So how did you write Over and Over, the greatest song of all time? laurasnapes
Joe Goddard Me and Felix [Martin, drum machines] he lived in a converted old church in Camden. I was trying to copy the bassline from Dance by ESG. Everyone added parts and Alexis [Taylor, lead vocals, guitar, keyboards] he wrote the lyrics, “the joy of repetition is really in you,” etc., referring to how Felix and I kept playing this bass groove over and over again. I remember looking around the church with the real estate agent who said, “This will be perfect for your band practice. Sign here!” Then, as soon as we started playing, the lady upstairs called and said, “I just had a baby. What are you doing?!”
What are your favorite Hot Chip deep cuts? I’m a huge fan of Ends of the Earth and Dark and Stormy. Lawrence_G
Al Doyle (guitar/synth) They’re good. Also a B-side called The Girl in Me, and I really like Let There Be Him, because the crowd would sing it.
Goddard I recently opened a laptop folder with about 50 demos from the year 2000 that were either hilarious or incredibly embarrassing. We did a whole unreleased album called Felix in the Factory in 1998, which wasn’t good. So to me it’s deep cuts.
What songs from the new album, Freakout/Release, are you most excited for everyone to hear? htowunivorn
Goddard Probably the main thing, because when you’ve been a band for a long time it’s exciting to do something so different. It’s stripped down, angrier, then goes almost techno punk. Also the evil that men do. Alexis wrote the lyrics when there was all that “woke” crap. Colston’s statue had been taken down in Bristol and we wanted to align with that. Britain’s colonial past has left such a trauma in the British psyche that it gets swept under the carpet.
New Hot Chip Freakout/Release theme.
Did you consider any other names before coming to Hot Chip? Wenders14
Goddard no. Alexis and I came up with this name around 1995 when we were in school. We played our first gigs in the ‘performance centers’ there, where you’d have arty stuff like Kieran [Hebden] of Four Tet jamming on guitar, or my mate Dan making records in the jungle while someone was doing mountain bike tricks.
Doyle We used to say we chose the name so we could be next to Hot Chocolate on the record racks, which was totally untrue.
What’s the best thing to put on hot chips? Ketchup, mayonnaise or curry sauce? TopTramp
Doyle, I’m from the north [Leeds] that’s what I should say curry sauce, but I’m a mayo man.
Goddard In Amsterdam I once had Thai peanut sauce on my fries. It was great, but I was a little stoned.
Al, how do you manage to be in Hot Chip and LCD Soundsystem at the same time? thsafc
Doyle It’s been absolute blind luck over the years that when one band has been off, the other has been on. There was one year I couldn’t do LCD, so they had an amazing guy named Dave Scott Stone from the Melvins. Important rehearsals take six weeks, so I camp out in the States. This year has been very busy, but it’s a good problem to have.
You’ve been responsible for some cracking remixes, like Kids With Guns by Gorillaz. How involved is the original artist when you remix their song? Verulamium Park Ranger
Goddard Varies between being completely left to our own devices, someone giving us some pointers, or us saying, “Would you like a house remix, sir?” It’s mostly plain sailing, like with Gorillaz. But occasionally it can go to shit if they say, “But you didn’t include my guitar solo!” When Alexis and I did one for Kraftwerk we thought it would be cool to put a distorted guitar on it, but they sent it with those sections removed.
And vice versa, do you have a favorite Hot Chip remix? qbflestrin
Doyle Getting Carl Craig’s remix of One Life Stand was amazing, and hearing other DJs play it in the clubs was amazing.
Hot Chip’s One Life Stand (Carl Craig Remix) – video.
Goddard I really like Detroit producer Osborne’s remix of Take It In and Audion’s remix of No Fit State from a few years ago, a huge club hit.
Doyle [laughs]
Goddard Era!
How did you come to work with Jarvis Cocker and what was the collaboration like in person? laurasnapes
Goddard We have a mutual DJ friend in Paris, so we started going out for dinner, which was really exciting because Pulp’s His ‘n’ Hers was a big record for me. I think Alexis suggested Jarvis for our song Straight to the Morning. It was fantastic. He just walked into the studio and became Jarvis! With the moves and everything.
Doyle It’s like when we did the Peter Gabriel thing. We thought, “Blimey. He sounds like Peter Gabriel.
How has your approach to playing live changed over time? qbflestrin
Doyle The big change was getting a drummer, which started in New York when Felix was sick and couldn’t operate the drum machine. We knew a little bit about LCDs, so we asked Pat Mahoney to play with us. He listened to three or four songs in the dressing room, set up and played the concert. We were blown away.
I remember seeing you play at Emmanuel College Cambridge, around 2001, playing acoustic guitars. A couple of you were with a friend of mine named Kate. One of the songs had a chorus about getting beat up. Did I imagine all this? manofthesouth
Goddard We played a couple of Cambridge balls. Very drunken affairs, but we actually had a song called Taking a Beating.
Hot Chip in 2006.
Doyle And we have a friend named Kate! I saw her very recently in the Lake District, so it’s all true.
As a bigger fan, Hot Chip is my “new” New Order. Are there any comments or stories you can offer about their influence or not? joanne
Goddard They are a huge influence on us and we’ve played with them several times. Bernard [Sumner] he once told me that one of the reasons he fell out with Peter Hook was the way Hooky ate his chips. Apparently, when he was done with them, he would open the bag and put his face in every nook and cranny. Relationships with group mates are quite intense!
You always seem to have a great time live. Is it as fun as it sounds? Slowandnoddy
Goddard [drily] No.
Doyle Sometimes. This is a raw question, because we’ve had a few gigs recently where things haven’t gone quite right, so you’re smiling on stage but dying inside. When we were very young, Owen [Clarke, multi-instrumentalist] and i had a punching fight and joe once hit alexis with a baseball bat.
Goddard It was actually a large drumstick from a store, but it looked like a baseball bat. One of my happiest moments on stage was in Cardiff, hitting balloons with him, but I accidentally cut Alexis.
Doyle It was a head injury. We pulled it from live shows after that.
Freakout/Release opens on August 19th