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INTERVIEW: Baio

18 October 2013 | 4:54 pm | Lauren Payne

We have a chat to Chris Baio who is actually a pretty awesome producer, as well as a rad bassist.

"Hey do you know a guy named Martin? I did a DJ set with him in Sydney a few years back at a venue called the Abercrombie?" This was the first question Chris Baio, of VAMPIRE WEEKEND asked after our relaxed introductions. At home in London, BAIO recalls his affiliation with PURPLE SNEAKERS back when we first started getting into our groove.

Chris Baio may be most recognised for being the bassist and one of the four humorous guys that make VAMPIRE WEEKEND, but in between all of the band business, BAIO has his own mix of electronic tunes sweeping the globe under the simple name, BAIO.

BAIO released his first EP Sunburn back in 2012 and it was a great collection of tracks that fused dance music with a little bit of hip-hop and sun-drenched hues. Now in 2013, he is ready to release his second EP Mira, of which is going to be released through our lovely mates over at Future Classic fairly soon, we had a chat with BAIO about his awesome music and how buffalo wings are a great way to celebrate.

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Your solo debut Sunburn was fantastic, were you grateful for the positive response it received?

It really meant a lot to me, it was incredible and having people reach out to me saying they liked Sunburn meant a lot to me you know, when someone like Future Classic want to release my other EP, yeah it just really meant a lot to me, definitely.

It's a good choice to release Mira through Future Classic, but what initiated the decision?

I really love Future Classic as a label. When I came to Sydney at the beginning of this year to do the Big Day Out, I actually, after the 18 hours of travel, I got off of the plane and went to.. Is it called.. fuck is it called Redfern? I can't remember exactly what the neighbourhood is called, but I took the train over and had lunch with some of those guys. they seemed really cool and I had these tracks that I'd been working on so I just sent them their way and to have them say that they want to put it out meant a lot to me, just because they've put out so much stuff that I really dig.

Not sure if you know, but there's an artist over here called Touch Sensitive..

Oh Yeah! I love 'Pizza Guy' and I actually watched a Youtube of him and I saw that he plays bass while he DJs and, ah, it just looked so awesome! I haven't seen him play live but I really love his music it's so cool.

Yeah, the combination is fantastic, would you ever think of doing a Baio gig in the same way?

It's awesome that there is a DJ that does that. A lot of my tracks tend to have a very simple bass line and I try to make the bass line catchy, but there's a lot of repetition. Like a song on the EP has a really involved bass line, I like the idea of trying to do more electronic music because it's just something I like to do for myself, I don't know if I'd be playing bass, especially now that there are already masters that do it [laughs]. He's killing it, i don't think I could ever do it like he does.

Has dance music always been a favourite genre for you? 

It's something that I got into in the early ages of 19 or 20. It was something I was pretty into when I was younger and way into before the band started, it was just something really big for me when I was in school. So it's something I did want to pursue after I really got into Djing and mixing and I just really wanted to start making tracks.

Your New Navy remix is awesome... 

Thank you! I made it literally right before I came to Australia at the beginning of the year, so working on this remix of some Australian artists was interesting because I was trying to make something summer-y in the middle of a New York winter and trying to get ready for Australia. I met the New Navy guys, they came to our Sydney show which was cool and they knew I was working on the remix.

Are there any other tracks you've been playing around with recently?

There are so many tracks that I really love. I've been spending a lot of time listening to the new Four Tet record, I really love that, right now I am working on a remix.. I haven't actually done a remix since the New Navy one at the beginning of the year so it's been like nine or ten months, but I'm working on one for a band now that i really love but I don't wanna say too much just incase nothing comes of it, but I am picking something up that I really enjoy working on.

You're coming back to Australia with Vampire Weekend at the end of the year for Falls Festival, will there be any Baio shows squeezed into the schedule?

You know, i was supposed to do Falls as a Dj three years ago, I was so excited because I'd never done a DJ tour before and then there was this insane snow storm in New York and I got trapped in New York and I couldn't get to Australia. I was so bummed, but I'm really happy to be going back with the band and getting to play these festivals. i've had a couple for friends, like Orlando [Higginbottom] from Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs told me it was a really great time when he went on it last year, so I'm looking forward to it, but I don't know when I'm DJing or if I'm going to be doing some DJing.

What's the first thing you're going to do when Mira is released?

Gosh, you know it's coming out on a Monday and I'm gonna be in Vegas that day with a band gig, but I'm gonna fly home and then get back to London on my birthday, which is October 29th, and for my birthday I would like to eat buffalo wings, so I'm gonna feed myself with buffalo wings when Mira comes out and after spending 1o hours on a plane [laughs]. I'm DJing a couple of times before it comes out and I think I actually will be in the DJ booth when it gets released and I think that's cool!

So after Mira is released and you've played Falls Festival, what's up next for you?

You know I wasn't feeling that inspired in the first half of the year, just because we were getting ready to put out the Vampire Weekend record and I was getting ready to move from New York to London, so that was kind of taking up all my time and just recently I got my studio all set back up here in London, so I'll probably start on some tracks. I'm not sure on what form they're gonna take, but I'll definitely be putting out some more music next year.

Words by Lauren Payne

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