CSS grooves the Observatory June 14
Photo by Mariana Juliano
Brazilian dance-rock girl group CSS will be performing live at the Observatory on Friday, June 14.
The group is especially known for their single “Music Is My Hot, Hot Sex,” which was used in an Apple iPod commercial. The song made it the highest-charting single by a Brazillian band in Billboard history.
The girls of CSS are currently on their Summer Tour of North America that features MS MR and IO Echo. OC Concert Guide spoke to CSS about their upcoming tour, their music and their influences that have brought them to where they are now.
OCCG: CSS is based in Brazil. What are you looking forward to when playing in Orange County? If you have played in the OC before, how is it different than the other places you have toured?
CSS: Some of us actually live in the west coast, and the west coast is absolutely our favorite place to tour in America. In California there is a warmth in the people that is similar to what we experience in Brazil, so we basically feel at home. We played the Observatory once and it was amazing.
OCCG: How would you guys personally describe your music? How is it different than other artists in your genre?
CSS: We don’t have a particular style. We like to mix everything we like to listen to. Rock, reggae, pop… I think a lot of bands have this kind of approach, but I think what makes us a bit different is that everything goes through our Brazilian filter.
OCCG: What can fans expect when attending a CSS live show? What does your set list consist of?
CSS: It will be the first show of the new tour of the new album, so it’s very exciting! We want to play a lot of songs from the new record, but obviously we will play all the old singles. Or almost all of them! Our goal is to make the crowd have a great time, and that’s how we construct the set list.
CSS’s latest album cover
OCCG: What are the bands biggest influences in music? Where do your influences come from lyrically?
CSS: Our friendship, our sense of humor and our experiences are the most important thing when it comes to writing lyrics or music. We all grew up listening to alternative music – Sonic Youth, Pixies, Breeders, L7 etc. Once we grew up we started to open our horizons to pop music. We love Beyoncé, Destiny’s Child and also love older pop music. We’ve been listening to a lot of reggae too.
OCCG: How has your music changed since CSS started as a group?
CSS: I think we became a lot more familiar with making music and playing instruments. Also the interaction and synergy between us grew a lot, so I think as a result, writing songs and playing together has become very natural and organic, which makes our record very chilled.
OCCG: Are you guys collaborating with any artists or producers?
CSS: Dave Sitek from TV on the Radio produced this record and became a very close friend. We feel very lucky to be able to record with him, because he is just one of the best producers out there. Hanna Billie from the Gossip played drums in Dynamite, which was also a sort of dream come true. Tim Armstrong from Rancid also wrote Hangover with us. It was very productive to make this album on that aspect.
OCCG: What are the bands biggest struggles and biggest highs?
CSS: We have the band for almost 10 years, which makes it so much easier. You learn how to deal with struggles. We’ve been through it all. All the cliché band stories you can think of, and the best thing is that it always makes us more united. Our biggest high is our friendship that has become the best thing in our personal lives and also professionally. It’s the best thing to be able to travel the world and work with your best friends.
OCCG: What are CSS’ plans for 2013?
CSS: Our record comes out June 11 and we are very happy with it!
We start a US tour on the 14th of June with the OC show and will go to all US major cities.
For more of their North American tour check out CSS’ tour dates at csssuxxx.com/tour.