Beats Antique, a trio made up of producer and show-stealing belly dancer Zoe Jakes and a pair of classically trained multi-instrumentalists, David Satori and Tommy Cappel, has crafted a sound that has roots in dubstep, hip-hop, indie rock and even Middle Eastern music. The act's often primal show includes Jakes and fellow belly dancers wearing animal masks, gyrating and seducing festival crowds across the country. We recently spoke with Satori and Jakes about how touring can create amazing albums and what it's like to never be at a loss for crazy ideas.
Westword: Elektrafone is such a diverse album, with remixes and collaborations from touring partners the Tailor, Glitch Mob and the Toronto based ill.Gates. What were you going through when that album was written?
Zoe Jakes: I feel like a lot of it was being on the road, really, and intensely trying to find creative solutions. Tarran [the Tailor] was with us on tour, so we took advantage of that, with David and Tarran in the back of the bus playing and building songs. We merged the symbiotic nature of touring with recording and trying out the tracks at the shows. It kind of went back and forth. It brought a live element to the album, more so than we have had in a while.
David Satori: The stuff we recorded on the bus was actually used on that. When we were on tour earlier that year, we were in Toronto, and we played some with ill.Gates. Collaborations work with our touring schedule. This album was a culmination of a lot of new music made over the past year. We were experimenting with genres, bringing in electro sounds and experimenting with faster tempos, which was sort of fun.
Beats Antique has such a diverse sound; what do you think has led to the success of the group?
DS: We are always experi-menting, and we all come from a background where we see a lot of different performance art. We have so many ideas, it's hard to think that we could run out. It's hard to logistically top your show and pull off new ideas. Since Zoe and Tommy [Cappel] came from Yard Dogs Road Show and I was from Extra Action Marching Band, we all just have a lot of history and inspiration to draw from and a lot of experience to take from. The one thing we don't have a lack of is crazy ideas.
Any crazy ideas you'd care to share with us?
ZJ: One past crazy idea was when we decided for Valentine's Day to have Cupid or Pegasus. I made these costumes, made David a Pegasus and me the Cupid, remixed a doo-wop song and went flying through the air shooting off confetti cannons.
DS: One of my favorite experiences ever.
