Sensible Reason recently sat down with Aussie electronica trio RÜFÜS DU SOL in preparation for their upcoming show in NYC Wednesday, March 26. The band has been touring all over North America this month and will be heading back to the UK/EU and Australia in April, May, and June. Known worldwide as just RÜFÜS (interestingly, due to copyright issues, they need to go by RÜFÜS DU SOL in the US), the group has been taking on dance floors everywhere, bringing in a fresh, live electronic sound that has been likened to UK group Disclosure. The group comprises of: Tyrone Lindqvist (guitar), Jon George (keyboard) & James Hunt (drums). They will be releasing a full album Atlas this year to a worldwide audience, though it has already been released in Australia, reaching #1 on the Australian album charts and has been described as, “Equal parts sun drenched melodies and late night dance floor rhythms.” Check out their latest single, “Desert Night” to get an idea of the motif of light and dark as well as how funny this band actually is before reading the full interview:

Interview

Sensible Reason: You recently described your musical style in an interview with You recently described your musical style in an interview with EDM Canada as, “We play with uplifting melodic tones that has a dark undercurrent.” That’s a really interesting juxtaposition. Do you find it challenging to play music that is both uplifting and dark? How do you balance the two?

RÜFÜS DU SOL: It’s what we’re most influenced by so it kind of comes naturally in the writing process. We feel the deeper tones of artists like Trentemoller and Booka Shade, while at the same time we’re trying to make those deeper kind of tones work on a dance floor, or in your car on the way to beach, or by the pool, or in your headphones while your cruising home from work.

Sensible Reason: Where’s your favorite place to make music? What environmental factor do you find to be a strong catalyst for producing music?

RÜFÜS DU SOL: Natural environment and setting. We wrote the demos for the album at a farm house by the ocean a few hours South of Sydney, so you can feel the warm sun and the cold unrelenting swell in some of the tracks. Perhaps it’s too much to say you can feel it. But, in a strange way we can…I’m sure the field recordings of the ocean and the wind have something to do with that.

Sensible Reason: How much of your live show is improvised and how much is pre-determined?

RÜFÜS DU SOL: The jams, drum solos, etc. are improvised. But, structurally the journey is pre-determined. We want to take the audience on a particular journey so we need the set list etc to reflect that journey.

Sensible Reason: Did you catch any other artists’ performances at SXSW? What were some up-and-coming artists that you recently checked out that really excited you?



RÜFÜS DU SOL: We were really into Chet Faker, Classixx, Giraffage, Owl Eyes, the Preatures and Panama. Chet Faker played some stuff from his upcoming album that sounded huge. Classixx and Giraffage put out 2 of our favourite albums last year so to hear them spin some of those tracks as well as a bunch of sneaky edits and new stuff that hasn’t dropped yet was exciting. Owl Eyes is a vision on stage, dare you not to fall in love with her. We’ll let you check the Preatures out and decide for yourself. Panama, went through a bunch of awesome grooves that got everyone in the place moving. We missed Warpaint and Cyril Hahn. That hurt a lot, really wanted to see those guys.

Sensible Reason: You’ll be moving to Berlin later in the year to work on a 2nd album. Can you talk a little bit about why you want to move there specifically to work on an album?

RÜFÜS DU SOL: It’s the city its self that we want to write in. Not one particular place. The entire city. Coming from Sydney where everything is ridiculously over-regulated by local councils to a place like Berlin, where there is a lot more freedom for people to make their ideas happen, that’s pretty much the reason.

Sensible Reason: What’s your favorite tour food stop? Any particular America food you had to have as soon as you landed?

RÜFÜS DU SOL: We tried In-N-Out and don’t hate us, but it’s not our kinda thing. We are always hunting for fresh kinda places, fresh places and wi-fi.

Sensible Reason: Anything we should look forward to for your NYC show? Anything you’re looking forward to about NYC?

RÜFÜS DU SOL: 700 people having a dance. Really looking forward to getting a slice and seeing some our our friends who have been in NYC for a while.

Don’t miss RÜFÜS DU SOL on Wednesday, March 25 in NYC! Get tickets here before they sell out! Or enter our contest here and just go for free! We’re picking two winners who each get a pair tickets, so better enter now:

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