CASEY SPOONER: In the ’80s I was a painter and dreamed of living in SoHo, having a big loft, and being an art star. I loved Grace Jones’s Slave to the Rhythm. Those videos and images were incredible! So was her makeup by Keith Haring in that awful horror film Vamp. I could go on, but I don’t have enough time. I’m too busy. It’s my turn. Now that’s very ’80s.
WARREN FISHER: People think our showy overdressing is akin to ’80s types like Adam Ant and Boy George, as opposed to Alice Cooper or Kiss, which is weird, since this sort of extravagance happens in every decade. Then there’s the stylistic reference to flatter, simpler, more angular sounds as opposed to the beefy sort of Limp Bizkit thing. But it’s not about irony. We’re not Weird Al Yankovic. We stumbled on the idea of working within the narrow confines of things that are expected, listenable, and consumable. And that’s very ’80s too.
—As told to Larissa Harris
