Embracing a society built around rapidly changing technology and working off each other’s own styles, Amy Kirkpatrick and Ajay Bhattacharyya form Data Romance, an electro-indie duo.

With the release of their self-titled EP, in June the Victoria-based duo have hit the road for a North American tour that includes a stop in Ottawa at the Raw Sugar Café Oct. 16. The Charlatan’s Fraser Tripp caught up with them between shows.

The Charlatan (TC): How did you get started?

Amy Kirkpatrick (AK): Well, I’ve been playing piano since I was four and then I started doing just solo guitar when I was 16, just sort of taught myself . . . A couple of years ago we started writing electronic music, or [Bhattacharyya] started writing some beats and then sending them to me and then I’d write vocals over them.

TC: How, if at all, have you found that working with Bhattacharyya has changed your musical style?

AK: It’s changed it a lot. I mean, he has such an eclectic music taste that I wouldn’t think to have listened to on my own. Back when I was doing solo piano stuff, I was listening to more solo female artists to get inspiration and then when [Bhattacharyya] came along, obviously he had somewhat heavier tastes and that’s kind of affected what our sound today is.

TC: Would you say that you learned anything from recording Data Romance that you might have applied to your next EP, to be released in the winter?

Ajay Bhattacharyya (AB): We’re such a young band, I think we’re growing and learning a lot, you know, by the day. I think the second EP reflects that in that it’s more ambitious. There’s a lot grander sound and we tried writing in different ways.
Usually, I would come with the instrumentals first and [Kirkpatrick] would put lyrics on top of it. But [in our] second EP, we tried the approach where [Kirkpatrick] would write a song just using piano or guitar, we’d check the vocals and I’d build a beat around it. It kind of flipped everything we did on its head and hopefully makes for some more interesting stuff.

TC: There seems to be a dynamic in your music created from electronic beats contrasted by soft vocals. Would you say that is reflective of your personalities?

AB: We’ve always been pretty democratic. I’ve learned that it didn’t really matter where we started the songs because we’re still collaborating pretty much down the middle. Once we both write our own parts we do get together and really, kind of, edit each other’s stuff. [Kirkpatrick will] change structural things about my instrumentals, or tones or certain parts. She’ll have suggestions. And I’ll have suggestions about her vocals, too. It’s not radically different, but it helps us grow as writers for sure.

TC: The name Data Romance is said to have been inspired by Ellen Allien's EP by the same title. Is this true? And if so, what inspiration do you take from her music?

AB: The artist called Apparat and the group called Modeselektor, from Germany, were both pretty tight with her at one point, and that sound influenced our sound so much that, honestly, that was just how I became aware of that name . . . We just thought it was a name that was reflective of the two of us. Obviously me being ‘the data’ and [Kirkpatrick] being ‘the romance’ kind of combining more electronic, digital, harsh instrumental with more emotional lyrics.

TC: You studied theatre in school. Would you say that background had an influence on your music?

AK: The theatre background, if anything, just kind of makes me feel more natural on stage. And people like [artist] Bat for Lashes, I love how they take the theatrical aspect and make it part of the show. I’d love to get more extreme with that down the road.

TC: What exactly can we expect from your stage show at The Raw Sugar Café?

AK: I’ve got some keys, trying to incorporate more live instruments and we still hope to add more down the road for sure. But it’s really a zero to 100 show, where you get some quiets, then you get some bangers in there. We just want people to have a good time.