Finally wrapping up the album cycle for their debut LP, Atlas, Sydney electronica three-piece RÜFÜS are hitting Players Bar in Mandurah on Friday, May 30, and the Fremantle Arts Centre on Saturday, May 31. That’s after beating the rest of the world, learns TROY MUTTON.
To say 2014 has been good to Aussie trio, RÜFÜS, is putting it lightly.
Following their (#1, gold-selling) debut album, Atlas, going great guns in Australia since its August release, January/February saw the group playing to thousands at festivals like Falls, Southbound and Big Day Out.
According to frontman, Tyrone Lindqvist, the highlights have unsurprisingly been plentiful. “It’s funny because when we started the Falls Festival shows it was basically like each show just kinda stepped up and became your new favourite show,” he begins, at the time prepping for the European/North American tour the group have just returned home from.
“But I guess the one that sticks out for me was the Byron Bay Falls Festival. When you go out and play as an artist, you can go out and play three songs, and it can take up to three, four, five to get there – to actually be on stage and enjoy it and be with the audience. That Byron one was a massive showcase of that. As soon as I got on stage I was there with 8,000 people just having the best time.”
The rush Lindqvist received during that time? Better than any drug. “And over all those shows around New Year’s I didn’t drink. It was because I didn’t want to! People were like, ‘Let’s go celebrate and have a beer’, and I’m like, ‘Man if I have a beer right now it’s gonna soften my high’. No drug could make me feel any higher than this, I just felt incredible.”
It also gave Lindqvist (and bandmates James Hunt and Jon George) an incredible confidence boost before they embarked overseas, spanning dates across North America and the UK supporting Cut Copy. “It’s not really nerves at all, we’re coming off the back of doing massive shows here.
“…We’re gonna be going out over there and the album’s not even out there yet, so I know [crowds] don’t know all of the songs. And you’re going out and playing in front of who knows how many people, between 200-500 people, and I think the exciting bit is winning them over.
“You go out and they’re not necessarily with you from the start of the show, they might be interested or they might like you, but they’re still curious, they’ve never seen you play live, so they aren’t sold. The coolest bit is, you walk out and you’re basically making friends with them. And then, towards the end of the show, hopefully they’re on your side. And I think that shift, watching an audience shift into being on your side, is a massive thrill.”
No doubt their time spent overseas, followed by a couple of weeks break before the tour kicks off on the Gold Coast this week, will see the trio in fine form.
“It’s really fun and exciting because all the venues we’re playing over here are massive. When you’re a young band you always dream of lights and visuals and a big show, so to get to do that with the last tour we feel really lucky.
“Now we’re playing to big rooms we can bring the show that we wanna bring. We’ve been working on it for the last couple of months, and it’s gonna be really cool.”
Whilst the hectic touring and travelling schedule has understandably not allowed the trio a whole heap of time to think about new music, it is nevertheless at the back of their minds, with some dabbling already taking place – be it alone or with the group.
“All three of us have been writing our own stuff for shits and giggles, in different genres not necessarily dance or electronic stuff. Just writing to keep ourselves at ease I guess,” he tells – George has recently launched his solo production project, Juan Du Sol (a reference to the group having to add ‘Du Sol’ to their name in North America due to a naming clash).
“It’s nice to have time away from each other, because we spend so much time on the road together. I guess we got together a week or two ago and just jammed out some little ideas on the computer, and it started feeling like… it was the first time I felt like we had a sound I thought we could progress with for the next album. That was super exciting, I haven’t felt that for the last year.”
If we’re not careful though, we might lose them to Berlin, home to acts such as Booka Shade, and a house and techno scene very influential on their own sound.
“We’ll be setting up shop in Berlin and writing,” Lindqvist says. “We popped over last year for a few days, because a lot of our artists that we really love are from around there. A lot of the music we’re into comes from over there. So we popped over to see what the vibe was, and fell in love with the city and are super keen to get back there and live and write for a while.”
