Artist Profile: Melt Facing

Melt Facing, the musical love child of Klutch (Andre Waguespack) and C-LaB (Chase Labure), is a rare yet incredible sight to see. Through years of a personal friendship and working their way up the ranks of the New Orleans electronic scene together, a project that started out as a twitter joke is now a must-see set in New Orleans.When watching a Melt Facing set, you will no doubt be impressed by how seamlessly their styles blend together and the onstage energy they bring. One second you might be grooving to a funky track, next you’re in awe with feels, then suddenly head-banging and you won’t even know how it happened. They deliver such a range of styles it’s hard to believe you’re watching the same set. Get a two for one deal with Melt Facing, the most dynamic local b2b you can find in NOLA. Don’t miss their upcoming set before Doctor P at M3 (in the back room of Metropolitan Nightclub) on Friday, August 19.

We sat down with Melt Facing recently to better get to know this elusive duo and to find out just what it is that makes their presence on stage so unforgettable.

What is Melt Facing?

Andre: Melt Facing is a collaborative musical effort between me and Chase. We like a lot of the same things which makes it work, but our passions are in different areas. I like to jump around a lot in a set, and he likes to jump around a lot in a set. When we combine it, you get double the jumping, double the awesome. It just seemed natural, we both work well together.

Chase: It is a collaboration of two wonderfully awesome different New Orleans-based artists putting their libraries together and free styling them based on atmosphere.

What do you think that you specifically bring to the table?

A: I guess just everything that I do with Klutch. It’s basically just us adding our shows together and it’s like two powers combined. We don’t really sacrifice anything, we just put our styles together. So he gets to play whatever he wants, and I get to play whatever I want. I think it’s a little more powerful than both of us. I can feed off of what he does and we can build that energy together in a different direction than I might not have taken it alone.

C: I feel like I bring an underground aspect to the table. He can play to a larger crowd and crush it probably on a more consistent basis than I could. I’ll dig into the weirder deeper kind of stuff that sometimes throws people a little off. While Klutch can get the shit that we know everybody’s gonna throw down to. When I play a track, it’s like this could either be one of the greatest things we’ve ever played that nobody’s ever heard, or it could be like oh man this is a change to the vibe a little bit and we’re gonna have to see where we can go from here.

How do you want your fans to feel after they leave a Melt Facing set?

A: Exactly how you want to feel after you see your favorite artist play.
C: I want them to feel worn out in the best way possible.
A: I like my answer better.
C: Of course you like your answer better haha

What is in the future for Melt Facing?

A: We have always sort of jammed off and on together but nothing’s really come of it. We were joking earlier that it’s some amorphous thing that we’re being really artsy about but really that’s what it is. Mostly just a come and go project that we’ve developed over the years.

C: Absolutely, like I remember him putting ” 1/2 of melt facing” on his twitter bio, and I was like “is that it? and then we did our first b2b at Boombox Cartel last year (find link to photos or event page). It became Melt Facing when somebody actually booked us together which was SHOCKING (both laugh) and here we are. Our manager calls us “the dream team”.

A: The future unknown (but bright).

Since your first show how do you think you have evolved?

C: Definitely more comfortable with our chemistry. We can get up onstage and know that we can crush it without having to worry.

A: In any kind of good collaboration effort you shouldn’t have to worry about it. I trust him and he trusts me. He’s a big boy he can handle himself, so all I have to worry about is me.

Do you ever intentionally throw in WTF tracks to challenge each other?

A: Oh absolutely, even when we play the same show separately, it’s fun watching him play because sometimes he’ll drop these tracks and I’m just like fuck how could I follow that.

C: (laughs) yeah sometimes I just see him on the side like FUCK, goddamnit what did he play.

A: I mean I’m a very competitive person and I think Chase is too. It’s a little friendly challenge.

C: We bounce off of each other very well.

A: It’s a lot of fun, but yeah I get a little riled sometimes.

C: I like pushing his buttons. (laughs)

How does having a personal relationship influence your live sets?

A: I think in all aspects of life you either mesh with somebody or you don’t. Chase and I’s energies mix very well together. I think one reason is because of our friendship and that’s why we do it.

C: I think it really helps. It influences our chemistry on stage and when we get into any situation we can handle it with humor and we bounce off of each other really easily. A good example is at the River Beats Decompression party, he’s like “hey man are you starting or am i starting?”, and I’m like “I can start if you want me to” and he’s like “nah I’m gonna start”, so I’m like word and we get onstage and he’s like “you start you start, I’m freaking out you start, and I’m like “ok… (presses play) and that’s how we started that show. I know shit like that is gonna happen sometimes and being able to laugh about it really helps. Our libraries mesh really well and when we get up there with those two thumb drives we can pretty much play anything that the crowd wants and it’ll be heavy hitting. That’s where I store all my heavy hitters, in the Melt Facing library.

Don’t sleep on getting your tickets for this show, an intimate evening with Melt Facing, Blitz and Doctor P at M3 (in the back room of Metropolitan Nightclub) on Friday, August 19. Buy tickets here and don’t forget to RSVP!

CONNECT WITH KLUTCH
soundcloud / facebook / twitter

CONNECT WITH C-LAB
soundcloud / facebook / twitter