Special interview with Go Chic 04102013

We’ve fallen in love with the Taiwanese electro-pop band Go Chic since their mind-blowing performance in Java Rockin’ Land last June. And we think we’re not the only one since after just four months, they’re back in Indonesia because of the high demand from the fans! The promotor for Soulnation Festival, Java Festival Production, even gave two slots to these girls to rock the city once again. This time, we’re lucky to have a special interview with Ariel, Sarah and Sonia before their show on the first day (4/10). Accompanied by sound of gamelan from the hotel lobby and some fresh juice, the three shared how it felt like to work with Peaches and their impression about Jakarta’s crowd.

We had arrived half an hour before the interview started and Go Chic’s manager kindly asked us to wait since they’re recording a video. Later, they explained that it’s for some kind of home video. We bet it’s gonna be very interesting since we spotted Ariel having some jam session with the gamelan players! After the recording, they’re ready to answer questions from RekON.

When asked how they felt like to be back in Indonesia, Sarah (bass and keyboard) expressed her happiness, “We’re really happy to be back here and we are kinda nervous because we have two shows in this festival, and actually for each show we have to play for one hour for the set.” She admitted that actually they don’t have enough songs for two different sets but she hoped that people will still like their show.

Sarah was surprised when the crowd was chanting her name during Java Rockin’ Land

In Java Rockin’ Land, Go Chic had a fantastic performance even though at that time most people still didn’t know them yet. Ariel (vocal) shared how they handle that kind of situation, “Usually I try to learn to say hi in local language and in their language talk to them. I guess it really helps when I do that. I think what we do wherever we go is we just have fun, and we just really try to dance and get them to do it and sometimes I think if people see that they get affected and they feel like, ‘Oh they’re having fun. Why don’t we have fun?’ I think that really works”. Yes, we in RekON think Ariel’s way works because we witnessed it ourselves, they successfully stole the crowd’s attention in their first performance ever in Indonesia. They even mentioned Java Rockin’ Land as the best performance they’ve ever had. Sonia (guitar and keyboard) remembered that the crowd made a song with Sarah’s name. Hearing that, Sarah was smiling shyly.

Ariel confessed she’s always very nervous before the show

Go Chic has released two albums, I Am Confused (2010) and We Ain’t Home (2013). For their second album, they recorded it in Berlin and worked with Peaches, a Canadian electronic musician. We asked Go Chic how it felt like to work with her. “Peaches has been our hero since we’re teenagers,” explained Sonia, “So to work with her is like a dream come true for all of us. We learned a lot in the studio with her, like writing songs, arranging songs, and we did a lot of things that we didn’t expect we can do.” The three of them felt that it’s a precious experience to make music together with Peaches. As told by Ariel, people who have never heard of them before will have more interest when they know that their album is produced by Peaches. “That’s nice, because of her we’ve been able to tour Europe a couple of times.” Sarah added that Peaches helped them to get a show there.

We’re also curious about the song writing process in Go Chic. How do they come up with such danceable, rocking tunes? They said that their process is changing. In the first album, Sonia did most of the song structures. “But for the second and maybe the future, everybody will put their idea into the songs.” And we really can’t wait to hear what they’re gonna offer in their next record.

Sonia did most of the basic of the songs in their first album

Go Chic is famous for their energetic stage act, but like they said, they’re always nervous before the show. It turns out that they also have some ritual to lessen the nervousness. Ariel, for example, tries not to eat four or five hours before the show. “And I stretch a lot and try to talk less. Not to waste my energy because I get really nervous.” Meanwhile, Sonia confessed that she used to drink a lot but now she’s not doing that that often anymore. Sarah prefers to check the venue or the festival. Besides pre-show ritual, these girls also look fresh on stage because of their outfit. For the first-day show, they wore casual clothes: Ariel in a white loose t-shirt and rainbow legging, Sarah in a black t-shirt and shorts, and Sonia in a brown shirt and a black mini-skirt. However, they said that they had prepared custom-made outfits for the second show. It would be their first time wearing them so they’re excited. Well, we could say we were too!

Sadly, the time was up and we had to end the interview. Go Chic had to go to the venue to prepare for their show. The interview was short, but we’re glad that we got to know more about Go Chic and their creative process through it. Dying to know how they shook Jakarta once again? Check our upcoming report on Go Chic’s performance on day 1 and 2 in Java Soulnation Festival!