Fixers

OnesToWatch: Fixers

Scientology, meditation, the Bermuda Triangle, Arthur Russell, African beats, Syrian Pop and Turkish psych…we thought we’d heard everything about Fixers’ rather eccentric, umm, interests. But all of the preparatory reading in the world can’t prepare you for the spiralling stream of consciousness conversation that goes hand in hand with a Jack Goldstein encounter. For one, The Fly never had him down for an Elvis impersonator. “I was obsessed”, laughs the frontman. “At primary school there was a step that led to the changing rooms and I would treat it like a stage and wail Elvis Presley lyrics while strumming a guitar.” In just over a year of existence (they formed from the ashes of a variety of Oxford acts) Fixers have honed a majestic sound inspired by a passion for experimentation, amazing pop and a fascination for the aesthetic that surrounds the music they listen to. “Who are these people? What are they like? What are they into?” Goldstein chatters on animatedly. “It’s all influenced us and it’s got to the point now where our genre is ten genres stuck together; we just love playing with ideas,” he adds. As well as promising live performances that will see the quintet “removing a few live instruments and replacing them with samples we’ve done of our own music”, there are tracks in the bag (including must-hear single ‘Iron Deer Dream’) that call to mind the shimmer of Spector; and, at the more upbeat end of the spectrum, a dancefloor stomper reminiscent of !!! at their most thrilling. “I get these little obsessions,” says Goldstein, “and at the moment I’m interested in the idea that in the sixties and seventies there were so many of these UFO cults coming out, people sitting in fields with these great smoked out ideals. So we decided to bring that into the theme of the music and give it this real vibe… make it into this real psychedelic trip.” Far out, eh?

‘Iron Deer Dream’ is released on Young & Lost on 21st February.