Cut Copy

Wed 9th Feb, 2011 in Features

Cut Copy’s ascent to the top of Australia’s dance scene began with a crawl rather than an explosion when frontman Dan Whitford released the I Thought of Numbers EP on Modular Recordings. A sample-heavy collage of Whitford’s influences, I Thought Of Numbers was the less celebrated cousin of label-mates The Avalanches’ epochal Since I Left You, coming at a time when Modular were busy releasing records from Eskimo Joe and Jack Johnson. Despite the sleeper hit status, I Thought Of Numbers offered glimpses of Whitford’s future, with tracks like Rendezvous showcasing the first signs of the Australian electro boom.

Expanding on that sound, Whitford recruited guitarist Tim Hoey and Mitchell Scott – as well as Bennett Foddy for a stint and now Ben Browning as bassist and full time member – to the band, filling out Cut Copy’s sound to something more organic and forming a live entity that would soon pop up on multiple festival bills across the country.

Breaking through with 2004’s multi-faceted debut LP Bright Like Neon Love, Cut Copy combined with The Presets to sketch the blueprint for the indie-dance uprising of recent years, before finding continued success internationally, releasing the Tim Goldsworthy produced In Ghost Colours and playing with their heroes Daft Punk on the Nevereverland festival tour.

On the release of Cut Copy’s third full length, the already fawned over Zonoscope, FL caught up with Hoey for an extended interview on a rare day of respite for the band before the machine whirs to life again and the band hit the road for the next 18 months.