Sean Lennon and Charlottpe Kemp Muhl, together known as the Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger, performed a live set during the Fashion Week 2011 Rebecca Minkoff show on Friday.
The show began with a rendition of Lennon’s “Dead Meat” from the album “Friendly Fire.” Muhl tapped the beginning bars of the song on a baby-blue xylophone and provided accompanying vocals. Although the runway was illuminated throughout “Dead Meat,” it remained devoid of models until Lennon and Muhl transitioned into an instrumental track, and the show commenced.
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“They asked us to do instrumentals while the girls walked,” comments Muhl. “It’s interesting playing music for a fashion show. You’re not a DJ going from one song to the other. It’s different every time depending on how fast the girls walk, so we have to be watching the girls and time it right, improve the transitions and keep it flexible. You really had to stay on your toes — I liked that. You’re not boxed into a rigid plan.”
Despite planning to only play instrumentals during the show, Muhl and Lennon provided vocals while covering Serge Gainsbourg’s “J’Taime Mon Non Plus.” “We couldn’t help singing a little bit because we love that song so much,” says Lennon. “The vocals in it were soft and spidery and whispery, so they don’t really count,” Muhl comments, smiling.
Muhl was declared the ‘muse’ for Rebecca Minkoff’s fall collection. “Because of that, we couldn’t say no when she asked us to play… it was kind of an honor,” Muhl notes.
“She must be cool it she’s watching Charlotte’s style, because I really like her style too,” says Lennon. “It’s an obsession with strange aesthetics and dilapidated things.”
The duo will be recording a lot this summer, but not before making an appearance at SXSW in Austin in March. Their label, Chimera Music, will be hosting a showcase featuring a variety of bands on the label, including The Ghost of a Sabertooth Tiger, If By Yes (Yuka Honda’s new band) and the Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band, the group of Lennon’s mother, Yoko Ono, which will be headlining the evening. “We’ve played SXSW as a band before,” Lennon says, “but never as a full record label, so its kind of exciting.”