Nylon: Chromeo

“You know what we’re like?” asks Dave Macklovitch, a.k.a. Dave 1 of Chromeo, leaning in and clapping his hands. “That one girl who got hot after high school. We’re a late-blooming band.” It’s a humble-brag, sure, but maybe an accurate one: On the strength of the duo’s recently released fourth album, they’ve finally inched up to the “big type” section of posters for summer festivals like Primavera Sound, Bonnaroo, Glastonbury, and Lollapalooza. But Macklovitch isn’t talking about font sizes or fee guarantees. He’s referring, of course, to their new LP, White Women, a modern pastiche of glossy electro-funk, slick pop, and sexy disco, all imbued with Chromeo’s signature wit. “We’re older, more experienced, and we’ve grown into ourselves,”he explains, relaxed in ripped denim and a gray sweater. “And that does exist, by the way,” pipes in Macklovitch’s musical other half, Patrick Gemayel (a.k.a. P-Thugg or Pee for short), “the girl who gets hot at 26.” 

We’re seated at the dining table in Macklovitch’s Williamsburg apartment, a sleek, minimalist space so thoughtfully appointed I worry my handbag plopped on the floor by the entrance is an eyesore. On one wall hangs a series by abstract painter and color theorist Josef Albers; an adjacent one features black-and-white geometric prints that Macklovitch picked up in Brazil. A manicured houseplant sits beneath loftlike windows, and the furniture—all monochromatic, mid-century angles—would put Don Draper’s to shame. “Pee’s place is the opposite,” says Macklovitch, glancing around the room. “He’s got so much stuff.” Gemayel nods, acknowledging all of the “plants, records, posters on top of posters....” “But the Versace closet at Pee’s house is mental,” continues Macklovitch. “I’ve never seen so many colors in my life. It’s a sensory overload.” Gemayel grins: “Versace was a color theorist, too.”