Artist's Avenue: Paul Spella

Albuquerque is sick as a dog … with dance fever!
UNM students Paul Spella and Hendrick Onderdonk spin electro house music as DJ team Click Click Bang. They’re drawing crowds at Burt’s Tiki Lounge every Thursday night.

Daily Lobo: So tell me about your name Click Click Bang. It’s really catchy and exciting to say.

Hendrick Onderdonk: We both were like, “Hey, let’s DJ together at one time,” and we were trying to figure out what we would be called. Paul’s name that he came up with was Click Click Bang, and I find it fitting now because we both use computers. So, rather than playing with records, we are clicking on a mouse. So that’s not directly referencing our name, but it kind of makes sense now. The name I came up with was PH balance, because of Paul and Hendrick.

DL: Tell me about the electro house style.

HO: It’s based off of house music which is a pretty simple 4/4 kick-drum, simple beat. The electro part is the overlaying of grungy synthesizers and a little bit more depth than you would just have with regular house music. I feel like with a house track it’s not boring necessarily, but simple. And an electro track will have a lot of dynamics in its motion. I find it a little more interesting to play. It’s kind of just an evolution of general house music.

Paul Spella: It seems like a blending of genres. It’s like a mixture of electronic music and rock music. Whenever people call it electro, it’s kind of one of those controversial things, to be honest. A lot of people think of electro as this kind of ’80s, fully synthesizer type of thing and there is more of this indie-rock blend with electronic house music that has kind of brought about the genre we play. We both were in metal bands before we DJ’d and we were into hip-hop music.

DL: Is there a process you employ while DJing on stage as a team?

HO: We will start out by saying, “Hey, lets start out with this tonight,” and then we’ll just play this random song and go from there. We’ll follow through by communicating with each other. With the way we DJ, we have to say like, “I’m going to be going up to a certain number of (beats per minute),” and if (Paul) doesn’t follow me we are not going to be able to match up, because it’s a computer-based program we are both running independently. It’s kind of just all about being able to say it really quick and still be in the music and in the moment while interacting with the audience, which is something I think Paul and I have made a little more effort than a lot of DJs. We give each other the time to connect with the audience because of the way we mix. While my song is playing, I have plenty of time to play around with the mixer, have fun with the audience, walk around, jump around, whatever, and it kind of gives us the freedom to be more energetic and lively.

*Click Click Bang
Launchpad
618 Central Ave. S.W.
Friday
7 p.m.
For tickets visit LaunchpadRocks.com*