hot headliners

When Hot Chip’s co-creators Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard became school friends, bonding over a mutual admiration for The Beastie Boys, the foundations were laid for what would become one of Britain’s most experimental and celebrated electronic-pop groups. Now consisting of five multi-instrumentalists Alexis, Joe, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, and Felix Martin, Hot Chip has been making magical music together for 20 years.

Words Dani Sherring Image Ronald Dick

Catchy dance bangers and melodic, emphatic tunes make up some of the group’s musical back catalogue, with big-name hits including Over and Over, Boy from School and Ready for the Floor, but it’s hard to define the music with just a few words, because Hot Chip’s sound is purely their own. As well as seven albums, their jubilant and energetic live performances have amassed this group of ‘gloriously ordinary weirdos’ – recently referred to by Double J’s Tim Shiel as ‘disco dads’ – a devoted cult following. And it’s on the back of their provocatively titled seventh album, A Bath Full of Ecstasy, that the group has been touring the world, bringing their brand of weird and wonderful to the Gong on February 29. We were lucky enough to catch up with Hot Chip’s Felix Martin ahead of their headlining gig at Farmer & The Owl…

Firstly, tell me about the awesome name of your latest album, A Bath Full of Ecstasy…
[Laughs] It’s actually very innocent… just to be straight-up, it has no reference to drugs. It’s a phrase that Alexis came up with and is the title of one of the songs on the album. He just really likes to have baths… he finds them enjoyable and there’s a feeling of ecstasy in that. It’s supposed to be fun, playful, light-hearted.

This album’s been described as a celebration of life – would you agree? Was that the intention?
Yeah, I guess I would. Alexis and Joe and very keen on their music being a celebratory, positive thing. And for us, travelling round the world playing live music shows is very much about bringing joy to people. This album is definitely an extension of that joy.

The Wollongong show is the first stop on your Australian tour – what can we expect from your performance?
We’ve been touring for over a year now, so by this stage we’re well practised. It should be pretty polished, without too many rough edges… hopefully. It will be a really fun show – we’ll play with two other members, a drummer and a multi-instrumentalist. There’s also lots happening on stage, lots to look at, lots of synthesizers. Our set list is like a greatest hits compilation, a big mix from all our albums. We can’t wait.

Your live acts are renowned for being super energetic with an infectious party vibe – is there a different presence you bring to the stage?
Definitely. When we’re in the studio everything is done very carefully and we’re listening very closely to make sure the details are right. Whereas on stage… well, it’s a bit more rock and roll. Things can get quite loud! But in saying that, the way we play on stage is faithful to the recording. We try not to veer to much from the original, and make it sound as good, better, than it did on the record.

You’ve been touring since March last year – are you exhausted?
Yes! We were exhausted just before Christmas, but we had a few weeks off and now I’m feeling more human again and ready for more crime and punishment [laughs]. We keep touring until November so we’re not letting up.

This isn’t your first time in Australia, what do you enjoy about coming back here?
So many things – the people, the food, the weather, the fact that we can escape the bleak winter in Europe. Getting some Vitamin D is pretty nice too. But we know that Australia has suffered so much recently, and the conditions have been horrific with the bushfires, so we don’t really know what to expect this time around.

It’s definitely been a cruel and heartbreaking summer, but music has the power to uplift and I think lots of people will be looking forward to having a dance…
I find it so hard to imagine what it’s been like. Certainly, music is a powerful tool and we think it’s just really important to be there and hopefully provide some kind of normalcy… some joy.

You’ve been playing together for 20 years – what’s the secret to such longevity?
The dynamic just works, and that spark and creativity is still there between Alexis and Joe who are writing music, and the other three of us are there to facilitate that. We still have a lot of fun working and touring together – it’s not always easy but we just feel very lucky and very privileged to do what we do. I think we’re all intelligent enough to appreciate that.