“Follow the golden fox. Through the golden door. Take the golden key. Go down the golden hall”. No, not instructions to my boudoir but lyrics from one of the most magical pop-art records of the last few years. That'll be Solid Gold by The Golden Filter. Who? A glamorous, mysterious NY duo, who, armed with the Kitsune endorsed electro Unicorn that was Favourite Things and the new disco colossus that is Thunderbird, are on a mission to...paint...the...whole... world...with a raaiiinboooow!! So kick off those muddy boots, slip inside this house and down the golden hall we shall go...
Greetings Golden Filter! Can you please introduce yourselves, tell us the first record you bought and your favourite word?
Penelope: Pink Floyd's Meddle. Favourite word this week = "indeed"
Stephen: Favourite word this week = anything that begins with 'fl...'
How did the wonder that is The Golden Filter come to be born and what was the initial manifesto?
Stemming from the meaning of "silence is golden" and also from the romance of bygone eras in history. We wanted to inspire ourselves and hopefully others with sound and imagery that was soft, hopeful, romantic, golden, in a way that took the listener/viewer on a long journey with no reference or importance placed on the history or context of its makers, other than what we feel is relevant. It is all about process, a journey.
You've been drip-feeding us these slices of magic for about a year now – we're all jonesing for a full-length album – any ideas when the Mothership will land and what it will be like?
The album will be out in the Spring of 2010, a time of renewal and awakening after our winter slumbers. Hopefully the album will awaken something great in everyone that listens.
There's been a wave of great cosmic electronic bands recently – Do you feel part of any larger family and what do you think is driving this? Escapism from recession / terrorism perhaps?
We believe that there is some kind of shift in energy in the world and there definitely feels like a lot of people are aware of it... The media has bombarded us all with negativity for far too long, whether it is as you say the recession / terrorism, or something more subtle and subliminal. We'd like to be able to consider the ones that truly are aware of this as family.
You run a beautiful photo blog which along with the dreamlike music 'n' lyrics really heightens the “The Golden Filter experience” - what sounds, images, smells or colours best reflect the GF world to you?
The sun, wind, amber, trees, uncontrollable laughter, green, crashing waves, caves, mud, fire, steam, night time, giant open space.
If you had to write a 'evil twin' b-side for Favourite Things, i.e. Least Favourite Things what would make the hitlist?
Egos, American mainstream radio, reality TV: these are a few of my least favourite things...
Do you remember the exact moment when you realised your heart and soul would forever belong to music?
Penelope: Not the exact moment but when I was very, very little girl and I would sing I always would cry, whether it was sad or beautiful and if it was danceable I couldn't sit still.
You've enhanced your reputation with some stellar mixes for Little Boots, Peter, Bjorn & John, Cut Copy, Polly Scattergood, Empire of the Sun – which were you most pleased with?
We're most happy with the Peter Bjorn and John remix (Lay It Down). It changed the song, amazing in it's own right, in what we think a perfect way.
Much has been made of GF's mysterious world – Are The Golden Filter themselves fond of the unknown – Ghosts, UFOs, fortune tellers, conspiracy theories?
Penelope: Definitely! I was taught to only believe half of what you read and none of what you hear and therefore think there is much more out there than the obvious.
Stephen: Energy manifests itself in beautifully bizarre ways.
If you were to take one of our readers on a night out where would you go and what would you do?
Penelope: We would leave the city and head to the water, either the beach or a river. There we would build a fire, dance, sing, drink and be merry.
Stephen: I'd find the warmest, yet rainiest day of the year, go to a beach and make a pact to not speak for the whole evening, and see what happens.
When the royalties start to roll-in how will the Golden Filter empire grow? Any theatrical stage sets or unique merchandise secretly hatching in your mind's eye?
That's getting far ahead of ourselves to even go there; but merchandise-wise, an interactive instrument that you can take home after the show and play while it communicates with The Golden Filter over invisible airwaves. that would be magic.
If you could borrow Marty McFly's time travellin' Delorean what point in history would you visit?
Nightlife in Paris in 1920.
Finally, with the sun setting on this decade, what have been the best and worst things about the Noughties for you and what are your hopes for the twenty-tens?
It's not on our list of things to do to be political in the linear sense, but the worst things for us in the Noughties was Fear, War, Income disparity, US politics, and American Pop music. Probably like most people, our hopes revolve around all of those things changing. Indeed.
...and so The Golden Fox rests a warm paw on my shoulder signalling it is time for me to depart. Back down the golden hall, a turn of the golden key, the heavy creak of the golden door and a golden path through the midnight woods. If you wish to visit The Golden Filter's world of glowing sunsets, moonbeams and magic, the Thunderbird will take you there. Enjoy the ride and tell 'em I said 'Hi'.
