Cooking up a delightful new wave electro funk stew with The Simple Pleasure
Two of the most outrageously fun Chattanooga shows in this writer’s recent memory were house shows featuring The Simple Pleasure, a group that provides escapism of the highest order. The duo serves up infectious new-wave-inspired electro-glam with a provocative playfulness that mixes carnality with a sense of humor and stimulates dancing with wild abandon.
The brainchild of front man Chad Raines (a.k.a. Rad Chaines), The Simple Pleasure has released four riotously entertaining albums including its latest, The Glamour of It All..., and on the heels of its 4-time-zone-spanning tour, it has released its VHS Mixes EP, which revisits six of its “heavier songs mastered with the magic of VHS tape.”
Raines (“I’m a eunuch that yearns for love”) and his partner Admiral Grey (“I pack the heat and drive the getaway car”) answered some questions for The Pulse in advance of their Feb. 28 show at Artifact (1080 Duncan Ave.), which will also feature Kara’Mel Kittyy, Meinschaft, Tryezz, GMO Sharia Law and the one-and-only perennial political candidate Basil Marceaux (Dot Com).
Currently based in New York City, The Simple Pleasure was formed by Raines in Austin, Texas around a decade ago with a stint in Philadelphia, and both Raines and Grey (also a member of Cellular Chaos and Ecstatics) have diverse careers and are established in the New York theater scene.
“I write music and sound design for theater which is a great way to get paid for writing music,” said Raines, who studied sound design at Yale. “It keeps my compositional chops up and also introduces me to a variety of artists and ideas that keep my head from going too far up my ass.”
“Theater shaped me as a performer—but not the modern theater I do as an adult—the musical theater that I did as a kid,” said Grey, a playwright and composer who sings and plays bass in The Simple Pleasure. “Keeping your poise while playing and singing even if the shit hits the fan, being expressive and keeping up your rapport with the audience are all things that become second nature if you start performing at a young age, which we both did.”
“I think we are attempting to be more genuine and engaging with the audiences we encounter as well instead of trying to be aggressive,” said Raines, regarding the band’s evolving live show. “Making a connection rather than an impression.”
The Simple Pleasure’s unpredictable live performances are the stuff of legend, and Raines especially treasures “the ones where we win over a crowd of strangers and get people dancing and making new friends.”
“But the better stories are the ones that don’t go so well,” said Raines. “Recently in Providence, R.I. we were cut off after our second song for breaking a table and aggressing the audience because no one would stand within 20 feet of us. The club owner threatened to slit my throat if I continued. I was worried about Providence mobsters slashing our tires or stuff.”
It can be difficult for musicians to infuse humor into music without being dismissed as a novelty, but The Simple Pleasure pulls off humor with both its lyrics and delivery, on bizarro-world hits such as “Sorry Dad, (I’m Straight)” and the satirical “MilfShake.”
“It’s my belief that humor is an unintended consequence of living,” said Raines. “I think a rule is not trying to be funny. When I’m performing, I’m entirely being genuine. I invite people to laugh and smile because I think it is much better than crying.”
“Before I was in The Simple Pleasure, I liked how the songs were fun, but sincere and passionate—sometimes even gently heartbreaking,” said Grey. “Then you would realize Chad was singing something really hilarious and almost miss it. I think we both can be big hams on-stage, and some of what Chad was saying about being more genuine is letting the sly humor and bombast in the music play where it lays.”
Regarding being a Do-It-Yourself (D.I.Y.) artist, Raines gained experience playing in Amanda Palmer’s backing band The Grand Theft Orchestra.
“I learned how hard she works to make a living doing what she’s doing,” said Raines. “It’s a full time job, and 85 percent of it has nothing to do with art. It’s part of the new music economy business in which the artist has to do everything.”
“There are awesome things and very frustrating things about being continuously D.I.Y.,” said Grey. “But as time goes on, it feels more like a ‘fight’ in a sense, as good art should feel.”
“It’s important to always ask yourself the ‘Why?’ and ‘What for?’ of your actions as an artist, and make sure you have the honest and true answer for yourself,” said Grey. “That will tell you what your next step should be.”