Another good Los Angeles Times interview with Far East Movement and their recent rise to the top of the charts: The Far East Movement go platinum, discuss alternative pop and G6's. They talk about touring with Lady Gaga, writing "Like a G6" and living and representing the L.A. life:
Man, is this really happening? If you haven't heard, "Like a G6" recently went platinum, getting crazy airplay and still sitting pretty as number one single on iTunes (I just checked). Ask me all day any day and I'll tell you -- these guys deserve every bit of success and recognition they've been getting.
What was the writing process like on "Like on a G6," and what was the genesis for the song?
Our goal was to try to do something different, but within the parameters of the sound that we'd been working on. It was really awkward in the studio for the first hour that day, so we made it into a party. We cracked open some bottles and pulled the shades down. Keep in mind, it was 1 p.m., but we made the studio into a club atmosphere. We started playing videos and going on YouTube, and then three hours later, we had "Like a G6."
At first, it was just a mixtape track that we put on YouTube and it just started to take off. Four months later, it had received a million views and our label head said something is going on, this is homemade and reflective of the culture, we're going to put this out officially. We were shy about it initially, but the whole Interscope building loved it and got behind it.
And it was the song that basically broke you guys nationally, correct?
Yep, it's been crazy. This tour has shown us how far it's taken us. We've been getting a lot of airplay in new markets like Dallas. It's No. 1 in Houston and Tampa, and Z-100, the biggest pop station in New York. When we perform it, I've never seen people react like that -- they just freak out. It's really hard for us to believe.
We purposely write simple songs, but we dream big. We want to make it so that people in the bars and clubs can sing along word for word.
For more on FM and their music, go to their website here. Next month, they're going on tour with labelmate La Roux. And people, if you haven't gotten your hands on their album Free Wired yet, what the heck are you waiting for?