Cut Copy

When Cut Copy takes the stage at Pitchfork Sunday night, the Aussies will be finishing something they started in 2008 when their plane arrived into O’Hare late, forcing the foursome to play an abbreviated four-song set to a dance-starved Pitchfork crowd. Now some three years later, a much bigger Cut Copy is touring in support of their latest record Zonoscope (Modular Recordings), and sound like they’re just beginning to stretch out as their American popularity and exposure grow exponentially by the minute. Having spent years touring with some of the best in the electro-dance scene like Daft Punk, Franz Ferdinand and The Presets, Cut Copy have been baptized in some heavy musical acid. Expect a visible and impassioned resurgence of crowd surfing, drugged-out dancing, fans screaming every word, enough synth to make your ears bleed, and frontman Dan Whitford’s devilishly charming Australian accent. And plenty of hopping. (Sunday, 7:25-8:30, Red Stage) –text: James H. Ewert

Cut Copy

It’s been interesting to see how people react to [the music] live, their body movements and faces. People tend to get, you know, a bit weird at the shows.

story by Angie Martin


After a 2-year hiatus, Melbourne synth-pop trio Cut Copy has returned with their third LP, Zonoscope. The 11-track release is more expansive, heart-pounding and cohesive than their previous two releases — Bright Like Neon Love and In Ghost Colours — albums that garnered them well-deserved hype for classic dance tracks like “Hearts on Fire” and “Feel the Love”. Taking over the world’s roads and embarking on a tour of sold-out festivals and shows, guitarist Tim Hoey took a few moments to discuss the making of Zonoscope and the band’s approach to live shows. 



Chicago Innerview: Cut Copy recorded Zonoscope over a 6-month period in a warehouse. What drew you to recording in that space?

Tim Hoey: We stumbled across the space from a friend. We wanted an open space. It had vintage equipment, so it was quite a DIY project. It was liberating because we weren’t in an expensive recording studio watching the clocking in and out and making sure we weren’t going overtime. We had more time to write and listen and experiment without having to worry about much. 



Chicago Innerview: Some have called Zonoscope your most ambitious record to date. Do you agree with this?
Tim Hoey: Yeah. Every time we start a record we have an idea of it being ambitious, but with this one we certainly went for more grandiose ideas. We had an idea of creating more of a rhythmic, hypnotic record that wasn’t as immediate as the other two records. We wanted a record that would reveal itself over time, not right off the bat…That was the intention with this record.



CI: The last song on Zonoscope is 15 minutes long. How will this track translate live?

TH: We have been playing it live on this tour. It’s exciting for us because it creates ambiguity. We don’t know if we can pull it off. Some nights we can and some nights we can not. That’s half the fun of live music. When it does click, it’s really enjoyable for us and the audience. With this song, we wanted to create an immersed listening experience. We wanted it to reflect that hedonistic, euphoric feeling of ‘90s music. It’s been interesting to see how people react to it live, their body movements and faces. People tend to get, you know, a bit weird at the shows.



CI: Do you guys follow a formula when creating music or is more free form? 

TH: We don’t follow formulas. We aren’t classically trained, so we don’t know the right way to write a song. We let the music take control. It’s a democratic process because we don’t know how to play instruments properly. If there is a formula, we haven’t cracked it yet.



CI: You all play a lot of festivals. Is the energy among the band different when playing big festivals than playing smaller, intimate venues? 

TH: At club shows the audience knows the material and at festivals there is a combination of people who know the material and people passing by from curiosity. We have to work a little harder at festivals to win people over. At festivals, we get 20 minutes to set up and play and you are at the mercy of elements. It’s two very different things. We are playing many festivals now, but we want to get back to playing club shows. And when we play at clubs we want to get back to festivals. It’s kind of like the grass is always greener thing. So yes, we step up the intensity more at festivals because you have those curious people passing by.


CI: Can you describe, in three words or less, what the vibe will be at your Chicago show? 

