IamA we're Tommy of Beats Antique, Simon Posford of Shpongle, and Lafa Taylor. AMA!

Thank you all for rocking my soul… Where are your favorite places to play? What do YOU like to see in the crowd? Can't wait to see you Oct 30!

LOVE to see people rocking out in crazy costumes and flying their freak flags!

How many irons are in the fire now, Tommy?

tons of remixes of course

First of all, this weekend in Chicago was mind blowing. Couldn't have asked for a better line up, you were all wonderful. But I've gotta ask -- any chance for a Mayhem Marching Band reunion at EFF sometime? We miss you (and each other) dearly

we have not forgotten mayhem marching band! hopefully soon!

we love MAYHEM MARCHING BAND!!!

What music do you guys listen to to relax? Conversely, what music do you guys listen to to get amped up?

Zoe here: I love the band Flume (for chill times)and Mr. Carmack (for amping up times)

tommy: i listen to Bon Iver when on planes, in transit, it's great for staring out windows and thinking about life :)

Hey guys! Seeing you tonight in Boston and I can't wait! What is something you are most looking forward to on this tour? Also, today is my girlfriend's birthday and if Simon or Tommy gave her a shout-out (her name is Emily), you would most likely make someones day! Thanks guys, love the work you all do!

make sure she is there at the end of Beats set!

How was it playing with Primus?

primus is totally amazing!!! such talented musicians and crazy characters!!! they have hilarious stories of the road and life! it was a dream come true! tommy

Question for beats antique,

His did the idea for collaboration with Les Claypool on Beelzebub begin and how did you go about getting Les to work with you?

Please come back to Portsmouth! I saw you in May with Primus and it was the best concert I've ever been to!

You guys are great

hi! we wrote the part for him and asked if he would record on it, and as we had opened up for him years before, he knew us and said yes!

One more question, I heard a few of you went to Calarts, as a high school senior I've been looking at schools like this and Berklee, how do you feel Calarts prepared you for the music industry?

tommy: i went to Berklee, and David went to Cal Arts... i can say berklee prepared me to be a studio drummer and a producer...i don't know much about Cal Arts, but david talks highly of his experience there

Hey gang, you blew my mind both nights in Chicago! I'll drive pretty much anywhere in the mid-west to see yall, stop by Michigan sometime soon! My question is would you ever play a private show like a wedding or similar festivity? That would be legendary haha

we consider all arrangements for shows, if it's unique enough, we may just do it!!

Welcome! Tommy and David: What was the recording process like for Beezlebub? Was there studio time with Les? If so, any fun stories about hanging out with him? Simon: When will you and Les Claypool make a track, lol.

recording with les was completely mobile, internet, downloads, smart phones and technology time... we sent him the stems of the sketch track we had, he recording bass while bouncing down the road on his tour bus, we texted notes back and forth and he did a spoken word rant about beelzebub, and we cut it up and made it all work!! tommy

Who designed the creatures? They're awesome.

leighton Kelly.

Just wanted to say I’m really excited for the show in Boston tonight. Huge fans of all you guys and can’t wait to see what you’ve put together for the Creature Carnival.

Couple of questions for any (or all of you guys):

Favorite festivals/venues you’ve played at?

Best part of the tour so far?

Festivals you’d like to play at?

Anyone you’d be particularly excited about collaborating with?

The Fox in oakland is pretty amazing (and our hometown)

best part of tour: the night we finally nailed all our parts!

would log to play at bonneroo again

bjork! david bowie!

Will Beats Antique ever come back to St. Louis?

absolutely! give us about a year!

Hi all! So excited to be photographing you guys this Sunday in Syracuse!

My question is for Tommy/ Beats Antique: where do you guys get all of your awesome inflatable creatures?!

we have a friend, Ben Turner who makes all of our inflatables!!

Love you guys, but why only four creatures? Do we need to pick? Or is radical creativity allowed?

we just start your wheels turning, be whatever you want!

These 4 are the ones we came up with, named and made into fun versions of our fans - as always, individual creativeness is definitely aloud!!! be yourself - be crazy - be invisible - or just be! tommy

Hi! Huge Fan of Beats Antique, Emancipator and Shpongle (seen every US live show!), and I was sad to miss the Creature Carnival show in Ft, Lauderdale, then elated to find out I'll see all you at Hulaween! Schedule shows all of you on separate sets, but can we expect a creature carnival setup out there as well?

we are bringing a big crazy creature carnival inspired show for sure!

