Scott Kara talks to the Potbelleez about their second dance-inducing album, ahead of their NZ festival performance
Musically, the Potbelleez and Foo Fighters are on different planets. Or are they? Because as TimeOut points out to Potbelleez members Dave Goode and Ilan Kidron, both bands write songs that are perfect for sports highlights shows and action replays. You know the sort? Those big, uplifting, slightly cheesy anthems. For example, the chart-topping Australian dance band's Don't Hold Back and the Foos' All My Life sound different - but in mood and sentiment they are the same.
"That's awesome. We love the Foo Fighters," laughs Kidron. "For me, I come from that background, and I've always been in rock bands. And I think that is a bit of the charm about [Potbelleez] that we combine these things and I guess it's stadium rock meets house music," he says.
The Potbelleez - made up of Irishmen Goode and fellow producer Jonny Sonic and Australians Kidron and vocalist MC Blu - are one of the main acts on the EDGEtravaganza bill at Claudelands Arena in Hamilton on July 16, along with Midnight Youth, Stan Walker, Kids of 88, Avalanche City, fellow Australians Thirsty Merc, and more.
"We're looking forward to coming to New Zealand. It's one of our little strongholds," says Kidron.
The band's self-titled debut album, and Don't Hold Back especially, did well in New Zealand during 2008 - but in Australia they are big.
Having just released second album, Destination Now, they are on an Australian tour before they head to Japan, New Zealand, and then, says Kidron excitedly, they will be jetting to Mediterranean party island Ibiza to play the Amnesia night club "at the peak of festival season".
The Potbelleez initial sucess gave the band a platform to work from, reckons Goode, an Irishman who, like Sonic, left Ireland in the early 2000s for a fresh start Downunder ("I miss my family but as far as my career or anything I don't miss home at all," he offers.).
But more importantly, he says, it meant they were able to establish a "signature" sound. "And for any band the hardest thing to do is to create a signature for yourself. You know, that when you hear a song you know who it is."
But when you're a band like The Potbelleez, who have made their name on hands-in-the-air dance pop anthems, it's a fine line between giving people what they want and wanting to do something different when it comes time to release a new album.
Destination Now has a heavy emphasis on the former, with banging singles Hello and From the Music, but there are also tougher, more stomping songs like Twitch.
"Dave wrote the lyrics for that one, which was a first for him - and they are pretty out-there lyrics - and I set it to music," says Kidron.
"And I think the subject matter of it is really intense too. Because you can party and be a king all you want but eventually you're going to crash - and that song is all about the crash. And we all suffer that sometimes, when we're at a low point trying to make our way back up but we're possessed by this demonic witch."
They also wanted to harness the band's live energy and performance style by focusing on the dynamic of "tension and release in dance music".
Kidron: "That's why the music we're doing now is a little bit more high-end than what we used to do."
But essentially it's another album about "partying and going nuts"; although, insists Kidron, there are also introspective moments - "about moving forward after the party" - and exploring "the true nature of what goes on in our heads musically".
LOWDOWN
Who: The Potbelleez
What: Australian house electro dance pop band
New album: Destination Now, out now
Debut album: The Potbelleez (2008)
Where & when: EDGEtravaganza, Claudelands Arena, Hamilton, July 16, with Midnight Youth, Stan Walker, Kids of 88, Avalanche City, Thirsty Merc, Dane Rumble, Ivy Lies, and more.
- TimeOut
