UK’s electro-pop wunderkinds Hot Chip know too well that it is the geeks who shall inherit the earth. Remember the scene in 1980s teen flick Revenge of the Nerds where the TriLams and the Mus perform a victorious, Devo-esque gig for all the jocks? So it is for Hot Chip.
Dance-Music Mash-Up
Ask fans or journos about the Chip’s live shows, and their responses would likely contain more positive adjectives than a thesaurus. Jubiliant. Ecstatic. Supremely fun. Yes, Hot Chip are generally that good live. Chopping and changing between guitars/drums/percussion/basses, five sets of machines, vocalists and keeping the bonkers party energy at full-pelt is no mean feat. But somehow, Hot Chip manage it. Often.
Even if their albums (Coming on Strong, The Warning and this year’s quirky, loveable and slightly uneven Made in the Dark) don’t quite capture the esprit du coeur of a live show, top Chip Joe Goddard understands that when it comes to touring you get what you give.
Exclusive Interview with Joe Goddard
Suite101 sat down with producer/synth player/vocalist Goddard in Vancouver before the show he and his band mates would call the best gig of the tour, to have an exclusive chat about life on the road and how far they’ve come.
“The way people have been perceiving our music has been improving greatly over the past couple of years,” says Goddard with a self-conscious smile. “Honestly, it’s just been the most simple and enjoyable tour that we’ve ever done. We’ve got to a point where we’re really comfortable and confident.”
Goddard says this is down to the fact that they actually rehearsed. “It can be difficult, because you have to stop the song and go ‘that wasn’t quite right, you screwed up, let’s do it again.’ We did that for three weeks in London but we’ve never done that before. Previously we’d just go ‘oh screw it, let’s just go on tour.’ But we really worked at it and we’ve seen the payoff from the crowds.”
Energy = Fun on Tour
Solid reviews across the board prove it, but what makes it a fun gig for the Londoners themselves?
“It really is just how much energy is created. You start to sound like a kind of hippie, but it’s true. We try to put a lot of energy out there when we begin, and if that comes back from the crowd it increases things for us and builds it into this fun party thing. If we come off stage and go ‘wow, did you see that guy in the front row going crazy?’, that means it was a success in our minds.”
But they can’t all be winners, Goddard concedes.
WMC Disaster
“We played the Miami Winter Music Conference once and had to play two shows in one day. We sound-checked at one show, then went to the other show to soundcheck at that, then went back to the other to play it. But when we went back to the second place, we’d left half of our gear at the other place, and had to wing it. It was supposed to be this ‘Hot Chip, hyped band, Winter Music Conference’ performance and we were laughably bad, just shambolic. And that happens to us all the time. But we’ve really sorted a lot of those things out now. I think back to touring the US and Canada in a tiny van and with all our gear in an RV, our keyboards in the shower and the whole thing felt like it was going to fall apart. You couldn’t sleep properly and we were tired all the time. But this tour has been fantastic. This year, everything’s just been sorted for us.”
Getting sorted for tickets is what dance fans should be doing now. Hot Chip play the Euro festival circuit this summer, and embark on a UK tour in October/November. Hot Chip? All hail the nerds. Go. See. Now.
Hot Chip Live at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, BC, was presented by Sealed With a Kiss Presents.
Mikala Taylor - Mikala Taylor is the creator/writer of BACKSTAGERIDER.COM, an editor/interactive producer, and was the former associate editor of ...
