Hot Chip

We spoke to Owen of Hot Chip, ahead of their Norwich gig on October 24that Nick Rayns LCR, UEA

Hi, how are you today?

I am incredible.

Your seventh studio album, A Bath Full of Ecstasy, came out this summer--can you tell me about the process of writing and recording that album? Was it any different to your previous releases?

Our previous record was made in Banbury in Oxfordshire. This one was made in Paris and three corners of London. Aside from a change in locale, it’s our very first record working with external producers which brought a challenging focus and spritely sense of fun to proceedings. Andy Murray played bass on a couple tracks. He’s an incredible bassist but he was kept busy with other side projects over the summer so he couldn’t do the whole record.

You just won the ‘Best Independent Video’ at this year’s AIM awards for ‘Hungry Child’--what was the process behind this video?

It’s a good idea. Executed very well, by good people. There’s a lot to be said for trusting people to see through an idea that’s a bit of a risk. It really paid off with the ‘Hungry child’ video.

Even though ‘Hungry Child’ is a beautiful video as-is, if I were to give you unlimited funds and a bunch of Oscar award winning producers, what would you do? Where would you go with it?

I would have it exactly the same but I would film it by the edge of the Grand Canyon. I would fill the Grand Canyon with petrol and then sail two battleships headlong into each other at the end. Explosion.
I would carbon offset it because of the environment and stuff.

picture courtesy of Ronald Dick

Is having music playing super loud in your head all the time even a bad thing?

I had Tina Turner singing the line ‘..The thunderdome’ from We Don’t Need Another Hero in my head for three days straight. And now I have it in my head again.
“THE THUN-DER-DOME!“

Coming onto the live show, what are you bringing to the tour this year? How are you going to translate the really immersive new album into a live setting?

We are going to bring 4.2 tonnes of gear and we are using 56 audio input channels along with 177 Lighting units to translate the new album into a live setting. In the wrong hands it could be deadly. Don’t worry, we’re strictly good magic.

You’ve done a few covers on previous tours, are you bringing the Hot Chip style to other songs on this tour too?

We currently have six covers woven into the fabric of the current live set. The first person in Norwich to name all covers gets a free XL Hot Chip T-shirt of our choosing.

What does the rest of your year/your 2020 look like?

Like an unending psychedelic space juggernaut ploughing through space, time and perception. (And Norwich.)

picture courtesy of Ronald Dick

Anything you really want to do whilst you’re in Norwich?

We’ll be heading to smokey barn coffee on King street. We’re going to get blitzed on their sweet sweet beans. Blitzed I tell you. Blitzed off our beans. On their beans.

And to round off, tell me something I don’t know about A Bath Full of Ecstasy.

It’s an anagram of Fat Bashful Acolytes. It’s an anagram of Flushable Fatty Soca also. There are loads of anagrams available. ‘Obfuscates’ in there too.
Feel free to try your hand at some anagrams Norwich. We look forward to hearing them.

Thanks guys! Brilliant album, by the way.

Thanks!