If you don't know what LMFAO stands for, then you probably aren't part of this electro-hop duo's primary demographic.
Made up of the electronic hip-hop duo of emcee-DJs Redfoo and Sky Blu, these guys definitely stand out in the crowd. Redfoo has a reckless Afro, and both don lens-less, candy-colored glasses and loud, flashy shirts from their own fashion line.
On a recent Friday afternoon, the two agree to talk as they have a little downtime in Los Angeles after a wild album-release week. Their debut album, "Party Rock," came out on Tuesday, July 7 on Interscope Records. The single "I'm in Miami Bitch" has already become a massive club hit and debuted at No. 38 on the Top 40 charts.
Redfoo speaks up first: "This is Redfoo, and I'm hanging out here with Gandhi." Or a word that sounds like "Gandhi." The two erupt in laughter.
After a few minutes of goofing around, Redfoo and Sky Blu compose themselves and answer some questions for us.
Your album just came out, how has the reception been so far?
Redfoo: It's been as great as it can possibly be. We are looking at the iTunes comments and see "this is the best album" and "LMFAO's the best band ever." Sure there's a small percentage of haters, but there always is. It's been amazing, and we have been selling out at every venue.
What did you think when you were first approached by Interscope?
R: We almost didn't sign. We already had two songs on the radio and three songs in the clubs. We wanted to keep a large level of control, and every song was mixed and mastered ourselves, and recorded ourselves. Interscope let us do that so we said, "Let's roll, OK."
Was it hard to get your name out there?
R: You gotta give 100 percent into it; you have to quit your day job, and for two weeks we weren't bringing in any money. We were DJs and had to decide if we wanted to play other people's songs or make our own. There was a period we were doing free shows … and we just jumped in hopes the net would appear, and it did.
What's a typical LMFAO show like?
Sky Blu: It's crazy.
R: Let's do some one-word associations. Sexy party animals.
SB: Electric.
R: Pelvic thrusting.
SB: Drunken wildness, orgasmic togetherness.
R: Good, good. Crowd surfing.
SB: Nudity.
R: Beer being sprayed on everybody.
SB: Sweat. More girls than guys.
R: Screaming, people coming onstage, by end of show think it's a club.
SB: Anything goes.
Tell us about one of your favorite experiences.
R: We had to wake up at 6:30 a.m. to do a show for Universal Records, and that show could have been our best show ever. We signed autographs for everyone, we were funny, on-point, and they loved it. The only way we got through it is we woke up and drank Red Bull and vodka. And man, how many old ladies did we freak?
SB: We were straddling them on a chair, like four or five old ladies.
How do you hype up a crowd of executives that early in the morning?
R: It does matter how early it is, where we are, we always start out a show the same way: "What's up party people?!" Even when we played this show for one person.... We said we gotta do this show and soon people started showing up, and by the end we had about 40 people singing our lyrics, even though they didn't know who we were.
Talk to us about your style.
R: In a year, the world will look more like us. We have glasses with no lenses...and I feel like we were the first people to do this. We are forever going to wear only shirts we make.… I never thought in the last 20 years I would be wearing zebra print on a shirt. I thought it was only an '80s rock-and-roll thing.… But in our own design line we secretly liked the rock-and-roller look with the tight pants. We want to completely have our own styles, like when Michael Jackson put on that sparkly white glove.
Has Michael Jackson been an influence on your guys?
R: He influenced us more than anything in world.
SB: Everyone says that he influenced them, but we really analyzed that guy, had all his DVDs, watched all his videos and listened to every song. When you watch him, it's amazing, and it feels like he is talking and singing to you right there. We honor him in our own way with our records.
What was the experience at his memorial service like?
R: It was amazing. We were around all these people who shared one common interest, whose lives were changed by one person, and inspired all these artists and fans. Everybody there was so loving, and we got to hear great people from our times talk: Berry Gordy, Magic Johnson, Rev. Al Sharpton.... Afterward people came up to us and said, "Hey, the album is dropping today," and they knew us. The whole experience was amazing.
If you could remix one of his songs, which one would it be?
R: "Dirty Diana." And I got another one (sings): "I'm gonna make a change!" Hey, I hit those notes!
SB: That was pretty good!
