As they prepare to fly out to Australia ahead of performing at Harvest Rock festival in Adelaide and a handful of east-coast shows next week, Hot Chip's Felix Martin takes stock of the band's incredible career, having spent 20-plus years filling dance floors (and hearts) with their jagged blend of electro, house and feels.
"I think probably the entirety of our career and our music has been about finding that balance between melancholy and euphoria," Martin says, the group's drum machine programmer, synthesiser player."It's the space that we've always kind of existed in and have found it to be a rich source of inspiration and creativity for us.
"It's often like there's a constant battle between the lyrical content and the feel of the music that just feels perfect in a festival setting."
Set to perform with fellow dance legends Groove Armada, The Avalanches and rock legends such as Jack White and Crowded House at Harvest Rock, the band welcome the opportunity for new fans to stumble across their music.
"We've definitely picked up new fans from video game soundtracks; I know that 'Flutes' was used in the most recent 'Grand Theft Auto', which I didn't know until I was playing and it popped up out of the blue, that was a nice surprise!" Felix says with a laugh.
"I had the same experience while playing FIFA as well actually; I think it's a really good way of reaching different audiences that you wouldn't get through the radio or traditional ways that people find music, even if it's your own."
After playing nearly every major music festival on the planet at this point of their career, the band have no shortage of allies, yet one particular artist has always held a particular interest for Martin in terms of collaboration.
"I would really like to work with Bjork, I've always found her music so interesting and there's so many incredible layers to it that you can get totally lost in.
"I think she's a really interesting person and that translates into the way she approaches music. I don't think it's ever going to happen, if you're reading this we're interested."
Though a Bjork collaboration remains a pipeline dream for the band currently, they have already found themselves in the studio working with a legendary producer – Brian Eno.
"We just collaborated a bit on a track recently, so we've spent a lot of time with him in the studio, we've had a lot of really nice, lengthy conversations about what music means to us.
"He's an amazing presence to have around the band, I was really surprised when he reached out to Alexis [Taylor] when 'Freakout/Release' [Hot Chip's 2022 album] was announced and said 'I love the album artwork, it's some of the best album artwork I've ever seen'.
"It's pretty huge to hear something like that coming from such a massive legend."
With any group, particularly one that has existed for over two decades, it can be challenging to incorporate personal tastes and preferences into the final studio product.
"On a personal level I'm quite attracted to electronic music, I usually try to draw things back to electronic, synthetic textures," Martin says.
"There's a track on the new album called 'Not Alone', which has got heaps of synth melodies and electronic production that gives it enough texture to make it really interesting to me.
"I'm always trying to pull the sound away from the guitar and the drums and the rocky elements, not because I don't like them but it's just not my particular thing."
Hot Chip 2022 Tour Dates
Wed 16 Nov - Princess Theatre (Brisbane)Fri 18 Nov - Roundhouse (Sydney)
Sun 20 Nov - Harvest Rock Festival (Adelaide)
