Bido Lito! Magazine | Issue 116 | August 2021

DANCING TO
ARCHITECTURE
The sonosphere of Joel Goldberg’s alter ego thrives in experimentation and straddling the line
between foolhardiness and look-again substance. Ahead of an album live stream, Sanna King
uncovers the figure behind the personalities.
Hey Frenzy, the debut album from DANCING
TO ARCHITECTURE, was born in isolation.
Differentiated only by their barnets, the band
at the time consisted of three members, all
called Jeff, who looked remarkably similar. Picture a
fucked-up version of Hanson and you’d not be far off.
However, the electro-prog-funk ‘trio’ were really just the
brainchildren of Joel Goldberg.
Part of the locally legendary Goldberg clan, he
has been on the Liverpool scene since the mid-90s.
Joel seemed to be a musical gun for hire who was
permanently on call, reachable only by pager, carrier
pigeon, or email. Not only a versatile musician playing
all the instruments, he mixed and produced the tracks,
before getting it mastered at Igloo Studios. He also
made videos for each track, which morphed into a film,
designed all the artwork and a range of merch. No
wonder he needed to clone himself a few times.
Since then, the band have doubled in numbers, and
I don’t mean Joel has just gained more personalities.
To take the vision from his living room to the live stage,
he’s gathered together a motley crew of real friends to
replace his imaginary ones. But in the meantime, they’ll
be coming to your living rooms, when they unleash brand
new footage this month. Recorded at Coastal Studios,
Transmit Groove is a live recording of the album to give
you a little teaser of what you can expect from their gigs
in the not-too-distant future. When I caught up with Joel
back in May, it was still only officially him at the helm, so
I found out more about what had inspired him to create
Dancing To Architecture in the first place.
Hey Frenzy was released on CD and digitally, in
March, a year after the start of lockdown. “I had time
to get those ideas out that had been building up,” says
Goldberg over Zoom. “I had a list of song names in my
phone stockpiled over the years, so I grabbed a riff, fit one
of the titles to it, arranged it, recorded it, did a little video
and put it online.”
He described it as a mix of different sounds with
a dance music sensibility of a hook line that repeats,
without having to stay in the verse-chorus-middle-eight
format. “I’ve always written songs and music and always
tried to be, you know, a serious songwriter. All this, ‘You
didn’t say this, and I didn’t say that’ and all that crap.
And you end up going, ‘This is miserable to listen to and
miserable to play, what am I doing this for?!’ So out of
that, DTA is like the phoenix from the ashes of all the
shite heartbreak songs I’ve written in my lifetime.”
Joel realised that he had something else under his skin.
It seemed natural to add more humour because comedy
had been such a big part of his life, noting childhood
heroes such as The Young Ones, Bill Murray and Chevy
Chase. “Then Vic and Bob came along,” he continues. “I
think they were a nuclear blast in terms of British comedy,
and as individuals now I think they’re still two of the
funniest people on the planet.”
I asked him if he was worried that some of the sillier
lyrics and videos might make it come across as a novelty
album – “I eat grapes like a motherfucker” and “went to
bed ugly and I woke up handsome” being refrains two
songs are built around. “Not really,” he contends. “A
couple of tracks are TV theme tune homages, like Mike
Post scores. Some of the others are just funny titles that
I tried to write good music to. I tried very hard to keep
it light and to try and stay funny, almost disguising the
work I’d put into writing the music.”
The name Dancing to Architecture originates from
a quote often attributed to Frank Zappa: “Writing about
music is like dancing about architecture.” His influence
is also apparent in the content, too. “When I was a kid,
I heard a Zappa album and just laughed my head off,
’cos he was singing, ‘Don’t eat the yellow snow’. Me
and my brother were like, ‘Isn’t this fella funny with his
muzzy and beard’. And then on the next listen, you’re still
laughing but you’re like, ‘Hang on a minute,’ and then in
the end you realise, ‘Jesus Christ, this is amazing!’ Not
comparing myself to Zappa or nothin’. But like everyone
has a certain style on the surface which can catch
people’s eyes, but it needs substance behind it. And I
think I’ve worked hard enough for it to have that and not
be just a novelty style.”
There is a real 80s feel to the
album and the overall stylings
of the artwork are also inspired
by his childhood memories.
“The imprint of whatever time
and cultural movement you just
happen to be born into. I was
always aware of Talking Heads,
The Clash, The Stranglers and The
Police when I was a kid and that
colour of music just stayed with
me,” he reveals. “I’m a massive fan
of Dutch Uncles, too, who have a
sound that incorporates a lot of
that style, with the sequencers
and that naked bass sound
and a lack of clanging guitars
everywhere.”
