What Batman and Robin are to superheroes; Coco and Robin are to music. This female/male Danish duo has a sound they describe as 'indie-soul with an electronic backdrop.' On June 29th they ended a U.S. tour at Johnny Brenda’s and two.one.five magazine had the opportunity to spend some quality time with the band before they hit the stage.

What is the meaning of the band's name?
Robin: There are several meanings. We found out that we had some of the same backgrounds, not the same upbringing but some of the same ancestry. The name Quadron derives from Quadroon and it means quarter black. Coco’s grandfather is African and my grandfather is African-American, so we had that in common. Since we were both into soul music and that was the focal point for the record also, it made sense also as a tribute to that part of our heritage because that’s where that genre of music comes from.

What American bands or styles of music would you say your music most closely resembles?
Coco: We didn’t do anything on purpose. It’s no secret that we’re both Michael Jackson fans. We would never try to do anything he has done because it’s not possible for us to do something he has done. We make our own sound and we are not trying to copy anyone’s sound. That’s not the intention of us making music. It’s just to make what we think is good right now. I don’t think there’s any specific bands.

Is music truly global, now? Does it have the capability of breaking boundaries?
Coco: Music is only pleasure, it’s only people listening to something that makes them happy, or makes them sad, or makes them feel like whatever mood they want to be in. The internet has just shown how much more we have in common than we think of. It makes it so much easier to share everything and it shows us we are not so different from people in Africa, America, Scandinavia, or Europe. Everybody has music in common at least. You can find a fan anywhere.    

Where do you see American culture in Denmark?
Robin: Everywhere. There is a Danish culture and there is a European culture but it’s so intertwined and mixed with American culture. It’s kind of hard to differentiate from early on. Even before you are in kindergarten, you start watching Walt Disney. You see television and a lot of television is American series or films, cartoons, you know, Donald Duck, whatever.

Is your music like any of the other music that is coming out of Denmark today, or are you in a whole different category?
Coco: Nothing is exactly similar but it’s not like we’re weirdos either.
Robin: There isn’t that much soul music in Denmark. It’s not a very dominating genre at all.

What is?
Coco: Indie rock, a lot of guitar based bands, a lot of electronic music. There’s a lot of club music, electronic music, just beats, dancing.
Robin: The DJ culture is very big still. Every place has a DJ every Friday, Saturday, some places even more. The only thing that’s kind of similar is maybe the aesthetic. Some of the bands we are friends with, it’s kind of a community. It’s not the same but the aesthetics, some of the other projects that we are involved with, a close group of friends.

Do you try to surprise the listener with your music? Do you want to add that element of surprise when people hear your stuff?
Robin: I’m a thick believer in contrasts. There’s a lot of different styles but within the same genre on the album. I guess that could surprise someone too. Soul music is more or less the same, one-direction and you stay true to that direction.

What’s the importance of making an album that’s consistently good from start to finish?
Coco: I only think that kind of album is made when people try to make hits or try to please different groups of listeners. The kind of album where it may be a house song, an R&B/soul song, then there has to be a dance then there has to be a club song. When you’re not doing that it makes music you like. It won’t always be our sound because we made it off of what we like and what we are inspired by. I don’t think we can be that different in that short period of time.

Being from Denmark, what have you found difficult about promoting yourselves?
Robin: I guess with the size of our country, there’s a small country mentality. That even though you don’t believe in it, it’s kind of rooted in you and you wouldn’t imagine that what you’re doing is something that someone that listened to pop since they were small children would be interested in or would even know us or spare a listen. So, that’s the biggest barrier, the mental element, the mental border that you have to think it’s not your first language, it’s not your mother tone. You can still do something good with this and you can still reach a lot more listeners than just your own country. Of course the internet has made things a lot different, which is amazing. Not just in regards to finding out whose listening to you because you can Ecosurf your name and see what’s happening with your project but also people being able to finding and contacting. The label we signed with, we never met before releasing, the same with our manager, so the internet has really been impressive.

Are you surprised at how fast this has all happened for you?
Robin: The record only came out the 23rd of March over here. The Danish release came out in August, it’s been almost a year. That took a little while too, getting it on radio, pushing it, and people believing in it, and spreading the knowledge. We’ve been very fortunate that everything went so quickly. There’s people we both know, bands we both know, that for years and years released records and have had to build it and we are already kind of sharing the same stages and same audience with them, so that’s pretty cool.

Quadron - Official Slippin Video from Plug Research on Vimeo.

See the photos from the show here