5 Questions with
Escort

All the way from New York City, tonight Madison will be graced with the musical talents of contemporary disco group Escort. Incorporating up to 16 pieces in some of their live sets, the group’s energy, groovy moves, and soulful sound has every concert attendee on their feet the entire show. Their modern sound brings the ’70s back to life and mixes it with progressive elements keeping it relevant in today’s music scene. I had the chance to talk with the group’s lead singer, Adeline Michèle, about being a nu-disco band in today’s music scene. 

To someone who has never heard your music before, how would you describe your sound?
“A big party with lyrics” that’s the best way to describe it.” (laughs)

You recently put out two singles, “Barbarians” and “Cabaret.” What was the inspiration behind those?
“‘Barbarians’ was a concept from one of the co-writers. For the last year we always thought it was such a cool and natural concept. The story of barbarians is a natural story so we drew inspiration from there. ‘Cabaret’ is a story from a different world. We made up a story to the concept; we’ve all had our party times in New York and great memories from it so we incorporated them into a funky song.”

In the spirit of the recent government shutdown, you put out a mixtape called “Gov’t Shutdown Throwdown.” Can you elaborate on this piece a bit?
“It’s more of a teaser, an introduction for people who are coming to see us on tour that hasn’t heard us before. It’s like a preview for our show; you can listen to it while you get ready. We named it during the dawn of the shutdown and we take our music very seriously, but we have fun great with it also so that was where the name comes from.”

Is it true you use a 17-piece line-up in your live performance? What does this entail?
“It’s actually 16, but that’s only when we play New York. We bring in everyone who has played on the record and it makes our normal number go up to 16 very quickly. The logistics for now are not do-able on tour to bring everyone although we wish we could. We do 5-10 depending on the size of the venue and where we are; we have to take those things into account.”

What can Madison expect to see from your live performance?
“They can expect to feel like they’re riding a rollercoaster. Come with an open mind and come here to have fun and see how you can dance and party while listening to live music. We’re really excited our first time in Madison.”