TH: Hmm. You have to come along to find out [laughs]. With American tours, we bring the full production so it’s more of an elaborate show. There are a lot of stage props and interactive videos. It’ll be very different from the past and it’s exciting, new and fresh. I hope it will be a lot of fun for everyone who comes out. 

Cut Copy :: with Holy Ghost! :: Riviera :: April 8.

Saturday, 7:30-10

Phoenix, Cut Copy, Green Day, Rusko, and Empire of the Sun will be performing at Lollapalooza 2010 between the hours of 7:30 and 10:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 7.

PHOENIX
While they may be new to you, these four dudes from Versailles, France have been in the game for over 10 years. It’s a lesson in persistence that their newest album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix has blown up all over the place, netting them a Grammy for “Best Alternative Music Album.” Back in 2000, Phoenix had their single featured on the Lost in Translation soundtrack before releasing four albums between 2000 and 2006. Perhaps they took their subsequent inspiration from the fabled animal they are named after because when they came back from their 3-year hiatus, they came back strong. With Wolfgang, you just can’t get the songs out of your head. And it’s not sugary pop either. It’s layered vocal harmonies and a thick spread of guitar-laden complexities. Phoenix proves that technical songwriting can still be fun and pop can still be intricate. It’s refreshing to see these veterans getting such recognition without changing their style. (Saturday, 8:30-10, Budweiser Stage) –text: Steven Jaynes–photo: Phil Knott

CUT COPY
After Cut Copy rejected Lady Gaga’s offer of a year-long opening spot on her upcoming tour, the two groups are finally playing the same city at the same festival. Luckily for Cut Copy fans, this Melbourne-based electro-pop trio seems to have their priorities straight. Instead of blowing up for tween-pop princesses worldwide, they decided to focus on the creation of their highly anticipated third album, due out in January of 2011. It will be hard to top the group’s two outstanding releases for Modular Records, 2004’s Bright Like Neon Love and 2008’s breakout record In Ghost Colours. With the recent release of new single “Where I’m Going,” fans might be lucky enough to get a taste of additional new content to come. If not, addicting body-moving synth-pop numbers like “Feel the Love,” “Lights & Music” and “Far Away” are pretty damn good consolation prizes. (Saturday, 7:30-8:30, PlayStation Stage) –text: Jodi Root

GREEN DAY
Name another band that released their eighth punk rock album, witnessed the opening of a Broadway musical inspired by their previous album, and is due to headline Saturday of Lollapalooza all in one calendar year. If Green Day is the only band that popped into your head, there’s a reason for that. The hardworking punks have been making their mark on the scene since 1987 and after the year they’ve had so far, it only makes sense that their accomplishments have led them to a headlining spot at Lollapalooza. Closing out the south stage with an extended set, don’t be surprised to hear songs from Green Day’s entire discography and not just their past few albums. The East Bay trio may be getting up there in years, but that doesn’t mean they’re afraid to pay homage to their 924 Gilman Street punk club roots. (Saturday, 7:45-10, Parkways Foundation Stage) –text: Anna Deem

RUSKO
Leeds-based DJ/producer Christopher Mercer (a.k.a. Rusko) is a proud dubstep ambassador. This year, he became the first dubstep artist to have a song put in rotation on a mainstream American radio station, worked on M.I.A.’s divisive new album, and may be lending his studio hand to Britney Spears in the near future. His busy schedule hasn’t hurt his own music though, as his recently released album O.M.G.!!! is a thick slice of seismic bass lines and bonkers half-time beats. (Saturday, 7:30-8:30, Perry’s) –text: Erik Ziedses des Plantes

