Ian Witlen
After sweating out last night's booze in the oppressive Saturday afternoon sun for about 30 minutes, a few handfuls of III Points attendees were allowed into Bardot to see James Murphy speak.
At first, there was a small crowd, but the room filled and anticipation built as we waited for the former LCD Soundsystem frontman to arrive from the airport. He came straight from a Washington, D.C., show the night prior at 9:30 Club that he told us personally was memorable (or something like that) with a look that made us wish we'd been there.
Most of the room was on the floor like little kids waiting for storytime. Murphy sat Indian-style on the couch speaking to upturned, smiling faces, some with crazy eyes filled with love and obsession.
Immediately after the interview and before the fans swarmed in, we ambushed the DJ and all-around musical hero for one minute and 34 seconds' worth of questions. We found out if he'd be back for Art Basel this year and what it's like to be James Murphy.
Ian Witlen
County Grind: What's it like to be James Murphy?
James Murphy: It's middling.
Middling?
It's fine. It's all right. Just some aches and pains, but it's OK.
The times I've seen you speak, you're so nice to your fans afterwards. How do you feel about them? Anyone too intrusive?
I hate them. They're a nightmare. I just don't have security, so I have to play nice. No. I don't know. I feel like people are nice. I just try to be... It's awkward, so I can't pretend it's not, so I'm just awkward. I will point out that it's awkward. I don't like when it's smooth, like when you're like, "Excellent, you're great." But it's friendly, and everyone's nice, so I might as well just be honest.
Ian Wilten
Do you prefer to talk about music or wine? [Note: He did a wine talk on the S.S. Coachella.]
I know more about music.
So you prefer music?
No, I just know more about it, so I feel more comfortable.
You said you were in "shitty" bands before. Which was the shittiest, and any shitty band stories?
I wasn't in shitty bands; I just wasn't in great bands. We were just, like, not very successful.
Are you back for Basel this year?
I don't know. I don't think so. I'm not sure what's going on in December. I can only know what's right ahead of me.
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