The single Thunderbird is out now. Go put some sunshine in your strides. TGF MySpace.
Greetings Golden Filter! Can you please introduce yourselves, tell us the first record you bought and your favourite word?
Penelope: Pink Floyd's Meddle. Favourite word this week = "indeed"
Stephen: Favourite word this week = anything that begins with 'fl...'
How did the wonder that is The Golden Filter come to be born and what was the initial manifesto?
Stemming from the meaning of "silence is golden" and also from the romance of bygone eras in history. We wanted to inspire ourselves and hopefully others with sound and imagery that was soft, hopeful, romantic, golden, in a way that took the listener/viewer on a long journey with no reference or importance placed on the history or context of its makers, other than what we feel is relevant. It is all about process, a journey.
You've been drip-feeding us these slices of magic for about a year now – we're all jonesing for a full-length album – any ideas when the Mothership will land and what it will be like?
The album will be out in the Spring of 2010, a time of renewal and awakening after our winter slumbers. Hopefully the album will awaken something great in everyone that listens.
There's been a wave of great cosmic electronic bands recently – Do you feel part of any larger family and what do you think is driving this? Escapism from recession / terrorism perhaps?
We believe that there is some kind of shift in energy in the world and there definitely feels like a lot of people are aware of it... The media has bombarded us all with negativity for far too long, whether it is as you say the recession / terrorism, or something more subtle and subliminal. We'd like to be able to consider the ones that truly are aware of this as family.
You run a beautiful photo blog which along with the dreamlike music 'n' lyrics really heightens the “The Golden Filter experience” - what sounds, images, smells or colours best reflect the GF world to you?
The sun, wind, amber, trees, uncontrollable laughter, green, crashing waves, caves, mud, fire, steam, night time, giant open space.
If you had to write a 'evil twin' b-side for Favourite Things, i.e. Least Favourite Things what would make the hitlist?
Egos, American mainstream radio, reality TV: these are a few of my least favourite things...
Do you remember the exact moment when you realised your heart and soul would forever belong to music?
Penelope: Not the exact moment but when I was very, very little girl and I would sing I always would cry, whether it was sad or beautiful and if it was danceable I couldn't sit still.
You've enhanced your reputation with some stellar mixes for Little Boots, Peter, Bjorn & John, Cut Copy, Polly Scattergood, Empire of the Sun – which were you most pleased with?
We're most happy with the Peter Bjorn and John remix (Lay It Down). It changed the song, amazing in it's own right, in what we think a perfect way.
Much has been made of GF's mysterious world – Are The Golden Filter themselves fond of the unknown – Ghosts, UFOs, fortune tellers, conspiracy theories?
Penelope: Definitely! I was taught to only believe half of what you read and none of what you hear and therefore think there is much more out there than the obvious.
Stephen: Energy manifests itself in beautifully bizarre ways.
If you were to take one of our readers on a night out where would you go and what would you do?
Penelope: We would leave the city and head to the water, either the beach or a river. There we would build a fire, dance, sing, drink and be merry.
Stephen: I'd find the warmest, yet rainiest day of the year, go to a beach and make a pact to not speak for the whole evening, and see what happens.
When the royalties start to roll-in how will the Golden Filter empire grow? Any theatrical stage sets or unique merchandise secretly hatching in your mind's eye?
That's getting far ahead of ourselves to even go there; but merchandise-wise, an interactive instrument that you can take home after the show and play while it communicates with The Golden Filter over invisible airwaves. that would be magic.
If you could borrow Marty McFly's time travellin' Delorean what point in history would you visit?
Nightlife in Paris in 1920.
Finally, with the sun setting on this decade, what have been the best and worst things about the Noughties for you and what are your hopes for the twenty-tens?
It's not on our list of things to do to be political in the linear sense, but the worst things for us in the Noughties was Fear, War, Income disparity, US politics, and American Pop music. Probably like most people, our hopes revolve around all of those things changing. Indeed.
...and so The Golden Fox rests a warm paw on my shoulder signalling it is time for me to depart. Back down the golden hall, a turn of the golden key, the heavy creak of the golden door and a golden path through the midnight woods. If you wish to visit The Golden Filter's world of glowing sunsets, moonbeams and magic, the Thunderbird will take you there. Enjoy the ride and tell 'em I said 'Hi'.
The single Thunderbird is out now. Go put some sunshine in your strides. TGF MySpace.
The Golden Filter - "Thunderbird" from The Golden Filter on Vimeo.
