American Men: Drum's Not Dead (Just a Bit Queasy)

Rock ‘n’ roll myth: being a musician is incredibly glamorous. Rock ‘n’ roll reality: not so much, or so Paul Carlin would have us believe. Carlin is ill. He’s been snuggled up to the toilet bowl for most of the night. Having now retreated to his mother’s house for some homemade chicken soup, the American Men – and, as it happens, Dananananaykroyd – drummer is soldiering on with our interview, apologetic and polite.

Known as ‘Scottt Chevrolet’ to the fans of Men, Carlin makes up one fourth of the LuckyMe collective’s silky electro dalliance, completed by associates ‘Claude Speeed’, ‘Alilloyd’ and ‘John Awesome’ on synths.

With modern and vintage electronica proving as inspirational as avant-garde rock to the American Men, their sound is melodic, layered and intricate, tied together by driving, syncopated drums. “I guess the sound is ‘mathy’ music,” starts Carlin. “But I see it more as laser, glassy synth music – futuristic sonically and visually.

“We’re all into very different things but come together over 90s alternative indie like Chavez and Sonic Youth, plus a couple of us are secret Devo and Phil Collins fans,” he admits, before crowbarring in Boards of Canada, Steve Reich and Don Caballero as particular touchstones that unify the group.

Carlin is convinced that an unusual setup gives them a distinctive live edge. “We have three synths which we play through laptops, but we put the drums in the middle of the stage to give it more of a visual focus,” he explains. “We figured that people wouldn’t be too impressed if they were just watching three guys hunched over some keys.”

Signed this year to the aforementioned LuckyMe, the band – the constituent parts of which are currently dispersed across the land – have just released Cool World, their first EP. “We don’t technically fit with the sound the label normally puts out,” says Carlin. “So we are a bit like the cuckoo in the nest full of hip-hop, but we do fit with the ethos.”

Besides, American Men are hardly offering up your standard meat-and-potatoes rock. Four remixes on Cool World come from Ikonika and Optimum, Falty DL, Machinedrum and Hudson Mohawke, explaining why the band appeal to club DJs on the bleeding edge, as well as Radio One's champions of the new like Vic Galloway and Mary Anne Hobbs.

Full-time in Dananananaykroyd, Carlin admits that American Men have not been able to play live as much as they would have liked. “I’m from Glasgow, Claude and John live in Edinburgh and Ali’s doing a PhD in Manchester. We’ve all got jobs and other things going on, so there isn’t the opportunity to play a huge amount,” he explains. The band did, however, find a way to play Sonar this summer in Carlin’s absence, roping in the thunderous skills of Laeto drummer Robbie Cooper.

Despite the nick he’s in when we talk, Carlin will be around next time something so cool happens. “We’re playing an electro festival in Amsterdam next month, and an NME weekender in Manchester in November.

“We’re not really that trendy, though,” he laments, possibly still depressed from the evening he just lived through. “We’re grownups now, so we’ll probably just play the set, drink some taboo and lemonade and go to bed… Cool people. Cool world.” So it’s not all sickness and soup remedies, this difficult business of rocking ’n’ rolling in the modern day.