Dragonette, the Canadian electronic music band from Toronto, is a rising superstar in the American entertainment industry. After meeting at a Canadian music festival, Martina Sorbara (vocalist) and Dan Kurtz (bassist and producer) formed a duo named The Fuzz, creating music in their basement recording studio. After a few recordings, the duo realized the potential in their sounds, renamed themselves Dragonette and began their illustrious career. The band’s first release, entitled Dragonette EP, came out in 2005 and led to their signing of a record deal with Mercury Records, a well-known record label in the UK. Gaining even more recognition, the band received a Juno Award nomination for Best New Group in 2008. Recently, their Martin Solveig collaboration on “Hello” has led them to crack the U.S. charts, earning positive recognition in the indie/electric genre all over the world. Currently touring with the band Major Lazer, Dragonette comes to the Masquerade here in Atlanta on Friday, March 8; recently, Sorbara took some time to answer a few of the Technique‘s questions in light of their upcoming show.
How has touring been? Any challenges?
In general, I get to be paid to do something that I love. I feel lucky to be able to do this. It’s not glamorous, and people think that this is. But no. It’s like urban camping, most of the time. I’m sure it’s glamorous for people who are more famous than we are, but I don’t know, I have a lot to be thankful for. There are a lot of people who try forever to do this job and live a living at it.
What would you like your fans to know about your writing/recording process?
Most of it mainly involves diving into some subconscious where it isn’t easily accessible and just hoping that I find something there. To me, melody and phrasing comes naturally. I’m good at that. The tough part is trying to discover what I want to sing about.
What have your collaborations with different musicians been like?
They’ve all been different. With Martin Solveig, I did the most collaborating with him and now I have a good friendship with him that came out of that. With Kaskade, it was mostly an e-mail relationship. We didn’t meet until we sat down to work together.
What can your fans expect at the concert?
As the opening act, we don’t have a lot of time, so we packed a bunch of fun, exciting songs for our set. It’s going to be a fun time.
How has it been working with your husband?
We both benefit through that. We can get sick of each other easily, but it’s always nice to have someone to snuggle up with at the end of the day.
Who would you most like to collaborate with if given the chance?
Touring with Major Lazer makes me want to collaborate with them in the future.