Dinos Chapman describes his music like “going for a walk and getting lost.” Whether he is lost in a plum orchard or in some twisted underworld, it is always quite the trip. At his recent show at the Transmediale festival in Berlin, his multimedia frenzy was full-blown with psychedelic home videos fused with a rabbit costume and a gun. Use whatever buzz words you like to describe the music (“avant-techno,” “post-rave rhythms” or even “David Lynch of the dancefloor”), this is electronic music you can dance to, write to, or even piece together IKEA furniture to. It appeals to more than just the party crowd.
To think it was only last year that Chapman released his debut album Luftbobler. It was three months ago that he released his latest EP Luv2h8 released with 10-minute dance tracks (including one called “Samourai”), and now, he is gearing up for his second album (title yet to be determined).
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The art crowd will know of Chapman as half of the Chapman Brothers, a high-profile, bratty visual art duo he co-creates with his older brother, Jake. These museum heavyweights have a firm foot in the Saatchi collection and are notorious for showing weird shit like taking authenticated Adolf Hitler drawings and sketching peace signs on them. One of their most famous pieces is two blow-up dolls doing a 69er on a blow-up mattress.
But anyway, you could even look at Chapman’s music like it was contemporary art (if you think about it long enough – a set will convince you). More than your usual music stuff, he always leaves you with more questions than answers. As Chapman gears up for shows at Donau, Mutek, and Glastonbury, we chatted about the bunnies, Kent, and his new forthcoming album.
Dinos Chapman’s track “Luftbobler” played in Dallas as part of the recent CHANEL Paris-Dallas presentation.Noisey: Is it weird performing without your brother?
Dinos Chapman: No, we are not tied at the hip. We do stuff separately as well. He writes books, I make music.
Your set is accompanied by a video of a man dressed in a rabbit suit. Where was the video shot?
Some bits of video were just selected from 20 years of home movies. The rabbit parts were all done last summer. They were shot in my plum orchard in Kent.
Did you intend for the vibe of the performance to feel like a psychedelic dream?
I don’t know. I’m trying not to say anything – I’m just suggesting. I’m trying to make a narrative but not a specific narrative. I’m interested in the fact that if you don’t add too much, the people will add to the rest of the narrative themselves. I’m interested in that world instead of saying “This is about…” because it’s not about anything. It’s just a set of things that encourage people to pin images to the music.

Why do you love performing A/V?
It’s kind of a difficult question because to me, it’s a bit obvious. Why not? It’s fun. I can do it without the visuals, but I just think if you’re sitting there, it’s quite nice. With the visuals, you listen to the music differently. If you play the album without the films, it’s a different experience.
What do you love to talk about in interviews?
It’s bad enough having to make the stuff. I ask myself questions. Everything is an experiment, I like going for a walk and getting lost. The problem is that people are always trying to pin something down. If I have to explain everything then no one has to think. Obviously, I do know what it is because I made it. It’s not that I don’t want to; it’s just that my mind changes and every time I play it, it’s slightly different. I think people should be able to make their own minds up. If they see it twice, they see it differently two times. If I said it’s about this or that, it ties it down a bit and makes it less interesting.
Is the music world a nice vacation from the art world?
It was. When it was just me sitting in my basement, it was a nice hobby. Then, it became something else.
What do you have upcoming?
I might do another album. I started it already. There is no name for it yet. That will come later.
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