Sometimes best laid plans go awry—especially when you’re sharing a watermelon filled with vodka cocktails for eight. Lesson learned. Our plan, such as it was, was to get LCD Soundsystem keyboardist Nancy Whang tipsy so she would tell us about the band’s new record, which frontman and mastermind James Murphy has said will drop in the next few weeks. Fresh off debuting new music on Saturday Night Live, and warm-up shows at Brooklyn Steel, the band is back at it after a premature retirement.



When we met up with Mrs. Whang on an unseasonably chilly summer night, however, the conversation veered off in several different, no less interesting, directions—which was probably to be expected given the cocktail situation that The Standard, East Village’s Summer Garden had lined up for us. By the time we got around to the Watermelon Punch Bowl, things had gone far off course, but lest you worry, nothing went to waste (except maybe us).



While we may have only gotten a few nuggets about the new record, we did get Whang sufficiently sauced to talk about the gender dynamics of LCD, how she became a musician by accident, getting bumped from SNL by Chris Brown, and how her dad came to truly appreciate the significance of LCD Soundsystem.



++++ Saturday Night Live,SNL

DRINK ONE

THE STANDARD: What is it like to be playing shows again with LCD?

NANCY WHANG: It’s a lot of fun—it’s only fun. All the pitfalls of being a new broke band are behind us. I have a really good job that I like to do, I play with people that I love, and I don’t have to hustle anymore. At the same time, when we played those first shows, that was the first time in seven years that we’ve walked out on stage to play a song for the first time. That fucked me up.



Why?

Because the last time we played a song for the first time [in 2010] I fucked it up royally. Susan Sarandon was there. We played “Dance Yourself Clean” and my hands did not operate. I was simultaneously trembling and paralyzed.



What can you tell us about the new record?

It’s done being made, musically. But there’s all the other aspects—artwork, pressing, etc. I don’t know what I would say about it.



Where are you from originally?

Portland, Oregon.



What brought you to New York?

I came here to go to school. Or rather, I went to school here to come to New York.



What were you doing after school?

I was just hanging out, really. I finished college in ’99 and I was working for this painter, Peter Halley, who also published Index magazine. The magazine office was in the same place as the studio. I worked in the studio making his paintings. It was a weird environment. I hated it—I hated my job, I hated my boss—so I just went out a lot. I drank a lot, I partied a lot.



Was that the worst job you had in New York?

That was it. I was not happy there, but it really wasn’t that bad. He [Halley] gave me the only piece of advice that I ever remembered, which was to not worry about making a mark in your twenties because your thirties is when stuff actually starts happening for you, and that totally came true.



So you thought you were going to become a painter…

Yeah.



How did that transition into music?

It didn’t really transition, it just switched. Every job I had in New York after college broke my heart more and more. I got to see different sides of the art world, and it wasn’t very inspiring.



So you were going out and getting into the music scene?

Just going out, doing the downtown cool kid thing, even though I wasn’t a cool kid. I met James [Murphy] at a party, and we just started hanging out all the time. It was that weird thing where you meet someone and then all of a sudden they’re everywhere. Then he decided to put a band together after he had put out these singles [“Losing My Edge” and “Beat Connection“] that got a lot of attention. And I just happened to be there.



But you knew how to play.

I knew how to play the piano…and I was a girl.



He wanted a girl in the band?

Yeah.



Why is it important to have a girl in the band?

My presence changes the atmosphere. When you’re in a room full of only guys, you tend to go further than you would if there was a woman in the room. It keeps everybody from becoming their feral, primal selves.



Drink up…What’s your favorite era of being in LCD?

Right now is pretty good. But strictly as the band evolution goes, I really liked the beginning. We were scrappy and kinda punk. We were honestly a bunch of nerds, but we felt cool because cool people were into this thing that we were doing, even though we weren’t cool. We had nothing to lose.



What do you remember about the scene at that time?

Everybody wanted to have fun—that was a really important aspect of that period of time. And there were very few constraints on what that meant. It was a very serious time [post-9/11]. There were a lot of things that were not fun. NANCY WHANG: It’s a lot of fun—it’s only fun. All the pitfalls of being a new broke band are behind us. I have a really good job that I like to do, I play with people that I love, and I don’t have to hustle anymore. At the same time, when we played those first shows, that was the first time in seven years that we’ve walked out on stage to play a song for the first time. That fucked me up.Because the last time we played a song for the first time [in 2010] I fucked it up. Susan Sarandon was there. We played “Dance Yourself Clean” and my hands did not operate. I was simultaneously trembling and paralyzed.It’s done being made, musically. But there’s all the other aspects—artwork, pressing, etc. I don’t know what I would say about it.Portland, Oregon.I came here to go to school. Or rather, I went to school here to come to New York.I was just hanging out, really. I finished college in ’99 and I was working for this painter, Peter Halley, who also publishedmagazine. The magazine office was in the same place as the studio. I worked in the studio making his paintings. It was a weird environment. I hated it—I hated my job, I hated my boss—so I just went out a lot. I drank a lot, I partied a lot.That was it. I was not happy there, but it really wasn’t that bad. He [Halley] gave me the only piece of advice that I ever remembered, which was to not worry about making a mark in your twenties because your thirties is when stuff actually starts happening for you, and that totally came true.Yeah.It didn’t really transition, it just switched. Every job I had in New York after college broke my heart more and more. I got to see different sides of the art world, and it wasn’t very inspiring.Just going out, doing the downtown cool kid thing, even though I wasn’t a cool kid. I met James [Murphy] at a party, and we just started hanging out all the time. It was that weird thing where you meet someone and then all of a sudden they’re everywhere. Then he decided to put a band together after he had put out these singles [“Losing My Edge” and “Beat Connection“] that got a lot of attention. And I just happened to be there.I knew how to play the piano…and I was a girl.Yeah.My presence changes the atmosphere. When you’re in a room full of only guys, you tend to go further than you would if there was a woman in the room. It keeps everybody from becoming their feral, primal selves.Right now is pretty good. But strictly as the band evolution goes, I really liked the beginning. We were scrappy and kinda punk. We were honestly a bunch of nerds, but we felt cool because cool people were into this thing that we were doing, even though we weren’t cool. We had nothing to lose.Everybody wanted to have fun—that was a really important aspect of that period of time. And there were very few constraints on what that meant. It was a very serious time [post-9/11]. There were a lot of things that werefun.

