X-Press 2, the trio of Rocky, Diesel, and Ashley Beedle, began in the underground with club anthems like "AC/DC," "The Sound," "Music X-Press," and, of course "London X-Press." Joining forces with Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, the crew unleashed "Lazy," a massive chart-topping smash that brought them to pop crossover land in 2002. After a few years working the DJ circuit, the trio reemerge once again with a new CD, "Makeshift Feelgood," featuring a menagerie of vocalists including Kurt Wagner (Lambchop), Rob Harvey (The Music), Tim DeLaughter (The Polyphonic Spree), and Kissing the Pink. With influences from the 60s, 70, 80s, and outer space, Makeshift Feelgood is a rare commodity from the world of dance music – a true artist album.
DJ Ron Slomowicz: X-Press 2, where did that name come from?
Diesel (from X-Press 2): It was given to us by our friend of Terry Farley who was
running the label called Junior Boys Own Records. We were going to
call ourselves Rock 2 House because my surname is House and Rocky's
surname is Rock. Terry Farley heard it and said 'no, it's crap.' So
he said 'I'm going to call you X-Press 2,' and gave us no reason why.
I think it was just because he liked the way it sounded.
RS: Your early singles were "Music X-Press" and "London
X-Press," so I thought that had something to do with it as well. So
how did the three of you start making music?
Diesel: Basically it actually began life as me and Rocky going in the
studio to make our own first solo record, we wanted a bit of
experience so we asked Ashley Beedle to come in and help us out. It
just ended up with him being part of it. So from the first record,
Music X-Press, because of all three of us were in the studio making
it, we decided that we'd be a trio.
RS: Moving forward to where you all are now, this new CD that's
coming out in the US, it's not just the three of you - you're working
with some really interesting people. For example, because I'm from
Nashville, how did you meet up with Kurt Wagner from Lambchop?
Diesel: We eventually met him through our management company.
Because we'd worked with David Byrne on the previous album and it was
very successful, we had people in our heads that we'd love to work
with and Kurt Wagner was one of those people. We love Lambchop and we
managed to get in touch with him and when he was over in the UK doing
some shows. We met up at the studio and started working together. He
was very, very friendly and very helpful. We played him a backing
track and he was into it and he took it back over to Nashville and
work on an idea for some lyrics. That's how it happened and we just
started bouncing it backwards and forwards, adding to the song.
RS: The song has sort of like a gospel feel to it, was that intentional?
Diesel: Yes, kind of. We wanted to make "Give It" a dance record
that could be played at the end or any part of the evening, but we
wanted something that had some kind of theatrics or spirituality that
was really uplifting. We thought what could be more uplifting than a
gospel choir? The choir worked hand in hand with Kurt's vocals
because he has that country soul feel to his voice. Originally it was
a poem, like a spoken-word thing, and we really wanted to try and
create a chorus. Kurt came up with the idea of a chorus and then we
said why don't we get some gospel singers to back that up and take it
even further.
