Easy Pieces: Benoit & Sergio

The carefree sounds of dance music duo Benoit & Sergio are some of the most refreshing, fun, and seamless tunes we’ve heard in a while. And the two guys behind them, Benoit Simon and Benjamin Meyers, couldn’t be nicer, more thoughtful, or articulate gents. Fresh off the heels of a successful tour in some of the most cherished clubs in the world, the two are now headed into a winter hibernation to finish up a much-anticipated full-length album. We can’t wait!

Who or what influenced you to become what you are today?
One often hears, "When I saw David Bowie perform on TV when I was 6, I knew that I wanted to become a rock star." That experience never happened for us. It was more that there was a kind of steady knocking on the doors of the mind by some stranger inside, some inner voice that wanted us to speak up for it.

Before you were on the dance music radar, what were you doing?
We had normal jobs. I was teaching literature at a prep school in DC and coaching JV baseball. Benoit was working with a start-up.

What is your favorite music right now that you can’t stop listening to?
Every season there's a new playlist to remember that season by. Autumn 2012 consists of two songs on repeat: "The Passenger" by Iggy Pop and then the most beautiful, lovely song ever – "The Sun Shines Down On Me" by Daniel Johnston. Sometimes it's too painful to listen to a playlist, even if the season it recalls was a nice one, if only because one feels the loss of those good times even more keenly. Spring 2012 is like that: Cass McCombs, "County Line"; Beach House, "Master of None"; Slum Village, "Fall in Love." It's as if, when one hears it now, one can smell the arbors that will never bloom the same way again.

What's the best part of your job?
Sleeping in on Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday; not starting work til 2:00am or 3:00am; making music and playing it for people; having some of them know it by heart.

Best piece of advice you've gotten?
There's this scene from "Cool Hand Luke" where Paul Newman is playing poker in prison with all the boys. He bets a dollar, and then keeps upping the ante by a dollar. Everyone eventually folds and Newman takes the money, after showing his hand, which consists of nothing. He says, "Sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand." Indeed.

Learn more about Benoit & Sergio HERE.
 

Photos by Ross Laurence