EMPIRE OF THE SUN
Australian synth-pop duo Empire Of The Sun embrace glam decadence without apology. Appearing on the cover of their acclaimed 2008 debut Walking On A Dream decked in lavish Star Wars-esque uniforms, Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore create music that more than lives up to their image: an intoxicating mixture of disco, Ziggy-era Bowie and modern electro-pop. Their “Walking On A Dream” single cemented their success, hitting number 10 on the Australian charts and quickly going platinum. (Saturday, 9-10, Perry’s) –text: Sean Rose

Cut Copy

People keep talking about the ’80s and new wave [in comparison to us], but it’s not the way see our music. At the same time, we grew up listening to music in the ’80s when we were young. There’s just a particular resonance there.

story by Justine Reisinger

The Mediterranean Sea has been kind to Cut Copy drummer Mitchell Dean Smith, and after months of non-stop touring in promotion of the band’s synthed-out pop bliss of a sophomore album, In Ghost Colors, the mid-August break is well deserved. It’s just the sun that leaves him a bit raw.

Sunburned but happy, when Chicago Innerview reaches Smith on the southern coast of Spain following a performance at the Ola Festival in El Ejido, Almería, he reports that he’s been spending his time as of late “at the beach, eating food, drinking beer…not a productive way to spend time.”

Ola is one of Cut Copy’s many European festival stops along with the U.K.’s Leeds and Reading music festivals, also in August. For Cut Copy’s three Melbourne-based boys, hitting up these festivals provides a quickly welcomed change of scenery. “Coming from Australia, we don’t get anything on [this] sort of level. The lineups they get in [Europe] and in the States at festivals are insane to us,” says Smith, whose band also opened for (and subsequently hung out with, sans helmets) Daft Punk on the Nevereverland Tour last December.

The current white-hot demand for both Cut Copy’s live shows and studio records (with In Ghost Colors hitting the number one spot on the Australian charts) isn’t altogether a great mystery. IGC sounds warmly familiar but not in an overdone way, as lead vocalist and group brainchild Dan Whitford sounds eerily similar to Morrissey — only happier. If New Order at their peak had the technology available to them that Cut Copy has access to now, Bernard Sumner and company would probably have produced music such as this.

There’s an undeniably sexy vibe to the lyrics, each song sounding like it’s being sung to an elusive, doughy-eyed, pouty-lipped sweet vixen standing alone in a crowded room. And the synthesizers! My god, the synthesizers! Just listen to Electric Light Orchestra’s “Four Little Diamonds” then put on Cut Copy’s “Far Away” and try not to spot the influence. “We probably listened to that song a couple times,” Smith admits. “ELO is a real inspiration to us. They are an awesome band, their production is phenomenal. They go to town on everything.”

If Cut Copy has cropped up in any of your music readings over the past few months, the comparisons to new wave groups like Human League and New Order most likely popped up in the first three paragraphs of every article. This common thread in the evaluation of Cut Copy’s music is getting a bit old for Smith and crew.

“It’s kind of funny. I guess it’s good that people have an opinion, but it’s one thing that rubs us a bit,” Smith says. “People keep talking about the ’80s and new wave [in comparison to us], but it’s not the way see our music. At the same time, we grew up listening to music in the ’80s when we were young. There’s just a particular resonance there.”

Smith cites ’70s pop and middle-of-the-road rock, in addition to ’90s dance music, as major influences. Backing up this claim is a disco vibe that carries on in the falsetto harmonies of “Nobody Lost, Nobody Found”, while in “Hearts on Fire” a sexy sax and electro build-up helps bring the ’90s back.

Mirroring the first half of this eventful year, Smith says that Cut Copy will continue to tour with hope to “nestle down and start on a new record as soon as we can.” For a group that played the Abbey Pub in May and is now taking on the Metro in September, who knows what size capacity venue that Cut Copy will find themselves in next time around?

But at the moment, Smith isn’t too concerned about all that. Looking ahead to more immediate plans, the still-sunburned drummer announces that he’s “got to find some aloe vera, or we’re going to have a lobster situation on our hands.”

Cut Copy :: with The Presets :: Metro :: Sept. 17.