New York's CREEP

Perfectly formed from two Laurens, Flax and Dillard, the musical duo also known as CREEP hailing from New York have made a name for themselves off the back of their darkly eclectic songs, fusing eerie electronica with r'n'b and pop-influenced vocals. Despite perhaps inaccurately landing in the 'Witch-House' genre on the basis of the CREEPy name, crucifix logo and ominous trippy beats, the duo's sound is far more melodic and introverted, being invited to remix the likes of Nina Sky and Memory Tapes' 'Green Knight'. We catch up with the duo before they play Copenhagen's Trailerpark Festival this weekend as they present their new live set-up with drummer and all.

Dazed Digital: Why do you two work so well as a duo?
Lauren Flax: It took me many many years to find someone that I click with in the studio. Its on every level as well with both friendship and musicianship. We both come from different backgrounds and have different elements of music to offer. When we put everything together, it just clicks.
Lauren Dillard: We work really well back and forth as a team. Sometimes I start a song and get totally stuck on how to go further and Flax takes me out of my rut, makes the song exciting again, then I know where to go. It works vice versa. We naturally work with a nice marriage of very different sounds that end up working well together.

DD: Were you working on solo projects before/still?
Lauren Flax: Yes, I've been putting out house records for years. I always felt a bit constricted with dance music though. I always had to hold back a bit, or make my songs "fit" the genre better. With CREEP I finally feel like I have no boundaries.
Lauren Dillard: I was always making music in some respect alone but nothing I considered serious. I went to college for film and started learning how to make electronic music when I started scoring my shorts.   
Lauren Flax: Shorts. Haha.

DD: Who would be your dream collaborators?
Lauren Flax: Beth Gibbons of Portishead and Liz Frasier of Cocteau Twins are two out of three that I most want to collaborate with. The third person is currently writing to a new song of ours now. It's a very exciting time for me.
Lauren Dillard: Rihanna, Missy Elliot, Lil Kim, The Knife, Elizabeth Fraser, Crime Mob, Tricky

DD: What influences your music? Do you think it's particularly 'Creepy'?
Lauren Flax: If you've heard any of my old remixes, you'll hear CREEP in there certainly. I've always loved to suck all the happiness out of songs. We're both generally super happy people who love to laugh so its interesting that everything we right naturally has darker elements. There's no explaining it.
Lauren Dillard: I am influenced by my surroundings, inspired by my friends, and feeling excited about new collaborations. I've always been into the darker aspects of music and art but wouldn't say that it overrides other influences. I'm a pretty happy person, but also a bit of a creep.

DD: What is the most terrifying piece of music you've ever heard?
Lauren Flax: It's strange to have it be one of our own songs, but there is a part of the PLANNINGTOROCK remix of "You" that is absolutely terrifying. I love it so much haha.
Lauren Dillard: Every summer in Brooklyn we enjoy going to this shitty bar called "The Turkey's Nest" next to the park. They have a terrible jukebox and we always try to out gross each other with our song choices. Fortunately I discovered a version of Men at Work - Land Downunder that is about ten minutes long. The flautist is so excited that sometimes he blows into the flute too hard and you can't hear it. To make it even more shameful it dies down to a chanting drum circle than picks back up with the aforementioned flautist doing a two-minute solo, then back to the chorus. Terrifying. Flax beat all of us by playing the same Jewel song twice.

DD: What are you most excited about next?
Lauren Flax: Finishing our record and building up our live show. We added a drummer and have our cellist with us for festival season. It feels great to expand and build and grow as performers because the live thing is very new to the both of us.
Lauren Dillard: We are currently expanding our live show and I'm stoked about it. We are incorporating a drummer playing live and electronic drums, and we're working on new songs and music videos. The future seems exciting.