through the smoking area, which Bundick caters for with the flipside to the record - soul-tinged upbeat tracks.

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“Don’t try to be original, just try to be good” - is a quote from Bundick’s favourite graphic designer, P. Rand, which, along with touchstones like Timbaland and Mr. Ozio, inspired the album. “[That was my mantra] when making this record – it was just constantly looping in my mind. I believe “good” is timeless and once you can recognise that you’ll see the world in its fullest”.

The record - which opens with a sample taken from Illmatic cut “One Love” - is true to his mantra. It won’t break any boundaries - but it is fourteen tracks worth of music that spans everything from grime-tinged instrumentals, drum-and-bass, and the sort of sun-flecked funk that could’ve watched the sun rise at a party opposite where Daft Punk’s “Lose Yourself to Dance” was set.

Noisey: What’s new in your life? You eating fried chicken again yet?

Chaz: I’m still vegetarian. It’s nice going vegetarian; it’s healthier. Not eating fried chicken isn’t a big deal. I’m working on the next Toro record; and I’ve just finished the Les Sins one.

You’ve continued the vibe that the twelve inches had – upbeat sun-worshipping tracks like “Grind” juxtaposed with dark after-hours dance like “Fetch”. What themes do you touch upon with both types of music?

The one thing I can see myself doing when listening to those songs is driving. Driving in the daytime, driving at night; I just wanted, like, a really fun soundtrack. There’s some really nice drives in California. When you’re living around the Bay Area you can drive to the water in about 45 minutes; and that’s the perfect time for an album.

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Right.

There’s some parts in there that feel like good driving music for a city; maybe the darker faster songs. And then there are some songs that are perfect for a country hillside drive.

How do you employ graphic design principles – meticulously thinking about positive versus negative space, the harmony between the colour of each sound – to your music? What does Michael look like?

It’s definitely playful and bold. That’s what I was going for with the album cover. But as far as the colour choices you’ll see the primary colours of graphic design – black, white, and red. Those three colours sort of describe the album.

You’ve said that the last Toro Y Moi record was your chance to make a “sincere pop album”. What do you want to create with the Les Sins record?

With that Toro record, I really wanted to get people into appreciating, or at least recognising, good pop songs whether they were on Top 40 Radio or not. I guess with this one I’m trying to get people to recognise a good electronic track – no matter if it’s dark or house-y.

Because I feel like nowadays, everyone is like – oh, I like house music. And I’m like – really, you like house music? Have you tried going outside of 130BPM? I want people to be open to more styles of electronic music.