Achieving that pure New York City sound is a skill that has been mastered by the DJ/production duo, Holy Ghost! Their electronic/nu disco/Brooklyn-soaked sound has been cultured by members Alex Frankel’s and Nicholas Millhiser’s NYC roots and realized by their involvement with the hugely popular label, DFA. While the boys tour with their DFA bros, LCD Soundsystem, and work on putting out a new album (expected to surface early next year), it’s hard for a fan to imagine that they started out as rappers, that they’ve managed to work together since middle school without killing each other, and that although they are wildly popular, they won’t be found backstage banging hookers on piles of cocaine. We recently had the chance to catch up with Nicholas Millhiser, one half of Holy Ghost!, to see where they’ve been, where they’re going, and everything that’s left in between.
Clubplanet: So you and Alex grew up together in New York City. When did you two start experimenting with music?
Nicholas Millhiser: We played in so many childhood bands together, but sometime early in high school, when we were about 15 or 16, Alex and I and some other friend of ours started making beats and stuff, and that turned into a band (Automato). That lasted until we were about 22 and that’s also how we met James and Tim from DFA.
CP: What sort of music were you playing back then?
NM: It was hip-hop—straight, raw hip-hop. And it was a live band, so that was kind of weird.
CP: When did you two decide to transition from hip-hop to electronic music?
NM: I mean, I’d always been into dance music. When Automato fell apart, we kind of just assumed we were going to keep working on rap stuff, but then that stuff we were working on fell apart. It was definitely intended for rappers, but we didn’t know any rappers, so Alex sort of stepped up and started singing. At the same time Alex and I were kind of pushing the music towards faster tempos. It just kind of happened by accident, out of necessity.
CP: What would you consider to be your biggest accomplishment so far?
NM: I really don’t know; I mean, everyday I’m sort of surprised that we still get to do this and that I can actually make a living making music. I was the most excited when we put out our first single, “Hold On.” Just to do something on DFA, a label run by friends that I really sort of looked up to and admired.. I mean, at the beginning, there was no greater ambition beyond that. As long as that happened, everything else was icing on the cake… and I guess there’s been a lot of icing on said cake, to use a crappy metaphor. The fact that I get to make a living doing this is just something I never fathomed.
CP: What would you say are your biggest influences for making music—either music-related or otherwise? What inspires you?
NM: James and Tim from DFA were probably our two biggest influences. The music that was coming out on the label and also working with them in the studio, we really did learn virtually everything we know about engineering and production from those guys. They’re the most glaringly obvious influences I can think of.
CP: What trends in electronic music do you think are sort of on the upswing right now? Are there any current DJs who you’d consider to be really cutting edge or on a new wave of electronic music?
NM: It’s hard to say because in a way the world that we live in is a relatively small one. It’s probably not dance music relative to the Tiestos and the Oakenfolds of the world, and it seems like there are a bunch of pockets like that and there are always new things popping up. I have no idea what the trend is, but I’m lucky enough to be friends with people who I think are some of the best DJs in the world. James and Pat from LCD are one, Jaques Renault and Marcos Cabral who work under the name “Runaway.” Justin Miller, Matt Cash… there are just so many good DJs from New York, which is great because there is never a shortage of places to go and people to see.
CP: Where are your favorite places to play or see shows in NYC?
NM: It’s weird in New York because it’s not like there’s one club now that has a specific sound or style, or a club that you know to be like “that’s a great club!” We don’t really have places where on any given night you can go there and hear something that you enjoy. There are a lot of great spaces—like Santos is a great space, Webster Hall is a great space, LPR is a great space—but, you know, it all depends on who is playing. I have had great nights at all of those places just because there are some great people playing there and the sound systems are great. I have also had really shitty nights at all of these places [laughs].
CP: Are there any current music trends that piss you off or anything that you would want to see disappear for good?
NM: I mean, I bitch about this so much, but all this really fucking hard electro shit just drives me nuts… and the trend that spawned from it as far as DJs playing on Serato and just banging it out at like 11:00 at night. I sound like a bitter old man, but it doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere, so I should probably adapt. I just feel like DJs have no sense of playing sets that have arcs to them. Great DJ sets used to be about highs and lows and now they’re about who can give someone a nose bleed fast enough. It’s actually fucking insane. A lot of that electro stuff I think is really great, like Ed Banger, but I think it’s one of those unfortunate situations that’s spawned this sea of really awful imitators.
CP: Do you have any crazy stories from your tour with LCD Soundsystem? Or any crazy stories in general, even back to when you and Alex were doing your thing in high school?
NM: LCD was awesome and super fun… and debaucherous at moments. I mean, I didn’t walk in on anybody, you know, fucking hookers on a pile of cocaine or anything. Relatively speaking, we’re a bit older, so it’s not like having a bunch of 19-year-olds on the road. Everybody is good about being on the bus on time and not drinking too much so that they aren’t hung over and don’t lose their voice the next night.
CP: Is that something that’s taken time to learn?
NM: Yeah, sure. I think it has just changed for me over the years. For me, I was a drummer, not that I was ever a particularly hard partier or whatever, but as I’ve gotten older it’s gotten less and less like riding a bike for me. I used to be able to play a show totally hungover, without any problem whatsoever. Now it’s actually really physically difficult if I am not well rested. I can’t play if I’ve had too much to drink—I just can’t. That was one of those defining moments when I realized I wasn’t a kid anymore.
CP: So right now, it’s safe to say that you’ve gotten a pretty big following, but there’s always room to grow. Do you ever think about how you could take your sound to the next popularity level without compromising your fan base or your sound?
NM: Not directly. For me and Alex, it’s just in our nature to gravitate to pretty simple popular sounds, so stuff on our record is definitely more poppy, than say, our remixes. When we do remixes we are definitely thinking about something people would want to play out in the club. For our own stuff, we are thinking about something that people would like to listen to at home, so songs are shorter and the arrangements are sort of more traditional. I wouldn’t say we think about it directly in the sense of “how can we be more popular?” I just think that we’ve always wanted our own records to be more like pop songs, whether or not they would be popular. We definitely have more radio-friendly stuff than dance songs.
CP: If you were to venture into another genre of music, in what direction do you think you would go?
NM: I always talk about going back and doing rap stuff, but again, it’s never having the opportunity to do so or having someone to work with.
CP: What do you think your fans would say if you put out a rap album?
NM: I don’t know if we would put out a rap album [laughs], but I would gladly work with rappers.
CP: Did you ever think about trying your hand at another art form altogether? Any projects besides music you would want to work on?
NM: Not really. I have no discernible talent whatsoever. So, yeah, this is kind of it for me. If this doesn’t work out I gotta go work at a coffee shop or something.
Holy Ghost! will be performing along with Hot Chip and Hercules and Love Affair at Central Park Summerstage on August 4th.