Clubfeet Interview

Clubfeet could yet be the only indie-dance band to have ‘Melbourne/Capetown’ in brackets after their name. Two of the five members hail from South Africa. “They go back there on an infrequent basis,” confesses Bennington le Bruce (programming, synths, percussion and backing vocals) of frontman Sebastian Cohen and bassist Yves Roberts, “but enough to make it feel like we’ve got some quasi-international status – which is always fun.”

Ironically, while the video for Clubfeet’s latest single, Cape Town, was shot in the so-called ‘Monaco of Africa’ (like Solange’s Losing You!), le Bruce has never visited.

“I’m the only member who hasn’t been to Cape Town, unfortunately! I’m dying to construct some excuse to go over there. Hopefully, we get to tour some stuff in the not-too-distant future.”

Indeed, Clubfeet, rounded out by Montgomery ‘Monty’ Cooper (keys, programming and backing vocals) and elusive drummer Vivian Croft, even have a label in South Africa. Le Bruce fantasises that the band are “some Rodríguez sensation” there.

Le Bruce (“just call me Ben, if you want – it’s probably easier,” he offers) is at Melbourne airport, flying to Sydney. He’s happy to escape his hometown’s subzero morning temperatures.

“I wanna get to the beach,” he enthuses.

Starting this Friday in Canberra, Clubfeet will tour in support of their second album, Heirs & Graces, which dropped in January, and the aforementioned Cape Town.

Clubfeet have aired an impressive amount of music in just three years. The group, an Aussie Hot Chip, originated as “a lounge room project” in Melbourne, being “a bunch of mates stuffing around, having fun with music.” They’d tap directly into ’80s (new wave) influences.

“The common link between us boys in the band is that we all were born around the same time – and that ’80s scene is something that we were brought up with, and in, so it’s something that’s part of our DNA, as opposed to something that we’re trying to connect to by referencing what other people have done. But, having said that, we’re definitely inspired by artists that were writing music in the ’80s.” Le Bruce cites everyone from Peter Gabriel to Prince to the Pet Shop Boys. However, Clubfeet are also indebted to ’90s dance (mind, they’ve covered the Brit-pop James).

Clubfeet’s music generated an early buzz online. They secured a US label deal with Dominique Keegan’s Plant Music, releasing 2010’s debut, Gold On Gold. Pitchfork praised it as “instantly charming”. Clubfeet then had to figure out how to perform their music live – which they did for 2011’s CMJ Music Marathon in NY.

“I guess in writing the new songs for Heirs & Graces, there was some consideration as to how we’d make it work live, but still without letting go of the electro indie-dance aesthetic, which was really strong on the first album. So there’s a bit of a mixture of both [genres] in Heirs & Graces. It starts quite bandy and ends up being quite electronic towards the end.”

Cohen pulled out his sax for some retro ’80s kitsch.

These days Clubfeet’s players tend to write independently since Cohen and Cooper are residing in Sydney. They’ve already begun new material, further developing their sound.

“There’s nothing that really says it has to be this way or that way,” le Bruce says. “If I have to map out a trajectory for the music, I reckon it’s probably erring towards electronic. It’s definitely going in that direction with the next crop of stuff that we’re gonna do. But we might drop in, I donno, an acoustic guitar jam somewhere along the way. I don’t think you should preclude yourself from doing any kind of music. It really just comes down to what you’re vibing off at the time.”

In downtime Clubfeet have remixed others, most notably Crystal Fighters’ Wave.

Clubfeet, who lately toured with Tegan And Sara, will be bringing a fresh live show to Adelaide, le Bruce describing it as “a party on stage”.

“I was actually brought up in Adelaide, so it’s gonna be fun. I’ve never played at the Rhino Room, so I’m looking forward to that!”

WHO: Clubfeet
WHAT: Heirs & Graces (Illusive)
WHERE: Rhino Room
WHEN: Fri Jul 12
TICKETS: $10+bf through Moshtix