DRINK TWO

LCD recently played SNL for the first time, and you wrote a thing about how you had conflicted feelings…

Why did you have negative feelings going into it?

We got asked to play SNL a bunch of times in 2010, 2011, and each time we got bumped. The first time was for Tom Petty—fair enough, it’s fucking Tom Petty—that makes sense. The next time we got bumped again—I forget who took our place. And then we got asked again, and that was the last chance because a month later we were going to play our last show. And then, we got bumped for Chris fucking Brown. The fact that anybody even fucking entertained having him on the show was outrageous to me. I don’t think you can argue that what he did to Rihanna and what he’s done to other women, is excusable in any way. It is objectively repulsive. It’s just wrong. I took it very personally. They killed the joy I had at the prospect of playing SNL. That was the thing that hurt the most.



Ultimately, how was the experience?

Going into it, I was like, “Fuck them, fuck that place, fuck that guy, I don’t care.” But it was amazing. It was really a spectacular experience.



The performance seemed really well planned. How much planning went into pulling it off?

A lot. We practiced for a week before the show. Half the gear that was onstage isn’t stuff we play. In fact, my entire keyboard setup—I don’t play any of that shit. We don’t travel with that stuff—those are some vintage synthesizers that are very large, very heavy, and very delicate.



What about that dude dancing in the back? He nearly stole the show. Was that the plan?

No, that’s just Gavin. He’s a free spirit and he’s got moves.



We’ve read that James Murphy has a “no feeling it” on stage rule. Did Gavin violate the “no feeling it” rule?

No.



Why not? It seemed like he was feeling it.

The no-feeling-it rule is more to do with posturing. A biting of the lower lip. A scrunching of the nose. Looking off into the middle distance. Feeling it for the sake of showing that you’re feeling it. It’s more about rock posturing.

I feel like it’s about to sleet. You’re freezing.



I’m fine. [Writer's note: I'm shivering uncontrollably.]

You’re shivering.



It’s true. [Writer’s note: we move under some adjacent heatlamps.]

Being a musician by accident, I don’t really have any ambitions musically. Even playing Madison Square Garden, it never crossed my mind. Once we started getting bigger, we got offers from SNL, and I was like, “Oh right, yeah, I really care about this.” SNL was something that I knew about when I was a child before I even knew what New York was. We got asked to playa bunch of times in 2010, 2011, and each time we got bumped. The first time was for Tom Petty—fair enough, it’s fucking Tom Petty—that makes sense. The next time we got bumped again—I forget who took our place. And then we got asked again, and that was the last chance because a month later we were going to play our last show. And then, we got bumped for. The fact that anybody even fucking entertained having him on the show was outrageous to me. I don’t think you can argue that what he did to Rihanna and what he’s done to other women, is excusable in any way. It is objectively repulsive. It’s just wrong. I took it very personally. They killed the joy I had at the prospect of playing. That was the thing that hurt the most.Going into it, I was like, “Fuck them, fuck that place, fuck that guy, I don’t care.” But it was amazing. It was really a spectacular experience.A lot.We practiced for a week before the show. Half the gear that was onstage isn’t stuff we play. In fact, my entire keyboard setup—I don’t play. We don’t travel with that stuff—those are some vintage synthesizers that are very large, very heavy, and very delicate.No, that’s just Gavin. He’s a free spirit and he’s got moves.No.The no-feeling-it rule is more to do with posturing. A biting of the lower lip. A scrunching of the nose. Looking off into the middle distance. Feeling it for the sake of showing that you’re feeling it. It’s more about rock posturing.I feel like it’s about to sleet. You’re freezing.You’re shivering.Being a musician by accident, I don’t really have any ambitions musically. Even playing Madison Square Garden, it never crossed my mind. Once we started getting bigger, we got offers from, and I was like, “Oh right, yeah, I really care about this.”was something that I knew about when I was a child before I even knew what New York was.

DRINK THREE