By fusing intricate rhythms with ambient sounds, the alternative electronic group RÜFÜS DU SOL has created a radiant style that is all their own. Hailing from Sydney, Australia, the group made up of Jon George, Tyrone Lindqvist, and James Hunt has been on the rise in the land down under since the release of their debut EP, RÜFÜS, in 2011 and their critically acclaimed debut album Atlas in 2013, which inevitably rose to the top of the Australian charts. Since then, the trio has gained attention from ODESZA, who helped release the group’s sophomore album Bloom on their collective, Foreign Family. With the release of their rich new album and upcoming world tour, RÜFÜS is on their way to mesmerize the world with their effervescent, hypnotic sound.
Interview by Sadie Bell
Photography by Eddie New
Sadie: You are all so close and have known each other for so long. How does that close friendship affect your relationship as a band?
Jon George: In the best way possible; we’re three good friends on a roller coaster ride, travelling the world and doing what we love. We’re basically very lucky with the way our friendship works because we all read each other pretty well and if someone needs space or whatever then we get it. Most of the time, the best part is being able to share these intense moments together that none of us ever thought we’d achieve.
Sadie: What has been the most formative experience that you shared as band to shape who you have become?
Jon George: We’re lucky that we spent a number of years playing shows constantly in Australia and slowly plugging away with occasional small tours overseas, etc., because as much as we would have wanted it earlier on, we weren’t ready for success or large scale touring. Those early years of the band saw us constantly adapting and moulding in to the band we are today. The biggest experience from that, I feel, is the amount of live music we were able to see; whether it was through supporting some of our favourite bands or playing at festivals, we’ve seen a tonne of music and that’s really where we got to pick and choose what we liked about people’s styles and the type of band we wanted to be.
Sadie: What was the recording process like for Bloom? Was it a pretty natural process or did you face any challenges?
Jon George: It did feel like a very natural process in writing Bloom. We had to get back in to the swing of writing together, after a year and a half of non-stop touring, and then we just wrote as much as we could to let the album take shape on its own. We had an idea of the type of stuff/sounds we wanted to experiment with first but from there, we just let it happen. If we heard something we liked when we were out, then we would try it the next day in the studio; if someone found a new record with crazy sounds on it, then we would spend the day emulating those sounds and trying to see if any of the production fit what we did… It wasn’t until deadlines, that we had imposed on ourselves earlier, started approaching that we sort of had to crack the whip on ourselves to stop writing and piece what we had together.
Sadie: How do you balance the dichotomy of having up-beat songs with darker themes?
Jon George: That seems to be a very natural, almost subconscious, thing for us. Having three people in the band, all with equal input in the song writing means that there are necessary pulls of direction and injections of influence. I think as we all listen to a lot of diverse and eclectic music, there is always a push to put more meaningful feelings or emotions in to our songs which can often end up feeling darker juxtaposed with our interpretation of dance music, which we tend to write in a very housey, up-beat way (laughs).
Sadie: There is a very artistic quality to all of your videos and album art. Where did you get inspiration for this?
Jon George: We’ve always had a particular interest in the entire look and feel of a band or artist. Acts like Foals, Radiohead, Chemical Brothers, Tame Impala, Warpaint have all influenced that need to let the music be prefaced or accompanied by a visual of some sort and we were lucky to have my brother Katzki (Alex George) drive the art direction of the band right from the start. He designed the logo and initial branding, and from there he wrote and directed every one of our film clips (except the latest-Say A Prayer For Me), each time challenging and surprising us with the way a visual can bring a completely new feeling to the music.
We were also totally taken by Jack Vanzet’s beautiful artworks whilst writing the new album and so we worked with him to create our singles and album artwork for Bloom, bringing the warm, floating feeling, that we were getting in the studio, to visual form.
Sadie: You have a lot of exciting plans coming up this year like a world tour and Coachella. What sort of emotions are you experiencing at this point in your career? Does it feel at all surreal?
Jon George: Yeah it definitely feels pretty surreal as we keep ticking these career goals. When we are on tour I usually tell people that it’s like a fine balance of extreme exhaustion and extreme exhilaration, but now we’ve had time off to rest and reflect, it’s only an overwhelming feeling of exhilaration with what we’ve done and the year that we have ahead.
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RÜFÜS DU SOL NORTH AMERICAN ‘BLOOM’ TOUR DATES:
March 30 Boston, MA – The Sinclair
March 31 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
April 1 New York, NY – Webster Hall
April 2 Washington, DC – U Street Music Hall
April 6 Montreal, QC – Fairmount Theatre
April 7 Toronto, ON – Mod Club
April 8 Detroit, MI – Populux
April 9 Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge
April 11 Knoxville, TN – The Concourse
April 12 Atlanta, GA – Terminal West
April 13 Nashville, TN – Exit/In
April 15-17 Indio, CA – Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
April 22-24 Indio, CA – Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
June 16 – 19 Dover, DE – Firefly Festival
June 18 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre *supporting ODESZA
