Pop Til You Drop: HEARTTHROB

Jesse Siminski, aka Heartthrob, is often called out on the audible pop influence in his records – perhaps a bit unexpected, coming from someone who’s a fully fledged member of the rather esoteric Minus family. We decided to pull Jesse up on his name and penchant for idols, in a quick fire round of pop-culture-shaped bullets.

Who do you think is the epitome of a heartthrob?
I get really embarrassed using the name Heartthrob. To me the best examples of a heartthrob are Johnny Depp or Mick Jagger. They have such remarkable style and talent.

Who did you used to idolize growing up?
It’s no question that Prince has been my main Pop Idol since early childhood. He dazzled me with his incredible music and sexy image.

Who/what are your favourite pop guilty pleasures?
The internet is my main source of empty pop consumption. Especially the website www.dlisted.com. It is hilarious. It catalogues some of the saddest, most hilarious and ridiculous characters in today’s culture. It’s cunty and poetic.

Do you think pop will eventually eat itself, as the theorists speculate? If so, what do you think pop would taste like?
It seems that way. I notice a lot of awful appropriations and remakes of classic movies and songs and am baffled. Pop just might taste a bit stale in the end. Though I think that pop culture tastes best to the young.

How do you fuse something as accessible and emotion-laced as pop to something as structured as techno?
For me, melody is the easiest connection. My favourite techno tracks always have a powerful emotional content as much as their sense of groove. Some of the earliest Juan Atkins tracks had a pop song structure, even if they were raw and dancefloor driven. I love that. "No UFO's" comes to mind. I approach each track from a melodic point of view and work from there. It depends how far you want to confuse the techno listener in the end. Song structure does not always work with that crowd.

Do you think there's a connection between the pop world and the electronic music world, now more so than ever? You must see it first hand, working alongside the worshipped Minus camp. Do you think the two worlds will ever cross - could underground music find itself on a pop platform?
Absolutely. Daft Punk doing the soundtrack for the new Tron movie s a fitting example. The early audience who grew up with electronic dance music are now raising children, who are experiencing its influence in their television programming, video games and recreational electronics. Youth culture has a handle on what is underground and inform those who capitalize and shape popular culture from it. The internet has allowed for the fastest crossover from underground to pop. The pop world depends upon the underground world and vise versa. It’s like a Möbius strip. People always react against what is boring to them and I guess that is where underground culture comes from.

Who do you think is the biggest heartthrob in electronic music?
It’s a tie between Brian Eno and Baby Ford. Musically speaking of course.