In light of Chromeo's sixth studio album and the band's 20th anniversary, Dave I and P-Thugg give us a glimpse into their odyssey of electric brilliance.

From left: Dave 1 and P-Thugg of Chromeo BACKGROUND PHOTO BY BGBLUE/ISTOCK PHOTOGRAPHY BY JORDAN ROORIGUEZ

Dave 1 reflects, fresh off a North American tour and dialed in from his home in Los Angeles, head famously tilted with Moscot glasses. Chromeo’s other half, P-Thugg, on the line from Paris, chuckles in agreement. “And that’s pretty much the last 20 years of our life.”

Chromeo (@chromeo) commands a stage anchored by keyboards that rest on model-like, high-heeled legs and ensconced by massive modular synth towers. For day-one fans, the aesthetic is essentially unchanged except for scale. It’s a chromed-out stage landscape that looks something like a futuristic space command center—then, with one strum of the guitar, a light show beams against the colossal metal monoliths, and suddenly, you’re among a prismatic spectacle that could light up all of Coachella Valley.

On stage is Dave 1 (Dave Macklovitch), who is usually leather-clad or kitted in a well-tailored suit, while P-Thugg (Patrick Gemayel) smiles a gold-tooth grin with a perfectly perched beret of sorts. Together, the brotherly energy that has fueled their two-decade-long career is charming and magnetic, proven by their arsenal of contagious, sweaty dancefloor anthems that have earned them a dedicated fan base worldwide. Never surrendering to fleeting fads or cultural shifts, Chromeo’s records have always been a sign of their own time, etching their name into the annals of modern music by owning this corner of groovy, electro-funk.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JORDAN ROORIGUEZ

Chromeo’s musical journey began in the early 2000s when the two high school friends started writing songs together, working to create a sound that paid homage to the funk, rock and hip-hop influences of their upbringing.

“Our first and second albums were so pure because it was literally me and P in his mom’s basement in suburban Montreal, just laughing our asses off and experimenting, crafting this thing that we knew would be the best combination of good taste and bad taste,” Dave shared. The band mentions that their early musical references were somewhat frowned upon, enough for people to question if they were actually being serious. “It would be like if a rapper today said, my reference is Pitbull,” P-Thugg said. Dave followed up, “I actually think he deserves his flowers, but it would literally be that.”

The duo’s debut album, “She’s in Control” (2004), set the stage for their distinctive blend of catchy melodies and witty lyrics, and its quick success marked the start of Chromeo’s ascent in the music industry. “Everything we do is within the confines of funk, so that’s all the different sub-genres,” P-Thugg shares when describing the non-negotiables of the Chromeo creative process. “There are so many unexplored, different types of funk and funky music and funk adjacent. It seems like people always end up doing one type, but from the beginning, we’ve been determined to explore everything, dissect, study funk as much as we can, and reinterpret it our own way. We see funk where people don’t necessarily see it.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JORDAN ROORIGUEZ

Cut to 2023, and Chromeo’s journey welcomed an iconic collaboration with La Roux, producing for up-and-coming artists, a fifth showing at Coachella, a multi-leg stage tour, and revealing new super fans like Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, Chromeo is back with more energy than ever as they head into their 20th anniversary and what they call their “new funk era.”

On the heels of their new album release titled “Adult Contemporary” (the pair’s first full-length release since 2018), Dave 1 and P-Thugg reinject their intrinsic Casanova energy, which has been the driving force behind the relatable love songs woven throughout their records. After all, it’s the duality in their band name: Chrome, for the shimmery electronics, and Romeo, for the heartfelt romantics. And while the pair have never shied away from talking about being amorous in all of its forms, this new record feels a little bit more grown and explores the capriciousness of love in mature, modern relationships with song titles like “Personal Effects,” “(I Don’t Need a) New Girl” and “Words with You.”

“I think that the statement of ‘Adult Contemporary’ is being age-appropriate and being comfortable with where you are and who you are in life, and not trying to glorify ‘oh I’m old now’ and all that,” Dave 1 shares. “So we were like, OK, let’s write a cohesive album about mature love, and every song tells a story about one facet of contemporary relationships. For P and I, it’s sort of symbolic of our union because we’ve been doing this as Chromeo for 20 years, and it’s how we have managed to stay motivated, stimulated, and inspired as a musical couple for so long and not trying to be something we’re not.”

The duo describes their creative process as a car with two steering wheels that they both get to drive. “Trust. No ego. Just literally abandoning yourself to your partner,” P-Thugg said, describing the secret sauce behind their working relationship. “We’re coming into our age and career, where we sit after six albums musically, personally, politically, whatever. We get asked this question a lot: how do you guys do it? It’s a marriage.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JORDAN ROORIGUEZ

Beyond their musicality, their allure is really in what, at first glance, looks like an unusual pairing. P-Thugg is Italian, Egyptian and Lebanese, while Dave 1 is Moroccan and Eastern European—both, of course, are Canadian with French as their native tongue—and together they speak two handfuls of languages which, they admit, are secret weapons deployed at random.

“Any excuse for us to showcase our many cultures in what we do is awesome,” Dave 1 shares. Their diverse backgrounds have also influenced their individual style from the early aughts— effortlessly cool, edgy, but polished, each with their signature sartorial flair.

“It’s better to describe the other person’s style,” Dave 1 quipped. “French rock, lit geek chic—that’s Dave,” P-Thugg shared.

“P’s style is like, I would say, futuristic African diplomat,” Dave 1 replied.

On stage, Dave 1 is notoriously accessorized by a pair of black Wayfarers and P-Thugg, a Talk Box tube that rarely leaves his lips.

We connected with the band just before a DJ gig in Miami as one of their final shows of the year, and we couldn’t help but ask them to reflect on their relationship with Magic City.

“We love Miami,” Dave 1 exclaimed. “There’s no amount of cynicism and criticism—Miami’s above all critique because it’s so funny and funky, and it’s so diverse that there’s nothing you can say to really criticize it. It’s glamorous chaos.”

Dave 1, who has been going to Art Basel Miami Beach since 2009, recalls some of the best social memories during the famed week of art and bacchanalia but is hilariously most fond of a food truck from back in the day. “There are some Miami OG’s that are going to know what I’m talking about. Back in the day, before food trucks were even a thing, there was somebody called the Pincho Man,” Dave explained. “This is a real, Miami legendary cult thing! Everybody who’s going to read this will know what I’m talking about. You had a secret phone number to call, and they would tell you what parking lot this dude is in.”

And if you ask their favorite Miami music venue to perform at? Dave 1, without hesitation, replied, “E11EVEN. It is legitimately one of the greatest clubs in the world, like the new Studio54,” and we all smiled as a co-sign. “We were having chocolate cake and chicken wings while playing in the DJ booth at 4 a.m., and that’s the thing about Miami—it never stops being crazy.”