This Time With Sol

Electronic trio Rufus made headlines earlier this year when they were forced to change their name to Rufus Du Sol before entering the international market. It was speculated that the change was forced because the name Rufus was already in use by Chaka Khan's '70s funk band, which James Hunt admits was a factor. “After we released our album Atlas, we reached a level of success that we never really anticipated, and as a result of that we decided to start looking into releasing it overseas. When we found a label that was a good fit for us [Columbia], our marketing team didn't really want to commit to signing us considering there was such a legal risk with the name Rufus already being in use, and told us we couldn't release our album until we took action to rectify that.”

So rather than the change being forced by any sort of legal action from the '70s group Rufus themselves, Hunt explains that, “it was the record label who insisted on the change. America is the land of litigation, and no one was willing to back us when there was such a risk.

“We wanted to keep Rufus and just add something to it, something foreign and exotic – something that if you had no idea of who we were could possibly be linked to some Swedish electronica duo or a Norwegian techno artist. The words 'du sol' in Swedish mean 'to the sun' in English, and we liked that because we wanted something that denotes nature, because it is such an inspiring element for us.”

Hunt recalls they're not the first Australian band to sign to Columbia who have had to change their name: “The same thing happened with The Temper Trap, who I think were the last Australian act to sign with Columbia. They wanted to be called Temper Temper, but ended up changing to Temper Trap because there was a band overseas with that name. So at least we can relate with another artist on the label.”

With their fresh new identity consolidated, the guys were ready to show America exactly what it is that's made them such a success here, performing at this year's SXSW in Austin, Texas, followed by a string of headlining gigs across the US. The guys are now embarking on their most extensive tour of our country to date, and the shows will be about more than just the music. “We've got a few surprises for the live shows happening in May and June, in terms of having some kind of spectacle, having great lighting and maybe a few CO2 cannons! We're looking to make this the best live show we've ever had.”

Adding to the sensory experience, there'll be a strong emphasis on the relationship between their music and various geographical locations, which Hunt explains is part of their writing style. “When we were writing the album, we gave each song kind of its own world or location, and we've always used that as a way of framing how we write music. Now we want to bring that element into how we present the live show. We always think about the journey when we plan the set – you know, one song to the next and how it's going to flow and how the audience will react to that – so that has really inspired really creating locations with this show. We're pretty excited to be immersing ourselves in a creative project like this.”

The guys have decided to make their Australian tour the last time they'll be relying so heavily on the tracks found on their album Atlas, and as such, are moving to Berlin mid-year to work on new material. “We've always been keen to move somewhere overseas, and when we were in Europe last year we ended up in Berlin for a week and we just fell in love with the place, culturally and musically. There's a lot going on over there, a lot of cool electronica and melodic techno – stuff that was just resonating with us, so we instantly knew we wanted to move there and soak it up.”