Cowboy Rhythmbox announce Fantasma EP and tell us a little bit about how they came to making such rhythm-filled tunes.
Nathan Gregory Wilkins and Richard X, the Cowboy Rhythmbox duo, are big on making tracks that step outside of the boundaries of ordinary. Following last year’s debut of “We Got The Box” and “Rattle”, and after having gained multiple fans from international DJs, these guys knew they had to bring something even bigger in 2015. Their EP Fantasma features three tracks that remind us why we are so drawn to these musical genies.
“Fantasma”, “The Natives Are Having Us For Dinner”, and “Latin Sex Change” all have that twist, that vibe that make the pause button invisible. Industrial house music mixed with hymns and then intertwined with some metal, Cowboy Rhythmbox have mastered the language of the dance floor. If you want to explore all the genres currently known to the music mastermind then listen to these guys, soon!
Your new EP Fantasma sounds like a crazy collaboration of so many different sounds, and yet works so wonderfully. What do you like about mixing and experimenting with music?
Nathan: The fact that you never know what the end result will be. We like to surprise ourselves. Everything we do is improvised, we never start with an endgame in mind.
Richard: When you’ve got such odd sounds coming together you find yourself conjuring up relationships between them and it stretches your mind. Man.
There’s no denying that Fantasma sounds like the soundtrack to an epic horror movie? Was this the aim or did it just magically happen?
N: Alchemy was definitely involved.
R: Everyday’s a horror movie with Cowboy Rhythmbox
What do you imagine your new EP playing to in the background?
N: Fantasma’s working title was “Ghost Train,” as we thought parts of it sounded like a particularly terrifying one. So a ghost train would have to be the answer.
R: I’d like to hear “The Natives Are Having Us For Dinner Tonight” as the new theme tune to Loose Women.
This might sound bizarre but if you could write the perfect storyline for a movie that would fit the EP perfectly what would it be?
N: It would be a movie following the misadventures of an evil Bolivian cross-dressing travelling carnival owner named Ramon / Ramona and his / her secret life as a cannibal. The victims are all horny teenagers abducted whilst riding the ghost train. It’s a horror comedy, picture Something Wicked This Way Comes meets Eating Raoul.
R: I’ll go with Nathan’s pitch on this
“Fantasma”, “The Natives Are Having Us For Dinner Tonight”, and “Latin Sex Change” not only have distinctly different vibes when it comes to titles but also musical moods. Where does this variation stem from?
N: It stems from a fear of being generic. We try, and I hope we succeed, to give all of our tracks a distinct character all of their own.
R: I think we’re the sort of people who like those odd Side-2, track 3 experimental tracks that appear when you pick up those unfamiliar records and grow to loeve them, that’s almost a starting point for us.
You seem like pretty big thrill seekers. Natives are preparing you for dinner, then you’re getting on a horror rollercoaster, and finally you think about a sex change. Where does this enthusiasm for open-mindedness come from?
N: L.S.D. and Dice Therapy.
Can you tell us about the process that you go through to make such amazing tracks? What does the day consist of for Cowboy Rhythmbox?
N: See above.
R: I wondered what was up with Nathan.
Do you follow any guidelines when making music or do you prefer to roam outside of genres?
R: I think of “Music For Dancing” rather than Dance Music if that makes sense?
N: It does. That’s how I think of it too.
What’s the best dance-floor you’ve ever been to?
N: I wish I could remember.
R: Rio’s Showbar, Lancashire
If you combined all the tracks on the EP into one track what would it be called?
N: Trans-Amazonian Phantom Flesh Eater
R: Local Manaus Tech Crisi
Their full digital release comes on Friday 18th September.