When they’re not producing pop ballads you can dance to, four of Hot Chip’s five members moonlight in myriad other guises. Here’s a cheat sheet on their side projects.
The 2 Bears
Since releasing their debut LP, Be Strong, earlier this year, Joe Goddard and London DJ Raf Rundell have kept busy turning tracks by the likes of Santigold, Sainte Etienne and Metronomy into deep dance floor bangers under their vaguely gay pop-house moniker. They put out the remix album Be Strong Remixed at the end of July.
About Group
In between Hot Chip tour dates, Alexis Taylor has new solo material on the go along with a collaboration with German techno producer Justus Köhncke, and he’s wrapping up another album with About Group, his jazz improv quartet with Charles Hayward of This Heat, John Coxon of Spiritualized and Pat Thomas.
Fans of Sun Ra’s cosmic jazz, Hot Chip have a history of improvisation. Early on, the band performed without set lists, throwing unplanned and unrehearsed versions into the mix. Taylor started About Group after meeting Coxon at an improv night he used to run at London’s now defunct Red Rose Club. Their debut LP, Start And Complete, dropped last year.
New Build
Felix Martin and Al Doyle have been making music for 10 years, long before either joined Hot Chip. Two years ago they formed New Build with engineer/composer Tom Hopkins had have since expanded into a seven-piece. In March they released their debut, Yesterday Was Lived & Lost, an album of left-field pop with expansive electronic soundscapes reminiscent of Brian Eno and Peter Gabriel.
