Goldfish Talk Halloween, Touring, and the State of EDM

Max Cherry ’17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

One should never walk into a Goldfish show expecting a simple concert. Goldfish do more than just put on a stellar show; they host one of the funkiest dance parties you will ever attend. The South African jazz/electronic funk duo of Dominic Peters and David Poole have been making crowds around the world find their groove for 8 years with their unique sound. Goldfish’s signature dance music incorporates a mix of jazz, electronic, and African influences and features synthesizers, saxophones, flutes, and a standup electric bass. Emertainment Monthly not only had the opportunity to see Goldfish perform on Halloween night at the Sinclair, but we were also able to sit down with the band after their show to talk about Halloween, constantly touring the world, and the evolution and future or their type of music.

The Sinclair was another world on Halloween. A costume-clad mob of fans packed the small venue and eagerly waited for Goldfish to come on. Sexy witches mingled with people in fish costumes, a group of men in Boy Scout costumes did shots by the bar, and sexy Jigsaw even made an appearance for one of the last shows in Goldfish’s North American leg of their world tour. Once the lights went out and Goldfish took the stage, the crowd greeted them with a roaring ovation. After introducing themselves briefly, Poole went to work on the synthesizer and saxophone while Peters jammed out on his bass that thumped and reverberated through the crowd and the Sinclair itself. Throughout their show, several costumed fans hopped on stage to dance and party with goldfish only to be thrown off by costumed security. At one point a security guard dressed up as Bob Ross (paint and all) chased a fan in a jumpsuit around the tiny stage to the crowd’s delight. Their show raged on throughout the night but unfortunately had to come to an end at 1:30 AM. I was then escorted backstage to Goldfish’s dressing room where I found them drinking beers and binging funny YouTube videos.

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So right off the bat, how come you guys don’t have any costumes tonight?

We don’t really celebrate Halloween in South Africa. It’s more of an American thing. We considered it but we didn’t have any time because we were going from city to city on tour.

How often are you guys on tour?

We’re on tour most of the year, actually.

How often are you home, then?

We get a couple months out of the year to stay home but they’re split up around the year. Even then we’re still performing around South Africa, but it’s such a nice feeling to go back to your own home and wake up next to your wife and in your own home.

Are there any places around the world where you especially like to perform?

Performing at home in South Africa is the most fun. The U.S has some really great places too. Boston has always been a lot of fun, along with New York and a few other places. We Actually played back here in Boston earlier this year [at the Middle East Downstairs]. The venue was small and cramped but we still had a lot of fun. Brazil is great and playing in Ibiza is cool since that’s considered one of the birthplaces of a lot of electronic dance music.

Speaking of developing music, how did Goldfish come up with its unique sound? What influenced you two growing up?

We both started with Jazz. Growing up, there were only so many people who you can look up to in jazz. Would you rather choose to learn from Kenny G or John Coltrane? We looked up to Coltrane and that’s where our sound came from. Then later, European electronic dance started becoming big and we loved that stuff. Eventually, we began to mix the two together to create our sound.

Do you see any other artists continuing to produce your kind of music?

Yeah, there are a few people out there doing similar music. We’ve even worked with a few of them like Bakermat from Amsterdam. There’s actually a few in Germany who are doing similar stuff to us. Overall though, our type of music hasn’t had much new innovation recently.

EDM music as a whole seems to have lost some of its steam in the past few years. What do you think about the current state of EDM and where do you see it going in the future?

EDM is definitely in need of a few changes. We’re really hoping our sound gets some momentum in the U.S. That’s really the next big place for progressive, new electronic music to develop. I think the U.S has been slowly but surely getting more and more into other kinds of electronic. We were surprised when Disclosure blew up so quickly. Hopefully if other genres of EDM become more popular in the U.S, quality EDM will become more popular.

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Poole and Peters have made statements in the past regarding the current state of EDM in the music video for “One Million Views” and are looking to change that in the coming years. Goldfish has recently finished up their US tour and after spending a few days in South Africa, are already in the full swing of the European leg of their tour.