Beat’s Antique has had a hugely successful 2011, with extensive touring, a fantastic new album, and much critical acclaim from coast to coast. They just recently appeared at Bear Creek Music Festival in Live Oak, FL where both of their sets were extremely well received. They were kind enough to spend a few minutes with us just ahead of their massive New Year’s Show next week in San Francisco, to share a little insight on what makes Beat’s Antique the powerhouse they are today…

FMB: How did Beats Antique form?

BA: Miles Copeland (The Police, Sting, REM, IRS Records) approached Zoe about putting together some producers to make tribal belly dance music.  Zoe asked David Satori and Tommy Cappel to produce the album…the rest is history!

FMB: You seem to transcend any typical definition of a specific genre. How would you classify your own music, if you had to categorize it or give it a name?

BA: The best description so far has been Electro-Acoustic… we incorporate electronic music and acoustic gypsy music to accent our tracks…

FMB: Can you briefly describe your creative approach to making music in the studio? Does it typically start with the digital production, and then incorporate the live instrumentation? Or vice versa? 

BA: Nothing ever happens the same, but generally someone comes up with a sketch of a song, depending on who brings it to the table dictates what form it’ll be in…if Tommy makes the sketch, it will mostly be beats and basslines, with electronic synth leads that David orchestrates, then if it’s David that brings a track it will generally be melody driven, and when Zoe brings a track it will be about the vibe with rhythmic hits and breaks…

FMB: Beats Antique elicits an emotional response that goes beyond the physical and into the spiritual. Is this your intention for the audience when they hear your music? 

BA: We all have some sort of spiritual path…we believe that each individual has their respective spiritual path…the music that we study has spiritual roots, as well as music that has a party atmosphere to it, celebratory music…at the end of the day we want to connect to our audience, and believe that this connection has a higher meaning…we love our fans dearly!

FMB: How did the incorporation of the belly-dancing, costumes, etc. come to be in your live shows? 

BA: Performance art is one of our inspirations…we really wanted to incorporate dance and performance art to play a big role in our live show and visual show…the fact that Zoe is an amazing dancer, seals the deal for us…

FMB: Your live shows seem to incorporate an even blend of electronic production mixed with live instrumentation. What do you feel are some of the biggest advantages of this mixed format, and what benefits/extra dimensions does it allow you to explore as a group? 

BA: Anything is available to us…we feel that our show brings people that love electronic music and live music… Some of our fans let us know that they see both sides of their friends at our shows, where mostly they only see one side or the other depending on the act.  We love both acoustic music and electronic music…to us they need each other to exist…

FMB: How has the response been to the new album? 

BA: The album has been well-received by our fans, garnished new fans who check out our old albums…each of our albums goes a certain direction, this one represents our live show really well, it’s got a lot of live instruments on it!

FMB: Plans for 2012? Big tours? Another album? 

BA: Plans? Yes, we have a lot of plans that we discuss regularly – we find the best ideas and run with them!!!

FMB: Who are some of your favorite live acts and what’s been getting the most play from you lately at home and/or on the road? 

BA: Edward Sharpe has been on a regular play in the car, our bass player is now a part of the band, so it’s exciting for us! The new Tipper release, Bubble EP, is another added lately, we are always adding to that list, we love finding new music and always head to the classics as well in almost every genre

FMB: What was your overall impression of Bear Creek Music Festival? 

BA: COLD!!! Wow, that was a cold festival, made possible by the warmth of the audience! Good people make up a good festival for us! We felt love beneath our jackets and scarves!