Archnemesis making do, not dough, from music samples

Courtesy of Archnemesis

Curt Heiny (left) and Justin Aubuchon are Archnemesis.

When he first started playing music in high school, Justin Aubuchon had his goal set on becoming a jazz pianist. Barely a decade later, the Saint Louis, Mo., native plays a very different sort of keyboard as one half of the electronic music duo Archnemesis, who perform at Newby’s Friday.

Trading the conservative cool of the concert hall for the amped adrenaline of the dance floor, Aubuchon and his partner, Curt Heiny, man a spaceship-like bank of laptops and electronics to stitch together riffs from old soul and jazz records with hip hop beats and their own pop melodies into a wholly original musical cloth they call “intelligent electro crunk.”

“It’s kind of like ghetto techno,” says Aubuchon of the duo’s music, which retains a classic vibe despite the thoroughly modern way with which it was produced. “You could call it whatever you want. I think our music is slick. It’s not too in your face. Like my mom digs it. And then we have high school kids who dig it. … We’re trying to make a nice round, organic sound that will appeal to everybody.”

Aubuchon insists the transition from jazz to electronic music was not as abrupt as it may seem. From the age of 13 one of his favorite bands was Phish, the Vermont jam legends well known for incorporating element of jazz into their omnivorous sound. His interest in that band led him to discover similar-minded bands like Disco Biscuits and Sound Tribe Sector 9, both traditional live bands known for their progressive embrace of electronic influences.

After moving to Charleston, SC, to attend the College of Charleston, Aubuchon played in just such a group, The Chronicles of the Land Squid. But as he delved more into electronic music he became frustrated by the keyboard’s limitations.

“The older I got, the more I was like, ‘I want to do this stuff by myself,’” he recalls. “I was playing in bands through college and graduated to hating having to carry all that gear. And we never got over that big hump, so I just decided I’m going to do this by myself and bought a laptop and (the deejay software) Ableton Live.”

On one of his last gigs with Land Squid, Aubuchon, who had started playing solo as MO Theory in a shout out to his native Missouri, met Heiny who was playing with electronic band Telepath at the time. The two struck a personal and musical friendship and a little over two years ago started Archnemesis.

“We realized that we had similar interests and decided to pursue something together,” says Aubuchon. “I think we shared a drive to want to do it. Some of the guys in my band had a job and couldn’t tour. And in his band someone had a baby and couldn’t tour as much. There were just too many restrictions. But Curt and I were on the same page.”

Together, Aubuchon and Heiny have forged a sound distinct from all the electronic dance music and dubstep that seems to dominate the scene these days. In the best tradition of hip hop, they scour record bins and online files to find the best old school samples to turn into pop music for a new generation.

“I’ll watch some old blaxploitation movie and I’ll hear some funk guitar and then I’d go set the soundtrack for that and those things are just filled with gems,” says Aubuchon, who has been on a bit of an Isaac Hayes kick lately, re-discovering old Hayes scores for films like “Three Tough Guys” and “Truck Turner.” “They’re almost going one grade below “Shaft.” The movies are worse but the soundtracks, to me, are better.”

Anyone interested in hearing how Archnemesis plumbs the past for material for new sounds need only turn to the band’s web site, archnemesismusic.com, where the duo have posted all their recordings, including their full-length debut, last October’s Peoples Radio, for free download.

“That was one big thing Curt realized when we first got together, was we need to give all the stuff out for free,” Aubuchon says. “First and foremost, we don’t own the rights to half the stolen samples, so we legally can’t sell it. And secondly, I feel like nobody really buys music anymore. It’s all going to get stolen anyway, so if we give it out for free, it’s a way to get it out to people’s ears and hopefully have them like it and pass it on to their friends.”

Archnemesis with Spankalicious

Friday at Newby’s, 539 S. Highland. Doors open at 9 p.m. Cover: $10 at the door. For more information, call 452-8408 or visit newbysmemphis.com.

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