Ladytron

Fri 5th Sep, 2008 in Features

Mira Aroyo sounds as cool and detached on the phone as her band Ladytron do on record. As she curtly replies to questions in her clipped British accent, she slowly begins to warm to the fact that her band really was the originators of the sound now known as ‘electro-clash’. “We started doing it much before it became popular,” she says. “And now it’s just taken off.” According to Mira, the kind of distinction you can make between her outfit and say, The Presets, is that Ladytron “don’t really see ourselves as a dance-electro band. We’re much more of an electro-pop band, given that we all play instruments.”

This, of course, is part of Ladytron’s allure. They’ve got five members, four of whom play instruments and/or decks, and yet they craft sublime pieces of electronica on par with acts like Swedish chart-toppers, The Knife. “I play keyboards and sing, and for the live show we also recruit extra players like our touring bassist and Alessandro Cortini.” [Cortini incidentally comes from Nine Inch Nails. More on that later]. Now onto their fourth album, Velocifero, Ladytron are a band hitting their stride, taking a unique brand of icy synth pop to the masses – and sometimes getting very weird reactions from their fans.

“We used to wear these uniforms [the grey, zip-up jackets that look kind of like WWII replicas] onstage and in press photos, but we kind of grew out of that phase.” It seems that Mira’s real problem with wearing matching outfits (including the oh-so-androgynous asymmetric fringe) was that “people kept asking us questions about them in interviews.” Well, point taken! More importantly, she started to get a little freaked out when fans would rock up to their shows sporting the ‘Ladytron look’ and “reading too much into it.” Groupies, it seems, are fun until they look the same as you. Then it’s just creepy.

Not that Mira has much time for psycho fans anyway. She’s too busy propagating lies to throw journos off the track, like the one that she and fellow singer Helena were discovered by the boys on a train in Bulgaria. She laughs. “That’s just a very old lie that we used a long time ago. I can’t believe it’s stuck this long.” What’s true, however, is that Mira was in the middle of completing her PhD in genetics. “I couldn’t really concentrate; I was DJing every night and then we started touring and I just gave it up.” But she could have been Dr Mira! “That’s not something I want to think about right now,” she chuckles.

When they’re not playing gigs, Ladytron are remixing other bands. Their impressive list of credits includes the hottest bands on the planet, like Placebo, Bloc Party and of course, Nine Inch Nails. “We actually supported them on one of our tours and after the show Trent [Reznor] came up to us and threw us an advance copy of Year Zero, with all the different instrumental tracks separated out. ‘Pick three tracks,’ he said, ‘and re-make them.’” It was the start of a long-blossoming relationship with NIN, which included using his keyboardist in recording the new album. “Ladytron have always liked the darker side of things,” Mira concludes. “And I guess that’s why he liked us.”

Ladytron play their first-ever live shows in Australia this September/October. Be warned – wear a grey zip-up jacket to their Sydney shows and Trent might come after you!

Sep 27 – Parklife, Adelaide
Sep 29 – Metro Theatre, Sydney
Sep 30 – Metro Theatre, Sydney (2nd show)
Oct 1 – Tivoli, Brisbane
Oct 2 – The Corner Hotel, Melbourne
Oct 3 – The Corner Hotel, Melbourne (2nd show)
Oct 5 – Bakery Artrage, Perth