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MS MR

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For such down to earth people, do they find these sorts of press junkets a total wank-fest? “It could be, I reckon,” Plapinger says exploding into laughter at the frankness of the question. “But I like to think that Max and I are the furthest from that vibe so I think we get rid of that attitude quickly. You can tell pretty early if someone’s blowing smoke up your arse, and Max and I are pretty chilled people. We’re upfront and really like to answer people’s questions and have them get excited about the music, but I think we’ll avoid it ever getting to wanker status.”

With New York City overflowing with electro/art-rock duos, Ms Mr managed to rise to the top in an incredibly short time. “We only started making music together in the Christmas after we graduated school and we were just writing and getting together because we both always wanted to write music, but we were both so green and inexperienced,” Plapinger explains. “We went to school together but didn’t run in the same group of friends so didn’t really know each other. We came to it completely as strangers, which is interesting given the intimacy and the dramatic level of the music. We fell quickly into that emotional space as well. We wrote privately for a year, none of our friends even knew we were doing it, and it was something really personal. It wasn’t until we had a collection of work that we thought that maybe we should take this project to the next level and actually release some music and start defining ourselves as a band. From the first release, we got some industry attention and then it quickly developed from there to a deal with Columbia and then a deal with RCA in the UK and Sony for the world. We recorded everything in Max’s closet-turned-studio – it’s very DIY in that way. We just pretty much used a keyboard and a computer – an idea that is so unique to this time I think.”

Secondhand Rapture is an incredibly self-assured debut album. Full of lush production, earworm hooks and indie edge, the densely layered orchestra in no way resembles the album’s bedroom beginnings. “For Max and me it was definitely hard for us to realise when we’d taken things too far,” Plapinger says of the album’s orchestration. “I think our core ethos is ‘more is more’ and that you can never take it too far. We’d get really excited about a track and decide it deserved more instrumentation.”

Hershenow returns from driving the porcelain bus in time to chat about the production of the album. “I’m feeling a bit rough but all is OK,” he laughs when asked how he’s feeling. “I think we’re both really proud of the fact we were able to get this really lush feeling album in my bedroom. A lot of it is probably thanks to Tom Elmhirst, who mixed the record and provided some additional production. I think he really brought it to life in a way that didn’t take away from our identity at all.”

So how are the duo planning on bringing this album to life on stage? “It’s been an ongoing evolution; I mean, it’s not the most natural thing in the world to take music that two people make in a room on a computer to the stage, but I think for us it was imperative that it wasn’t just the two of us on stage with a laptop – that isn’t fun for anyone,” Hershenow says. “So we have two additional musicians – a drummer and a multi-instrumentalist who plays autoharp and lapsteel, bass and synth – they’re great musicians who bring a wilder edge to it. I think we’re finally finding ways to let go and yet be true to the album.”

As with all new bands, comparisons to other prominent artists have dogged the band’s reviews, but they seem to be appreciative of it. I suggest that in two years’ time they’ll never want hear another comparison to Florence & The Machine or Chairlift again, but for now, as with their attitude to everything else, they’re feeling blessed by it all. “I feel that we’d digested all of those influences throughout our lives and so therefore when they came out in this music, they came out in a way that was very much us,” Hershenow says. “This idea of collaging all these ideas together has worked for us I guess. It’s still exciting for us to hear what other people hear in our music.”

In no time, Plapinger and Hershenow are finishing each other’s sentences and feeding off each other with the same overwhelming chemistry that is felt in their music. For someone who was just throwing up, Hershenow is now doing quite well. But how exactly are they handling this journey given they came to this partnership as strangers? “I think it’s really exciting and yet super intense,” Plapinger says. “Coming to this as strangers, well, it’s strange that we’ve now become each other’s most important other halves. I compare it to a brother and sister relationship – we’re like family and have the utmost love and respect for each other, but it doesn’t mean that we don’t bicker now and then. It’s pretty rare though, to be honest. I mean, we tour together, we play together, we do promo together and we sleep in the same hotel room – it’s pretty wild to share that much of your personal time with someone else. It’s so nice though to share this excitement with someone and also to have each other to turn to when you’re feeling scared about something as well. It would be so challenging to take this on as a solo artist.”

As with any duo, rumours and speculation about their relationship status have flown around, a point they both find incredibly humourous. “Yeah, that is something we’ve noticed,” Hershenow says laughing.

“That will never be the case with Max and me,” Plapinger adds. “Our love transcends those trappings as I am a straight female and Max is a gay man.”

“So therefore that’s really a much more natural relationship,” Hershenow says as Plapinger again finishes his sentence. “I assume that this is sorta what marriage is like, but at least with marriage you go to your own jobs in the day.”

“This is totally the most intense relationship I’ve ever had,” Hershenow says.

Being in a band, especially one on the rise, is an intense relationship, but suggestions that the rewards are greater than sex and the challenges worse than divorce are met with more laughter. “I don’t know…I reckon we both love sex a lot,” Plapinger says. “I think maybe it trumps this. Now that is another issue with being on the road – there’s no time to do it around one another’s schedules.”

Separate hotels rooms would go a long way to mending this drought, surely? “Oh my god, that’ll be great,” Hershenow says. “But by then there’s probably going to be very little time when we’re not in the tour bus.”

“The funny thing is that on the very, very rare occasions we’ve been granted separate rooms and when we do, it’s so funny,” Plapinger says. “We make such a big deal about the fact we have two separate rooms and then we’re back and forth between each other’s rooms all night.”

It seems that talking anymore about the album has gone out the window at this point as they giggle at their current dry spell. So are they waiting for their Almost Famous groupie moment? “Oh God I can’t wait for that!” Plapinger says as a joke, or maybe there was a tiny bit of truth hidden in the jest.

BY KRISSI WEISS