Happy Feet

Clubfeet is a name that's been bandied about the indie-dance realms for well over a year now – infact, they've already released a debut album in late 2010 called Gold On Gold, which was the recipient of much blog-lovin' Stateside. As it turns out they've spent much of their time since then building up a strong profile in the US and Europe, building a formidable live show that is finally making its Australian debut in July 2012.

As keys/synth/programmer/backing vocalist Montgomery Cooper explains from 'home' in Melbourne, it wasn't some conscious effort of the group to build the band's profile overseas first, it just happened that way. “A couple of years ago when a New York label downloaded our tracks, they were like, 'What are you guys doing? We'd like to put it out in America'. And we were like, 'Yeah fine', so we ended up putting it out at a label called Plant, which is like a little indie kind of dance label in New York, and that was the thing that kicked off lots of other things,” a chirpy Cooper explains, in the midst of finishing up a remix for Brooklyn duo Savoir Adore.

From there the label spread the word to people “much hipper than we are,” Cooper jokes; people like James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem, DFA Records), it spread to blogs and basically snowballed from there. “Yeah that was kind of how it kicked off. We're not master strategists or planners,” Cooper laughs.

Having released their first album Gold On Gold to much more love in the states than here, Cooper is looking forward to releasing album number two later in 2012 with a more Australian focus, and the group have offered a split single (City Of Light/This Time) to get the ball rolling, and Australia more acquainted. “The record we're just mixing at the moment, that's not too far away. All the tracks are done, we're just doing last minute switcheroos but that's pretty much in the bag… We just wanted to put something out of ours and that seemed like a nice kick off point for the record when it comes.”

In days where people can create full 'live' sets individually hiding behind a laptop, it's refreshing to hear Cooper get stuck in the meat and bones of the Clubfeet live show; the group clearly have a strong focus on crafting a fully live sound, rather than just resigning to fewer members with more backing tracks. “I mean, part of the reason we turned three of us into five, beside the fact that we all hang out a lot together anyway and we're all good friends, was that we wanted to be a real live-live band,” he begins, the passion in his voice evident.

“We see a lot of electronic acts, a lot of bands that, you know, just put a bunch of stuff on backing tracks or on laptops. And a lot of it is really shit, to be honest… You can do something about the energy and the magic of being able to play it all live and be able to go on tangents if you want to, and if the section's going well turn it into a loop and you can jam for a while and that kind of stuff. It's kind of funny, we haven't played that many shows, but we're really excited to come on tour because we feel like the live show is sounding amazing, and we can't wait to play for people.

“A good band often - not that I'm implying it doesn't sound good - but when you close your eyes for those bands it sounds really good, when you open your eyes and there's fuck all happening on stage and there's no real energy coming off… It's not even about the sound, it's about energy.” And with “five vocal mics, drums, live kits with triggers all over it, electronic drums, live bass, electric guitar, three synths and a few bits and pieces…” you can be sure Clubfeet's live introduction to Australia will be nothing short of energetic.