Interview: Work Drugs

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Work Drugs were one of our very last finds of the 2010 calendar, and an impressive one at that! Their track 'Third Wave' is excellent to say the least and it rose to achieve a 'Certified New' status in December.

With 'Third Wave' firmly on repeat, we were obviously yearning for more from the guys. To mark the emergence of their new track 'Dog Daze', we tracked the guys down on their Philly port and got down to some of the nitty gritty. Here's what Ben and Tom had to say:


(One For The People) Hey guys, could you just give us a brief insight into how you see yourselves?

(Ben & Tom) We are smooth sailors from the Port of Philadelphia. We write songs specifically for sailing, swimming, sexing, cruising, dancing, driving and pretty much all of life's montage scenes.


(1FTP) Where in the hell did you come up with your name?

(B&T) Well our buddy Eduardo came up with the name while we were sailing last summer in the Baja of Mexico. I guess a lot of people think it's because we secretly work for a major drug company... or it's somehow derived from a premium American television series... but fuck that noise.


(1FTP) I'm sure your of the same opinion as everyone else who we have asked, whether they set out to achieve their particular sound (typical answer... No), so we will go a different direction with this... Did you see the 'smooth-fi' sound the rough path you wanted to go down when you began experimenting?

(B&T) We just wanted to make music to enjoy while basking in a Mediterranean sunset. The Kings of Convenience and Steely Dan cassettes were getting a bit worn.



"Once you hear the rest of our songs, you'll see that we prefer a nice steady ride when it comes to our music... hence why "smooth-fi" seems to work. "Beach-wave" is a pretty good alternative too. " Ben and Tom, Work Drugs, 2011


(1FTP) We love all these nutty genres at the minute. We're championing 'Beachwave', we made fan page on facebook as a bit of fun, what are your thoughts and can you describe your style in a nutshell....

(B&T) We often hear our name associated with the "coke-wave" genre, but I'm not sure if we really fit in with those guys. Lots of big highs and incredible lows. Once you hear the rest of our songs, you'll see that we prefer a nice steady ride when it comes to our music, hence why "smooth-fi" seems to work. "Beachwave" is a pretty good alternative too.





(1FTP) We're from the UK and we're kind of disappointed with the music scene at the minute, there's not much experimentation other than the oxford scene, encompassing the likes of Foals, Trophy WifeChad Valley, Jonquil etc. If I hear another Oasis sound-a-like, I'm going to flip! Is there anyone UK based you're fans of?

(B&T) There have been some great things coming out of Bristol dubstep scene lately. We're huge fans of Pinch, Joker, Appleblim, and the like. 


(1FTP) Where are you at in terms of recording and releasing?

(B&T) We've recorded a bunch of songs over the past few years, but we are waiting for the waters to warm a bit before "officially" releasing them. On our last tour we passed out some homemade mix tapes that I noticed wash up on eBay a few times. We're really hoping they stay buried.


(1FTP) Everyone has friends withing the industry, who are yours?

(B&T) I suppose our best friend in the industry is our producer and long time collaborator Bobby Cahn. He introduced us to some fantastic bands such as The Department of Homeland Obscurity, Crucial Taunt, Oahn Vo and Philadelphia's Kurt Vile.


(1FTP) Too funny!! Wayne's World links galore, but at least Kurt Vile is in there. 


(1FTP) And finally, what are you currently listening to?

(B&T) You can usually hear us playing Pablo Cruise's, "Sailing to Paradise" from across the bow on most nights.


Here's the new track 'Dog Daze'.... Lets hope there's more to come! we will be sure to let you know....




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