Fighter/Lover are a 3-piece unit that will make you want to dance if you are willing, or bob your head involuntarily if you resist. Whatever your inclination, difference, or indifference, Fighter/Lover will commit. Doc Pickles hit up F/L singer Roey Shemesh for a discussion about botox, Nico, Grapefruit League Baseball, classical music, and other dance music related topics.

What did people do before electronics when they wanted to play electro music? Were there classical musicians who would get people dancing? In the absence of electricity, did the same need-to-electro-dance feelings lie dormant in people, or come out in other facets?

Electronic music is just a version or interpretation of rhythms, either from tribes, the sounds of industry, human sounds and so on. Earlier composers of classical music were doing a similar thing, emulating or interpreting sounds found in nature and in the environment with the available technology of the times. People always had the need to move or be moved by music. Maybe if everything hits the fan we'll go back to banging sticks on big rocks.

Songwriting question: Do you prefer wait until the piece is complete and then graft on appropriate lyrics, or do you work out lyrics first and try to find beats around them?

Songwriting in general is different with each song. Sure, you can start out with a string of good lyrics and turn them into a melody and eventually into a song. It's really about the first moment that you say to yourself, "This idea is decent enough that I will continue to build on it until it’s a song", and go from there. The motivation is to follow it down and build on it. That initial moment can happen with anything, not just lyrics. For example a guitar part can turn into an instrumental piece where the lyrics are the last component.

If you had the opportunity to take a year off life and just make music where would you go? A log cabin in the woods? A sleazy L.A. motel? Somewhere in Africa to attend drumming workshops? Peter Gabriel's basement?

Someplace hot with nature available at arms length and at least one or two distractions. Spring training in Florida followed by a summer, winter and fall writing a baseball concept album in the sunshine state.

If you had the opportunity to take a year off, would you actually make music or would you just screw around until the eleventh month?

I would probably be screwing around and partying quite a bit during the Spring Training season. Driving extremely fast on the Florida highways. Of course this is a necessary evil in order to educate myself and gather info and inspiration. Fear and Loathing in the Grapefruit League. As soon as the regular season starts though it’s nose to the grindstone.

How did the dynamics work with Nico in the Velvet Underground? Do you think she was friends with the rest of the band, would pal around and hang out? Or go off to be sullen? Actually, when weren't they sullen?

Nico was apparently introduced to the band by Warhol, who wanted to add another vocalist to the Velvets. According to history, Lou and Co. were resistant to Nico joining the band and her solo career started happening soon after the album with the banana on it. In conclusion it's doubtful Nico and the rest of the Velvets got along famously. Personal tensions in bands leading to creepily awesome vibes. Check.

Could you manage playing an entire set without changing your facial expression? Or is that just impossible, like sneezing with your eyes open. Do you express more feelings with your face when you play, or in real life?

There's no way I would be able to police my facial expressions during a musical performance. When you're singin', contorting your face in various ways actually helps manage pitch and vocal control. Botox might make me look great, but it sure makes me sing off key. In real life and everyday conversation my face barely moves at all save for my mouth.

Have you ever tried to put serious read between the lines message in a song?

The lyrics that I tend to write are either fully abstract or else the total opposite: very straightforward. Either the listener is encouraged to use their imagination and create meaning for themselves, or else there is no mistaking what is being sung about. So far no hidden codes have been embedded in these songs but we will be planting some Satanic backwards masking in our next vinyl before it goes to press.