Sugar&Gold Turns Temporary Orphanhood Into Dance Band Gold

By Daniel Levin Becker Fri., Feb. 4 2011 at 8:23 AM

Categories: Q&A

There are like all these flies in here

At one point, self-styled bi-coastal dance-party duo Sugar&Gold lived and worked -- and dance, oh how they danced -- in San Francisco. Before that Philipp Alberto Minnig grew up in Germany and Nicolas Dobbratz in Washington D.C., and now they live in Los Angeles and Athens, GA respectively. Fleeting moments! Still, they were here long enough to be voted "best local dance band" by San Francisco Magazine, and "best party band 2008" by this here publication, which suggests they were doing something right. See for yourself tomorrow night at the Rickshaw Stop, where they'll be holding it down in support of their forthcoming Bodyaches EP, a whole mess of remixes of this song:

Also appearing: Athens-based Yip Deceiver, a similarly danceable project involving the aforementioned Dobbratz and multi-instrumentalist Davey Pierce, both of whom have done time in the live incarnation of Of Montreal. Below, Minnig fields the tough questions and acquits himself with endless aplomb.

How did you wind up in San Francisco?
Our parents dropped us off in the Mission because they were tired of our whining. Now we live in Los Angeles and Athens, Georgia. Ain't nuthin but a bi-coastal schizophrenic funk party.

How did you get started making music as Sugar&Gold?
We started as a three-piece called Silva n Salt n Peppa, but through some refinement turned into just Sugar&Gold.

How do you get voted "best local dance band" in a city rotten with dance bands? What's your secret?
Bribes.

What are your songs about?
Vegan cake and over-eating.

What do they sound like?
BAM! POW! ZAP! BIFF!!

What have you learned about playing live from Of Montreal?
Love will conquer all.

What are your favorite venues to play in San Francisco? Why?
Rickshaw Stop becuz it's all ages and has dynamite sound. Plus everyone that runs it rules!

What can we expect from this show? Are you going to change costumes between sets to indicate that Sugar&Gold and Yip Deceiver are two different acts, or what?
It's easy to tell us apart: Yip Deceiver will be wearing lederhosen flanked by German shepherds, and Sugar&Gold will be donning the more traditional attire of ancient Celtic muumuus with propeller hats. It should be a fun show!

What's next?
"Weed 'n sex. House party in the projects." (Tupac Shakur)

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