RS: Where did you find Spalding Rockwell?
AVH: Here in New York, they're from downtown and I met them through a friend. I was on the hunt for talent and looking for this particular thing. This friend of mine introduced me to them, the girls were pretty crazy. We vibed and that was it.
RS: Were you involved with that spanking video for Hear My Name?
AVH: They asked me what I thought because they had a couple of ideas for treatments. They said we have this, we have that and then we have some spanking thing. I was like, the spanking thing's cool. It wasn't my idea but it sounded right. Sometimes the video people come up with strange ideas but this made sense, it's simple and effective.
RS: I was a bit surprised actually when I saw that you're associated with Southern Fried in the UK, because it's Fatboy Slim and everything there seems to have a real sense of humor to it. I've always seen you as more of a serious artist. You seem to take yourself very seriously and not seeing yourself as so comical as Southern Fried is.
AVH: I'm not good with sarcasm, that's not one of my better qualities. I am a genuine person and when I'm with my people, I'm having a great time, I love what I do. I guess when you have a deep level of what you do and not everything is a game of sarcasm, where you avoid the real issues, people react to your differently. I'm always looking at things differently.
Artists in general, not just Southern Friend decide what their area is and some want to go into that clown area, which is what I call it. It's called the clown nose, you put it on, it's not who you are, you're just a person behind makeup. A lot of artists have been focused to that area because it's safe, accessible and the most successful. It's the one that everybody likes to attach to. When you have a little seriousness to your vibe or if you're very down to earth, you probably tend to scare people because they're trying to be entertained and you're trying to be all serious and you're not matching their mood. It's just a different approach. I've hung out with all types, DJs, artists, band people and they're all the same as me, it's just that they choose what to expose to the public.
RS: Yes, that's cool. I read the US bio and I read the UK bio, and the US bio was sort of what I would expect but the UK bio is like poking fun at you and your image, comparing you to Ali G. I was thinking this doesn't fit with how I see Armand, it was just odd.
AVH: Well I always like, there is a big difference, I mean it doesn't get… it's funny because it is press, but it's press, it's like whatever. There's a big difference, the press is funny. I've been a person who has floated between the UK press machine and the American press machine for a while, so I've learned how things work over there and how things work over here. If I had to choose which machine I like better I'd definitely take the States because they understand where I'm coming from. Most of the time when I'm doing an interview, doing press or talking to anybody, they get where I'm coming from. In the UK or in most of Europe, I'm mostly threatening because they wonder how can you listen to hip-hop and house? That's amazing to them over there and over here that's not uncommon. So in America, it's easier. I'm from here, I've lived here most of my life, and I was born here. When I go over there I represent where I'm from and what I'm about, and it's scares them all. It's a different thing with the press, it's just like a different vibe.