Joel’s dad, Dave, is also a big role model, having
spent the majority of his life in bands. With an upbringing
revolving around music, it was inevitable it would become
a family trade. “One brother’s been a drummer since he
was three, the other two both played guitar, and so they
needed a bass player.” But Joel didn’t always want to be
a musician. Setting his sights on becoming an artist or
architect, he attended art college to follow his dreams, as
well as his cousin who he’d “followed around like a beaut”
since their school days.
Unfortunately, that dream was short-lived when
he was diagnosed with kidney disease at 19 and knew
that he had to return to Liverpool because he’d be in
and out of hospital. “Being back in Liverpool, I thought,
‘Maybe there’s a reason I’m here’. And things just started
getting better and better here, like the Capital of Culture
happened and I met so many brilliant people. The music
community in Liverpool is just so welcoming and rich.
Everyone’s great, there are so many characters, and
everyone helps each other out. I love being in the middle
of it, it’s such an amazing place.”
He talks passionately about Liverpool having a strong
sense of community, which some of his friends from
Manchester have said that they don’t see in their own
city. I get the impression that having this community
around him when he needed it most has made him more
resilient and self-sufficient? “I’ve been through some
dark stuff, and I’ve cultivated a habit of trying to outrun
the darker times,” he replies. “If you feel something bad
coming, you flick a switch and try your best to get back,
get your energy levels up. And I’ve tried to transfer that
into my music.”
Knowing that it isn’t always as simple as just trying
harder, he talks about a friend who might never be the
same after lockdown, and how he and his other fellow
bandmates have felt powerless to help him. However,
that’s the beauty of music: it can take those struggles and
“Dancing to
Architecture is the
phoenix from the
ashes of all the
shite heartbreak
songs I’ve written
in my lifetime”
turn them into something positive, and potentially help
someone else when they hear it. Either by cheering them
up or by making them feel less alone in their sadness.
Even the strongest and most independent of people crave
that connection, and music has the power to do that. And
for that reason, for the moment he’s focusing on more
upbeat music. “It’s a conscious thing to write something
positive. I’ve always loved celebratory type music like
Van Halen and Led Zeppelin. These people are putting on
a big show, they’re going out of their way to make you
feel good. The kind of gig that you want to go to on a hot
summer’s night and have a pure laugh, be buzzin’ and
screaming yer head off at!”
Joel admits he’s enjoyed the
break from gigging over the past
16 months, but as music finally
gets back on track, he can’t wait
to play live again. The dream
team he’s assembled includes
Scott Arthur and Luke Heague
on guitars, Stuart Hardcastle on
percussion and, of course, another
Goldberg in tow – this time
it’s Adam, the aforementioned
‘drummer boy’. “We had the first
rehearsal recently and it was
great. More raw, more space to
it. We all played around with the
arrangements and the energy is
right up there. I’m made up.”
As the conversation continues, I get the sense
Joel’s illness is a bit of an elephant in the room and not
something I want to press him on. Not because of his
unwillingness to open up about it, but because it doesn’t
feel entirely relevant to this project. However, it does
come up in relation to another film he has been working
on with James Slater about his nightly dialysis sessions.
“James got in touch about making a documentary about
me being on dialysis and dealing with illness in the way
I do, through the music and stuff. He’s great at what he
does, and he’s pulled the stops out in terms of getting
a crew on-board and getting backing from some big
hitters like Kodak, so it’s gonna’ look amazing. Whether
or not my bits will be any good is another thing. I think
as I get older the thought of leaving something behind
of myself, something which may help people who are ill,
has grown bigger in my mind. People with kidney failure
don’t live forever, so James choosing to make this is quite
fortuitous. You never know… I might just live forever. You
lucky bastards.”
I ask him if he sees his album in the same way as
he does the film, as a way of leaving a legacy behind?
“Yeah, I’m trying my best to make it the best it can be, so
yeah I’m pretty proud of it in that sense. I hope people
enjoy it and I hope it lasts. I hope my nieces like it and still
listen to it when they’re older. That’s all I want, really!”
It’s likely they will, as Jazz and Toots, aged 10 and eight
respectively, have already started their own band, Sutn
Notn. So we better look out for the next generation of the
Goldberg dynasty coming over the hill and continuing the
musical bloodline. !
Words: Sanna King / @sanna_king
Photography: Michelle Roberts / @_sheshoots_
Transmit Groove will debut 5th August live on Facebook.
@dancingtoarchitecture
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