Also, to tommy, the themes of occultism that are prevalent in much of the work of bear's, are they present due to the belief's you all share, or are they thrown in for "good fun" and to yank boundaries around? I'm very curious on that matter! You're show at mystik in okc was wonderful, you guys jammed it out in the cold ass rain to all of us rednecky okies! Much appreciated for that show!

i would say they are more for the sake of art - we don't have any occultists in the band...the last show, A Thousand Faces was based on the heroes journey, taking the audience through many different stages of being...so you can't have the beautiful without the scary... tommy

I saw you for the first and only time at Lightning in a Bottle. Had no idea what to expect. Very excited to see you in Broomfield,CO. My question is this...should I expect a completely new show? Different songs? Do you guys jam on your songs?

completely different, a bit more jamming this time i'd say

I'm a huge fan of all of your work. Seeing you all tour together is a dream come true!!

Zoe, your dancing is phenomenal... How much of your performance is choreographed versus improved?

And for the whole crew: can we hang out after the show in philly this weekend? :D

Thank you for being the amazing artists that you all are!

half choreo and half improvised

if we aren't too exhausted we just might!!!

@beatsantiqueofficial Have you guys met anyone particular that you never thought you would meet or receive compliments from a celebrity you had no idea knew who you were? Also any crazy tour story's you would be willing to share with us?

last fall we did a show at Preservation Hall in New Orleans, right before we went on they told us that The Cure was there! We hung out with them all night and i had a touching conversation with Robert Smith - he is a total sweetheart and so inspired by music of all kinds!
tommy

What is it going to be like for all of you to be together at hulaween next week? Emancipator, shpongle and beats. Essentially it will be an extension of the tour with string cheese as the curators for the weekend. Its going to be insane!

yes! it is definitely going to be a wild night!

Did you all always want to be musicians, or did your experiences with psychedelics guide you towards that?

I never expected myself getting into creating music, but over time I've been realizing that some of the stuff I'm hearing in my head sounds good and I keep wanting to learn to bring that from my conscious to the real world to share with others! Now I just need to save up enough time to truly work on it all.

If you weren't working on music, what else do you think you would want to do for the world?

i grew up in a very musical family, they encouraged me to play music as a child and let my bands rehearse at the house, and basically drive my family crazy, but my family tells me they are glad because i get to do what i love! tommy

The most important question — what are you doing before/after the show tonight? Come hang out with your fans! Burgers/beer/tacos. Your choice.

http://teresainfortworth.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/fat-man-hamburger-02-e1330651159508.jpg

Tommy, how would you say you began using the violin in your music and what pieces in particular inspired your style? I'm a pretty good violin/viola player and I'm looking for some inspiration to go outside classical.

david is actually the violin player. he studied a lot of eastern european misic, which influenced his playing a lot

Hi guys! Thanks for doing this :) Creature Carnival is really amazing and I'm really grateful to have had to opportunity to be a Creature Captain in Chicago this past weekend.

Tommy, my question for you is how did Creature Carnival (and all of the other wild craziness that has happened for other tours on stage) come about? Do David, Zoe, and yourself think of a lot of the ideas on your own? It is such a magical spectacle, so I'm very curious how big the creative team is and who it consists of.

& for Simon! There is a terrible rumor that Shpongle Live will never return to the states... can you confirm or deny this? I would be a sad little kitty if I wont be able to bring some friends to see that performance. I was blessed with the opportunity to see you with the live band at Red Rocks, and I promised myself I would see you all again with my best friends eventually. Sooo, I'm really hoping this rumor isn't true.

THANKS SO MUCH GUYS :)))))

Beats Antique generally creates the feel we are going for and we name it and start working, once we've figured those elements out it's on to getting it done - that consists of many people who we love and trust to help us bring the show to fruition - lighting, video, stage design, audio, booking, management, business management, performers, friends, peers, etc tommy

Hey guys, I have a question for all of you. Where do you find inspiration for your music?

everywhere.

we take years of dance and music and reach as far as we can for each song! it's weird to think about, but the real answer is anything

What was the biggest influence on your sounds? The one band/group/song that you heard where you went "I want to make some shit like this but way betterer"

Pink Floyd! But i said - "if i can make anything barely close to this, i would be the happiest man alive!"
tommy

What's the busiest time for you all? Is it creating new tracks, or pulling tours together and rocking the country daily?

It's all busy times for us!! i think touring is a bit more relaxing because we have an amazing crew who is setting up our show right now while we are "chatting"...

when we are in studio mode, it's 12 hour days working hard to create loveliness for your ears! tommy

this ones for all of you: favorite festival in California?

We absolutely love Lightning In A Bottle, it's when we get to hang with a bunch of friends, and do what we do!! tommy