So guys, how did you two get together? How this all started – The DAT?
Johnnie Floyd: we met in a club. the following week we recorded a rap
song that was kind of whack looking back at it. but the gods of music
were smiling upon us and without any deliberation we got back in the
studio and recorded our first official release “life of the party”. It
was local hit, but we didn’t feel like it was the right sound for us
to continue.
Mickey Price: After a year an a half we began to challenge ourselves
by learning how to sing, and play instruments. We were bored with rap
and wanted to try something completely new. The DAT was the result of
us stepping out of our comfort zone and starting fresh from nothing.
Where do u come from and when did u move in Czech ?
Mickey: the wild wild west.
Johnnie: the wild wild east.
What’s your music style background? (What music did you grow up on ? )
Mickey Price: My parents are cool they educated me on hip hop culture
and the underground
electronic genres that were occurring in New York and Chicago during the
birth of house and hip hop in the 80s. My parents played music all the time
in the house, in the car. They watched music videos with me on TV and the
knew all the songs that I was listening too as a child.
Johnnie Floyd:
i grew up in a small flat with my parents, grandparents and uncle and
aunt. When my grandma dosed off watching tv i would sneak into my aunt
and uncles room when everyone was away to play their vinyl collection.
Just me and the music. Imagination, Parliament, The doors, Grace
Jones, Steve miller band, Men at work, David bowie, Queen, The
beatles, Kool and the Gang, Chuck berry, Louis Armstrong and James
Brown were some of my favorites. There was something about the warmth
of the vinyl sound, the hiss. That sound intrigued me so much as a kid
even though at that age i couldn’t even grasp what it was. Later on in
life i heard quincy jones use the term “Sonic sound”.
How would u describe the music style of the DAT?
Johnnie Floyd: Eclectic. Sonic
Mickey Price: As soon as you hear our songs you will get this urgent
feeling to dance.
You start shaking your shoulders, wiggling your and hips, stepping your
feet and swinging your hair. We put that love energy into our music so it’s
gonna take you out of this earth reality into heaven. That’s why we call it
music for the higher self.
What’s the usual course of your sessions? / How are your rehearsals
going?
Johnnie Floyd:
First thing is first, we take care of our bodies and do exercises and
yoga in the mornings and then meditate to get focused and keep things
in perspective throughout the day. Most of the time we cook up a
healthy meal but some days we get lazy and order our favorite burger
next door. Mickey cooks a mean tomato pasta, and my risotto is pretty
bombastic. We warm up our voices and then rehearse or record depending
on what the schedule is like that day. In the evenings we work on our
media.
Mickey Price: We like to invite girls over and cook for them some
pasta or some American
pancakes with maple syrup for example. Then we will smoke some ganja or
drink some wine and sing for them. Then we have some deep conversations,
share stories, and listen to their view of life. That’s how many of our
songs are written and that’s we stay inspired. But most days we are just
working diligently on our new album and training our voices and
instruments. We are “Spiritual Playboys”.
Tell me more abort your plans for the europe tour ! : )
Johnie Floyd: NATO and Russia are on a brink of war but we plan to
take europe for ourselves hurting no one in the process and breaking
as few hearts as possible.
Mickey Price: Paris in December and Slovakia, Poland, serbia, Romania
after the new year
and we head to new York in January or February.
You recently traveled to Moscow – how was the gig over there ? (Where did
you play, how was the crowd, what club?
Mickey Price: We played at Artefaq, the coolest restaurant and live
music venue in Moscow
where all the young artists, actors, students and entrepreneurs go to enjoy
Almost 50 live concerts per month from many different genres. The crowd was
dope the girls were dressed like that movie 5th element and they had next
level dance moves.
What are your expectations from a good show ? / What you like about
concerts? :)
MICKEY Price: I love to see how people dance. Everyone dances differently
and there is no such thing as a bad dancer. I’m always happy to see some
new moves because our rhythms are an open canvas for your body, so everyone
has their own interpretation. I also like looking into the people’s eyes
and watching their smiles. Sometimes I wanna touch the girls and smell what
perfume they are wearing.
Johnnie Floyd: Our expectations happen to be the same as what we like
about doing shows.
Seeing people smile, dance and enjoy their night. The main expectation
from a good show is to keep the energy flowing through the room,
bouncing back and forth between us and the audience. If we don’t
achieve a soul healing meditative state, it wasn’t a good show.
Mickey, how was your life ‘unplugged’? Did you not follow other bands or
listen to other music at all? How bout now ?
I’m a man of extremes and the universe told me that I should not have
Internet in my flat during that time when we were transforming to our new
selves. So for two years I had no Internet connection and was able to focus
on music and explore my spirituality. While working at the home studio in
my flat we had no distractions and that helped our creativity. It was the
best decision I made in my life. Also, I had no way to watch porn so it
made my imagination stronger. And if I would have a girl over there was
nothing to do but eat, talk, play music or make love. I had a hard drive
with only music which was unusual to us, so that we could find new
influences. We didn’t follow anyone for two years honestly. Now we moved
the studio to Johnnie’s and we are plugged in again. The only difference is
now that we found our own sound, we can listen to new music without copying.
Best concert ever?
Johnnie Floyd: Its a tight call between Bratislava @ KC Dunaj or
Moscow @ Artefaq. Slovakia is always fun because we get attacked and
molested on stage by our female fans. The show in moscow was just
colossal from the moment we landed, we felt like alien gods visiting a
planet inhabited only by daughters of aphrodite.
Worst bad habit?
Johnnie Floyd: We have many and none at all. We get easily distracted by women.
WHEN and WHERE can we see you playing? (in Prague) : )
Mickey Price: Check out our Facebook page, all our dates will be
there. November 8th we
play at chapeau and the 28th to be announced. We open ford the
Asteroids November 4th at Lucerna.
Author: Terezie Pokorná
